CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte university is increasing its efforts to advance Holocaust education in the community.
What You Need to Know
A $1.5 million gift aims to help advance Holocaust education
The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center will offer a certificate in Holocaust Pedagogy to area teachers and community members
The certificate will be offered next summer
The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University will offer a certificate in Holocaust Pedagogy to community members and area teachers.
Stan Greenspon, the former president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, offered the $1.5 million gift to the center.
Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center Associate Director Talli Dippold said the gift will allow them to take Holocaust education to the next level.
“With the Holocaust survivor community dwindling, the fear is that Holocaust distortion, the facts that led to the genocide are now going to be questioned in an even more alarming rate,” Dippold said.
Dippold is the granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors and doesn’t want this to happen ever again.
“As I mentioned, genocide happened before the Holocaust, we know that it continues to happen and it appears that humans don't really learn from the past. And part of our goal is to ensure that other minority groups don't go through experiences such as the Holocaust,” Dippold said.
Noah Goldman works at the center as the university’s coordinator of Jewish life. He said education is one way to help prevent hate incidents from happening.
“It’s important people see the signs. It’s not a joke, it’s not funny,” Goldman said.
Goldman graduated from Queens University in 2019. While he was a working as a resident assistant in a college dorm, he received an unwelcomed note in his room.
“There was a swastika on a sheet of paper that was slipped under my door, so I reported it immediately. The university took it very seriously,” Goldman said.
He said education about the Holocaust is a critical tool that can motivate people to speak up and stand up for justice when they see something that is wrong.
“What tends to happen is when one person stands up, other people who just need that little boost of encouragement, they stand up as well,” Goldman said.
He said it’s also important to be courageous, confident and moral.
The certificate will start being offered in the summer, and a scholarship will likely be offered to area teachers.
Recently, the state budget also included the Gizella Abramson Education Act, which states the Board of Education and other groups will review and integrate Holocaust education in different classes in middle and high school. In addition, a curriculum for a Holocaust elective may be offered in middle and high schools. It will become law at the beginning of 2023-24 school year.