Pluralism Week will start off on Monday with a panel of rabbis to discuss Judaism and the differences between its sects. Tuesday will include an event hosted by the Catholic Student Center (CSC). In addition, Luke Timothy Johnson will give a lecture titled “The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters.” Wednesday will feature a talk on Islam. Idan Raichel, an Israeli music artist, will perform on Thursday.

This is the first year religious groups have come together for Pluralism Week. Sophomore Hannah Rabinowitz, the organizer of the week, plans to continue the concept into the future.

Rabinowitz started Pluralism Week to educate the University’s campus about different religions.

“The goal is to really educate Wash. U.’s campus in general but also people who are involved in specific religious culture and life on campus [and] to expose people to the cultures of other religions,” Rabinowitz said.

Sophomore Kelly Diabagate, the Muslim Student Association’s (MSA) coordinator of Pluralism Week, wants students to learn more about Islam.

“I want students to learn that Islam is not so different than other religions,” Diabagate said. “We hold the same values and especially when it comes to Judaism and Catholicism, we all have the same roots.”

Another aspect of Pluralism Week is that many different religious groups are working together on campus. According to participants, there have previously been few coordinated activities between the different groups. The planning for the week has involved the Jewish Student Union (JSU), Atma, MSA and the CSC.

More programs will be coordinated by JSU and MSA in the future after this week of activities, according to Rabinowitz.

Rabinowitz said she first wanted to start Pluralism Week to increase religious dialogue on campus.

“Hopefully it will create a more inclusive environment and an environment where there’s more understanding and where people are more comfortable talking about religious issues with one another,” Rabinowitz said.

Diabagate agreed with Rabinowitz.

“I also hope that students will learn that only through respecting each other can we ever achieve some type of peace in the world,” Diabagate said.

Other students said they think that the topic of religious pluralism is not as noticeable as it could be on campus.

“I wouldn’t say there’s not an open dialogue, but I definitely think there is not as much effort put into discussing religious diversity as racial or cultural diversity,” sophomore Catie Gainor said.

Gainor added that she believes students do not discuss their individual religions often.

“I don’t think anyone feels like they can’t talk about their religion, but I don’t think anyone feels especially encouraged to do so either,” Gainor said.

Sophomore Ingold Huang said he also felt that students do not spend much time creating an open religious dialogue on campus.

“It seems to me that…students at Wash. U. in general would be interested in an occasional discussion about religion, faith and philosophy about life, death and an afterlife, but most Wash. U. students are really busy with their studies…and tend to be more interested in finding their careers rather than pondering the mysteries of life and death,” Huang said.

Many students also mention that they know plenty about the monotheistic religions but are lacking knowledge about many polytheistic Eastern religions.

“I feel I know a bit about Judaism since Wash. U. has a populous Jewish community, but otherwise I do not really know that much about other religions,” sophomore Will Stock said.

Rabinowitz said she believes that Pluralism Week is already making a difference.

“[Since future coordinated programming has been discussed,] it’s already opening that dialogue a lot more than it was before we started organizing this event,” Rabinowitz said.

Pluralism Week will conclude with an Interfaith Shabbat Service, a trip to a Hindu temple and mass at the CSC over the weekend.

Former neo-Nazi activist T.J. Leyden came to campus Tuesday night to speak about racism and its relationship with new media. Leyden was brought in as part of Holocaust Awareness Week by the Jewish Student Union. (Sam Guzik | Student Life)

T.J. Leyden, a former enlisted Marine Corps soldier and neo-Nazi activist for 15 years who now speaks out against the skinhead movement, came to the Washington University campus on Tuesday to speak about the nature of racist groups and their use of new media for recruitment purposes.

Leyden’s presentation was a part of the programming organized by the Jewish Student Union (JSU) for Holocaust Awareness Week.

The separatist movement in the United States

Leyden spoke about the activities and traditions of skinheads and different racist groups throughout the country. He emphasized that all these groups aim to bring anarchy and divide the national community.

Referencing the recent neo-Nazi rally held in downtown St. Louis, Leyden said the goal of such separatist movements is not solely the destruction of marginalized identity categories.

“I think the National Socialist Movement showed up here in St. Louis to use it as a way to be antagonistic and as a social recruitment tool. The real goal is not about white pride or destruction of others, but they use these rallies to polarize two people [based on their different backgrounds],” he said.

Furthermore, Leyden said the strategies employed by racist groups have evolved into targeting teenagers and other demographics through popular culture.

“The White Power movement targets children as young as Web sites on the Internet, especially on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube,” he said.

Leyden said he was motivated to distance himself from the skinhead movement when he started thinking about the future of his five sons. After working at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish foundation, he gave his first speech in 1996 and, since then, has addressed more than 650,000 students.

Naomi Daradar, the University’s coordinator for student involvement and multicultural leadership, attended the presentation and agreed with Leyden’s call to protest hate and racism.

“Wash. U. is not perfect and there are incidents of hate and awful things that happen on campus,” Daradar said. “But I really do think that there are students here on campus that are fighting against hate.”

Daradar referred to groups like Connect 4, Association of Black Students, Ashoka and the Asian-American Association that attempt to spread awareness of students’ multicultural backgrounds and create dialogue among people coming from different backgrounds.

