The Black-Jewish Unity Dinner Series Comes to New York City
This fall, the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate (formerly the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism), UNCF, and Hillel International kicked off the 2025-2026 series of Black-Jewish Unity Dinners, bringing together Jewish, Black, and Black and Jewish college students across the country on a 14-city tour to build empathy, community, and common ground.
One stop on the tour was a recent Unity Dinner hosted at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which brought together 150 students from across CUNY Manhattan campuses, including Baruch College, City College, Hunter College, and John Jay College. Like previous dinners, tables were set up to facilitate inter-campus connections, with a mix of students from different campuses at the same tables. Once students were seated (and, of course, fed!), the event kicked off with welcome remarks from Dr. Karol Mason, president of John Jay College, and Dr. John Eaves, program director of the Tikkun Olam Initiative at UNCF, along with Hillel International President and CEO Adam Lehman.
Students then spent the evening in guided conversation with one another, utilizing a set of prompts that began with ice breakers and their reasons for participating in the dinner and led into topics such as what they love about their communities, and what freedom means for them. After the table-based discussions, students had a chance to share some of their highlights with the full group.
Keira Kepets, a John Jay student and president of John Jay College Hillel, shared, “The raw and powerful conversations that could be heard throughout the room proved that there are people who want to bridge-build and create a future of unity. My hope is that this initiative continues and that when we meet again next year, we can see how much we have grown and how impactful our efforts towards unity have been.”
Another student, who identifies as Black and Jewish added, “Just because I’m Black in a Jewish community, doesn’t mean I can’t feel a sense of belonging. I think we can all share a bunch of similarities and differences in our cultures, yet know we have some of the same struggles and know we can all overcome them together.”
The program concluded with a special highlight for the evening: remarks from New York Giants player Kayvon Thibodeaux. “It’s amazing seeing all these young scholars… see each other and value each other,” he said. “Being able to learn about other religions, creeds, cultures is what helps me take pride in my own. We are building and shifting the culture.” Thibodeaux, who is 24, also participated in the table discussions, sitting with students and sharing his own experiences.
“College students from all over New York City came together at this Unity Dinner, sharing stories of their experiences and gaining a better understanding of each other’s identities,” said Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International. “That’s what these dinners do best: create opportunities for Jewish, Black, and Black and Jewish students to learn from one another, build relationships, and commit to working together to counter antisemitism, racism and other forms of hate on campus.”
At the end of the night, students were engaging so deeply with one another that many were reluctant to leave. With the maintenance staff breaking down tables, there were still pockets of students talking and planning to meet up again. Thankfully, every student who attends a Unity Dinner, including these New York participants, has the opportunity to continue building relationships between their communities through micro-grants from Hillel International to host a follow-up event of any kind. Past grant recipients have worked on events such as an inter-religious text study group, a yoga-meditation program, and a “Rugelach and Pastries with the Rabbi and Pastor” coffee shop conversation series.
Interested in learning more about the Unity Dinners? Check out the overview of this year’s dinners and read about past events.