Photo by: Sarah Pessin
The Center for Judaic Studies (CJS) is sponsoring a $1 million project to build the Holocaust Memorial Social Action Site that is scheduled to be completed and ready for use as a gathering space to cultivate intercultural activities by May 5.
The official groundbreaking for the project was Oct. 10, 2010 and construction began making noticeable changes in recent weeks.
The first phase of the site will conclude by May 5, and construction will continue in coordination with the Academic Commons project that will be complete in late 2012, according to Mark Rodgers, university architect.
The CJS raised the money for the project, gathering gifts ranging from $18 to several thousand dollars from various donors.
Most of the money, $750,000, will be spent on the actual construction of the project, while the remaining $250,000 will go towards programs related to the site.
The site, located in the space north of Buchtel Tower and east of Penrose Library along Evans, will be used for students to learn intercultural dialogue and social justice initiatives, according to Sarah Pessin, director of the CJS.
“Honoring lives lost to the hand of hatred, we transform memory into social consciousness and action at a space dedicated to learning,” said Pessin. “Our vision is linked to the Hebrew expression ‘Hineni,’ which means ‘Here I am,’ a post-Holocaust ethical teaching about the infinite responsibility that each of us has for the other.”
The Holocaust Memorial Social Action Site will have outdoor seating to accommodate up to 60 people with an area around it large enough to hold up to 300 more using folding chairs.
Spencer Nickel, the landscape architect of the project, detailed screens with an extrapolated image of shattered glass through a sculptural embrace to bring out the core meaning of “Hineni,” according to Rodgers.
“A reminder that when we do not listen to those in need, our society fractures,” said Rodgers. “It is one of the most difficult challenges just to make a space that feels graceful to meander through, let alone serve as a place where a few can discuss an article to a place where a crowd of hundreds gathers during a vigil.”
Pessin said that the site is meant to be a completely different way of looking at a memorial because the lives of those lost during the Holocaust will be honored through activities that promote diversity and create a better world.
“The spirit of the site is open and inclusive,” said Pessin. “Anything that makes the world a better place is what the site is all about.”
Construction on the site will not affect students, because it is in a fenced-in, contained area, said Pessin.
According to Pessin, the site construction is also linked to a $3 million Endowed Chair of Holocaust Studies project, which is an endowment for a new faculty person to join DU to teach classes on a range of issues related to the Holocaust, genocide and social justice. The exact time for when the new faculty member will be hired is yet to be determined.
“We do not know who this will be,” said Pessin. “We will do an international search for this faculty hire, as we do for all DU faculty members, once the funds are in place.”
The future faculty member will also help with new programming at the site, though everyone at DU is invited to contribute ideas on how to use the new space by contacting the CJS.
The first related program, “Voices in Dialogue: An Interfaith Bridge-Building Workshop” will occur April 3, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Knoebel School of Hospitality Management. The theme of this event is “Engaging the Stranger” and will feature religious leaders from Muslim, American Indian, Jewish and Christian traditions. Speakers will include Andrea Mikulin Topuz, Tink Tinker, Rabbi Marc Soloway, and the Rev. John Thompson.
The speakers will discuss how to use their own tradition to “engage the stranger,” from 3 to 4 p.m. Following will be a series of community round-tables, where participants will be able to read texts from traditions other than their own from 4 to 5 p.m.
“I anticipate learning a lot more about other religious backgrounds that I was not familiar with previously,” said Meaghan Burns, program development coordinator for the CJS. “I find the religion of the human race fascinating and the way people reach out to their spirituality extremely engrossing.”
Students are encouraged to attend the free event but should RSVP through the CJS, which can be found on DU‘s website. The event is sponsored by the CJS, the Illiff School of Theology and the Religious Adversity Council.
The first scheduled event for the usable site, “Digital Storytelling for Social Justice,” will be held on May 5. It will be part of a screening project where 16 students show a two-to-three minute digital story on a range of student selected social justice issues.
This event will be the kick-off event for the DU Diversity Summit, which begins May 6.
“As DU spends more time and effort focusing on diversity and inclusivity, I think that this format in particular is very relevant to those goals,” Burns said. “The Holocaust Memorial Social Action site is all about social action and learning about others so that atrocities like the Holocaust can be prevented. The dialogue of the site is directly related to the goal.”
