A recent joint program between two universities, Wilberforce University and a Jewish university, brought students together to study the machinery of hatred at Auschwitz and learn from each other’s histories.

Shared Experience, Shared Understanding

The program, which included a trip to Poland, aimed to give students the opportunity to encounter obstacles and learn how to overcome them. By living history together, grieving, eating, and walking through it side by side, the students built a kind of understanding that no seminar can teach and no demagogue can easily undo.

The students, consisting of Black students from Wilberforce University and Jewish students from the other university, closed ranks around a young woman who was refused change by a Polish clerk, showing that they had formed a strong bond. This experience, and others like it, demonstrated the power of shared experience in breaking down barriers and building understanding.

A Different Path

The program suggests a different path for universities to address hate and division on campus. Rather than relying on statements, task forces, or training, universities can give students the opportunity to encounter obstacles and learn how to overcome them. This approach, which focuses on shared experience and authentic human connection, can help to build a more compassionate and empathetic community.

The next chapter of the program will take the students to Ghana, where they will encounter the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. This reciprocity is central to the program’s model, as it allows students to become guests in another people’s historical memory and to learn from their experiences.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.