Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) recently discussed Israel activism on campus and student leadership development with a Hillel delegation led by President Avraham Infeld during a meeting in the senator's Capitol Hill office.
After a report on the atmosphere on campus from Hillel Center for Israel Affairs Director Wayne Firestone, Sen. Schumer recounted how he successfully opposed anti-Israel activists while a student leader at Harvard University in the late 1960s. Schumer, one of Israel's staunchest defenders in Congress, assured the group that he supports Hillel's effort to promote pro-Israel education.
Brooklyn College Hillel Executive Director Linda Askenazi, whose Hillel Is located in the district represented by the senator when he was in the House of Representatives, provided the perspective of New York universities. The senator offered to work with Hillel in the future to help foster student leadership in New York and beyond.