I’m a little slow on math. Despite the fact that last night’s plenary was full of “there are 2000 people here” and “there are 500 college students here,” it didn’t dawn on me that, if these numbers are accurate, a quarter of the population of this conference is made up of college students. That’s impressive.
I’ll be interviewing some of them, and some other people of interest as the day goes on.
I found two students from Middlebury at the J Street U table in the hallway outside the session rooms, one named Steve Dunmire, one who would rather not be named. Let’s call him/her ‘X’.
Q: How did y’all get involved with J Street U?
X: I got involved because one of founders of J Street U, [J Street U President Moriel Rothman] is a student at Middlebury and he had a lot of great education programs going at Middlebury , so I got involved that way.
Dunmire: I study Middle East politics and some friends had high praise for J Street, so I got involved.
Q: What do you think the recent cancellation of the J Street U Birthright trip by Birthright indicates?
X: On my Birhtright trip [through Hillel] last summer, J Street came up a couple times and our staff chaperone from Birthright openly said, “Oh, they’re crazy,” twice. Birthright definitely has a political leaning.
X was referring to Birthright’s assertion that Birthright is apolitical and because of that, they can’t have a J Street-sponsored trip.
