Spring Programming 

Dear students, faculty, and staff, 

As President Harris announced on the first day of class, a team has been working to create diverse opportunities for our community to learn about and come together to share and explore our own relationships with the war and crisis in Israel and Gaza. We hope to hear from people highly engaged on this topic and connect more as a campus around these issues.   

We are writing today to share an overview of this programming and some key dates.    

Later this month, we are delighted to welcome Professor Johanna Solomon back to Grinnell College, who will join us on campus Feb. 15-17. Currently an assistant professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kent State University, Solomon is an interdisciplinary scholar and conflict resolution practitioner who studies core questions of identity in peace and reconciliation. She is a certified mediator with hundreds of hours of mediation and group facilitation experience.  Her experience includes work with the Olive Tree Initiative, NewGround: Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change, The Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and the National Conflict Resolution Center. Solomon has conducted international fieldwork in the Middle East, and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Tel Aviv and Inter-Disciplinary Center in Herzliya as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar during the 2013-2014 academic year.  

Professor Solomon will be leading the following conversations (location and registration information will be provided in the Campus Memo – registration is requested to anticipate attendance, but attendees are welcome to attend without registering). 

Thursday, Feb. 15 

12-1 p.m. Faculty and Staff (lunch provided) 

4-5:30 p.m. Jewish self-identified students 

6:30-8:00 p.m. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) self-identified students 

Friday, Feb. 16 

4-5:30 p.m. LGBTQIA+ self-identified students 

6:30-8 p.m. Muslim self-identified students 

Saturday, Feb. 17 

9-10:30 a.m. - Students from Conflict Zones  

12-1:30 p.m. All participants in the previous conversations.  Lunch will be provided. 

Additional events include: 

Feb. TBD Rabbi Sarah Brammer-Shlay, Professor Caleb Elfenbein, and Imam Abdul Muhaymin will lead a conversation about antisemitism and Islamophobia. 

March  
Time, Date, and Location TBD  
Voices of Jerusalem Film Screening and Workshop. Please RSVP by emailing Brammershlay@grinnell.edu .  

Tuesday, March 12 
12-1:00 p.m., HSSC A1231 
Public Reading with Israeli American Author Moriel Rothman-Zecher of his books Sadness is a White Bird and Before All the World. Lunch provided. 

Tuesday March 12 
6:30-8:00 p.m., JRC 209 
Book Club of Sadness is a White Bird.  Deadline to sign up is Feb. 20 (limited to 20 people) Sign up online in order receive a book. Light snacks provided. 

April 5 
12-1 p.m. HSSC A1231 
Community Friday Lunch Session. Exploring How to Have Hard Conversations (Please watch for the registration link in your email). 

TBD   - Parents Circle Virtual Event 

Please watch the Campus Calendar, the Campus Memo, and your email for additional details and potential additions to this programming as we move through the semester. We hope that you will participate as we learn how to be in dialogue, even within tense issues.  Your participation helps build trust across different identities and opinions and helps our community learn how to negotiate hard conversations – skills that will be useful this semester and as we approach national elections in the fall. 

Once again, we are grateful to everyone whose work has made these opportunities possible.  We look forward to seeing you at these events and on campus. 

Sincerely, 

J.C. Lopez
Interim Vice President for Student Affairs                      

Marc Reed 
Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer