Brandeis Orthodox Organization, along with Brandeis Black Student Organization, hosted an event called "Night of Identity," which was aimed at bridging the connection between the Orthodox and the black communities on campus, according to BOO Education Coordinator Zahvi Glasenberg '11. "The BOO-BBSO event has a history at Brandeis as an opportunity to bridge between two very different groups in the Brandeis community who wouldn't normally have so much interaction," Glasenberg said. "The event is meant to educate, entertain and encourage students to be exposed to new cultures and to learn more about their peers," she added.

The event included musical performances by The Mighty Glucks and Jermyn Addy '11, the reading of a creative writing piece by Yoanna Freedman '11, a speech given by Prof. Peniel Joseph (AAAS) and a student panel, which consisted of three students who spoke about their experiences with diversity and what diversity means to them.

Shirah Moses '11, who spoke about her experiences growing up and attending an Orthodox day school in Teaneck, N.J., said, "I remember looking at statistics of my school in 11th grade, and they were something like out of 610 students, 603 were classified as being white, five were classified as being Hispanic, and two, being my sister and myself, were classified as being African American or black," she said.

Daniel Acheampong '11, an immigrant from Ghana, spoke about his most difficult memories concerning diversity and identity at his elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y. "I remember before I got like a lot of friends in school, they would be like, 'I never saw a dark guy like you before,' and I'm like, 'Woah, are you kidding? My brother is darker then me,"' he said.

The third panelist, Mateo Aceves '11 from Berkeley, Calif., shared his feelings about being one of the only Orthodox students in his public high school. "In my high school of 3,200 students, there were only two of us that wore a yarmulke, and I remember walking around in junior and senior year of high school and feeling what an alienating experience that could be," he said.

"The student panel was one of the best things I've ever heard at Brandeis," BOO President Andrew Gluck '11 said. "Just hearing other students' experiences and considering how well spoken they all were and how honest and forthcoming they were about their identities is really quite moving," he said.

"I really identified with [the panelists], and I feel like even someone who wasn't African American or Jewish could feel that too," Amber Jackson '11 said.

"Students spoke very insightfully about things I'd never thought about," Jacob Chatinover '12 said.

The topic of Joseph's speech was "Black and Jewish political alliances in the twentieth century: from National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and labor and Communist organizations to Civil Rights era to the present." He spoke about how President Barack Obama can be considered a president that fights for Jews, women and blacks. He also spoke about Obama's cabinet and how many think that it may be too diverse. He concluded his speech by saying, "This is a time to really find common ground even while talking very frankly about political differences. I agree with Obama that we can disagree without being disagreeable."

In an interview following his speech, Joseph said, "It's great to have these kinds of programs that attempt to start some dialogue between African Americans and Jews."

"I think it's nice when people bring their own perspective to an event like this; it really makes it personal," Ellie Klausner '09 said.

"I was impressed, shocked and extremely pleasantly surprised [by] the turnout," Gluck said.