Leyden’s unique background

Members of the JSU said Leyden was invited for his broad-based appeal to the student body.

“We decided to invite T..J. to come to campus, because we thought it would be a powerful and meaningful experience for all those who attended. As the coordinator for JSU’s Holocaust Awareness efforts, I wanted to reach out and educate all different types of people,” said junior Cara Staszewski, JSU vice president of cultural and educational programming.

Part of the planning included contacting the Washington University Police Department (WUPD) to provide the necessary security for Leyden.

According to Staszewski, three police officers and several security guards were at the presentation because “in his contract, T.J. requests an armed guard to accompany him from the time he steps onto campus until the time he leaves.”

“His life is often threatened, and he must take the necessary precautions to protect himself. Because of the proximity of the American Socialist Party rally to T.J.’s arrival on campus, WUPD recommended that we have increased security at the event,” Staszewski said.

In his presentation, Leyden said he did not come here to boast about his past or to justify his past wrongdoings, but rather to show the seriousness and pervasiveness of hate crimes, racism and the separatist movement.

Students who attended the presentation said they were intrigued by Leyden’s unique background.

“I think it’s rare to encounter someone like Mr. Leyden, who has been able to turn his life around in such a positive way, especially so late in his life. He has a unique perspective on racism in America,” senior Aryeh Roskies said.

Racism and hate crimes in Missouri

Leyden’s presentation included information about hate crimes in Missouri and in the United States as a whole.

There are currently 30 hate groups in Missouri, which ranks 11th among all states in terms of the number of hate groups. In the past year, hate crimes reported in Missouri were organized under four major categories: race, sexual orientation, disability and gender.

Leyden also remarked on how institutions in the United States worsen racism. The prison system, he said, separates inmates based on race.

While he was an active member of the Marine Corps, the military allowed him to participate in passive racist acts. Leyden estimated that at least 3,000 racist individuals who champion the separatist movement are currently being trained in the U.S. military.

Students react to Leyden’s lecture

Roskies said he was troubled after hearing how rampant and pervasive hatred in America is today.

“What I took away from his presentation was that we really shouldn’t underestimate racist movements in America,” Roskies said. “In particular, I was struck by his points about the Army and the military training that members of racist organizations receive there. All in all, I thought Mr. Leyden was fantastic. He has a lot of courage to be doing what he’s doing, and I’m really glad I had a chance to hear him speak.”

Although some students were reserved at first, many had a rewarding experience by the end of Leyden’s presentation.

“I was impressed by how engaging it was. At first, it was difficult to listen to, because a lot of the things that he had done in the past were pretty graphic, brutal and hateful actually,” Daradar said. “I was moved by what he had done in a positive way now.”

Oren’s lecture will address many of the problems facing Israel today, including terrorism, threats from Iran, the nation’s military arsenal and changing demographics, among others.

The speech, titled “Israel in the Face of Existential Threats,” will largely focus on the future of Israel and how it can survive.

“I think it’s a different opinion they don’t perhaps get otherwise, to talk to someone who not only studies this in the classroom but also [offers] a good perspective for them,” Oren said in an interview with Student Life and the Jewish Light.

The event was organized to help educate students and develop a dialogue on campus about current Israeli issues.

“[We want to] reignite the dialogue regarding the Middle East on campus because we feel it’s not an issue discussed on campus, and it’s a shame, because we feel like we can make a really big difference,” said senior Ari Sasson, one of the event coordinators.

“Wash. U. has such a big Jewish community and we feel like it has the potential to do a lot of good, but it’s not really discussed. Bringing Michael Oren is just one part in this wider initiative,” Sasson added.

The event is cosponsored by  numerous student groups on campus, including the Jewish Student Union, the College Democrats, the College Republicans and the Political Science Student Association (PSSA). Many other community groups are also sponsoring the event.

According to senior Danielle Heiman, another coordinator of the event, so many groups are involved because Oren’s career touches on both the academic sphere and political sphere.

“The importance [of the event] is that it’s showing what we’re talking about doesn’t just necessarily have to do with Israel, but it has to do with general academic areas of interest that most Wash. U. students should be interested in on some level,” Heiman said.

The bipartisan nature of this event is something not often seen on the University’s campus.

The PSSA is serving mostly as a nonpartisan group to facilitate and coordinate the efforts of other groups involved.

According to junior Mark Dudley, president of the PSSA, this is a great way for different campus organizations to collaborate and appeal to a wider range of students.

“[The sponsors of the event] will send a message: This event is open and public discussion. It’s not going to be biased or slanted in anyway,” Dudley said.

Dudley said he hopes the groups can continue to work together after Oren’s visit.

“I hope it’ll be a chance for our four groups to get together not just once but in the future to bring events and speakers to campus. It’s kind of a coming-out for the four of us if you will, together, working on this event,” Dudley said. “I think if you really want to move forward and plan really strong events, the four groups working together with other groups is a great way to get things accomplished that are open to the student body.”

Oren has been a visiting professor at both Harvard and Yale universities and is currently a visiting professor at Georgetown University. He has published works in several national newspapers, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Oren is the author of two New York Times bestsellers and a fellow at the Shalom Center in Jerusalem. He has also testified before Congress.