U.S. Black College Officials in Isreal to Set Up Academic Exchange Programs with Hebrew U.

Five leading Black university officials from the United States are in Israel this week in a pilot project aimed at creating an academic bond between their institutions in the American south and Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“Our goal is to inaugurate a series of academic exchanges between scholars in Israel and Black college leaders in the United States,” said Jacques Torczyner, chairman of the interreligious and community relations department of the World Zionist Organization, which is co-sponsoring the project with the World Jewish Congress, Hebrew University and Israel Colloquium, an interfaith group. Torczyner added:

“We hope to forge these academic links by creating opportunities for Black scholars to conduct research in Israel and by affording Israeli scholars the opportunity to meet and know the American Black community and Black scholars in the U.S. In so doing, we hope to promote better understanding between the people of Israel and the Black community in the United States.”

In addition to meeting deans, scholars and other academic leaders in Israel, the American educators will be received by Yitzhak Navon, Israel’s Minister of Education; U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering; and Simcha Dinitz, a Knesset member and vice president of Hebrew University.

THE BLACK ACADEMICIANS IN ISRAEL

The Black academicians now visiting Israel are:

Dr. Barbara Carter, vice president for academic affairs, Spelman College, Atlanta; Dr. Ann Covington, dean of academic affairs, Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, Miss.; Dr. Mary Day, dean, school of social work, Howard University, Washington, D. C.; Dr. William P. Hytche, chancellor, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Md.; and Dr. Timothy Langston, director of sponsored research, Florida A and M University, Tallahassee, Fla.

The group, which left New York Saturday night, will be meeting with Israeli scholars in American studies, professors of comparative religion, and scholars from the Middle East and Black Africa who are associated with Hebrew University’s Truman Institute for Peace.

HOPES PROGRAM WILL OPEN A TWO-WAY ROAD

The itinerary also includes the Hebrew University school of agriculture, the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, the Afro-Asian Institute in Tel Aviv and other academic institutions. The academic exchange program is directed by Dr. Kitty Cohen, a professor and researcher now working in the Washington area, who said:

“We believe this program will open a two-way road: for Black scholars who are not familiar with the political, ethnic, religious and academic diversity of Israel, and for Israelis who are unaware of the goals, concerns and achievements of the Black community in America today.”

Cohen concluded: “Only when we develop close social, academic and professional relationships can there flower the understanding and mutual respect that will overcome prejudice and ignorance. This is the goal of the pilot project now under way.”