Speaking with William & Mary Students

On September 20, 2024, 3GDC President AJ Siegel was invited to speak with William & Mary  Professor Janice Zelman, Ph.D. and her students in the “Topics in Culture and Trauma” course. The goal was for the students to have a better understanding of why remembering the past can help protect the future.

“Over the course of 45 minutes, I shared both the history and mission of 3GDC and the way in which we engage with our grandparents’ stories to educate students about the dangers of hatred, and specifically antisemitism,” said AJ Siegel. “I then talked about how, during a 2021 virtual program, we discovered common traits about our 2G parents, such as actively delaying going to sleep. The students were truly dumbfounded at these commonalities.”

“One student shared that her bat mitzvah in Charlottesville took place two weeks after the Unite the Right rally in 2017 and how that terrible event cast a pall over the celebration. She asked me if it is hard to tell our stories in this environment of rising antisemitism. I responded that it is that much more important to continue speaking out through our stories—not just for the sake of the Jewish people but everyone.”

To conclude his presentation, AJ shared his grandfather’s message: “Hate is like a virus. Not only does it consume the one that hates, but it spreads and mutates to others, destroying their lives, and often the lives of those who their hatred is directed towards.”