On the anniversary of the Sept. 9 protests that turned ConU into GazaU last year after Netanayhu’s recalled speech, Concordia Hillel put together a concert for peace on the Terrace in the back of the Hall Building.
“We want to promote a good vibe at Concordia,” said Adam Spiro, 22, VP finance for Concordia Hillel. “We want students to feel that ‘Wow, Concordia is a cool place to be.'”
With five bands and a friendly, inviting atmosphere of food and talk, the Concert drew a nice little crowd, some not even Concordia students.
“The music,” said an passer-by who dropped in to have a listen and enjoy the show, “that’s what drew me. You can hear it from the streets.”
With a fresh new executive that vows to put students first and activism second and an orientation starting the year off with a festive outlook, Spiro hopes that the tensions of the past will stay in the past.
But, he said, if things do get tense, he hopes that “a respectful dialogue” can occur and that if that doesn’t work, they’ll really “need to pick [their] battles.”
After all Spiro said, “This school does not belong to a select few. It belongs to 30,000 students.” And, that wants Hillel to continue to fill its mandate “without alienating the entire student body.”
Josa Alley, co-president of Hillel Concordia, reiterates that, “peace has to start somewhere” and “once it starts, you get the ball rolling and the momentum catches on and creates something much bigger.”
That momentum started with the Halal and Kosher barbeques during orientation week and even with a peace offering by the Muslim Student Association giving different association, notably Hillel, a basket with information on Islam.
