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"If we are to be the best Emory that we can be going forward, we need to benefit from the lessons of all of our history. Not just those parts of our history that we like to remember, but those that we deeply regret." --Emory President James Wagner
Between 1948 and 1961, 65 percent of Jewish students at Emory University’s former dental school were targets of discrimination. Despite sound academic achievements and excellent skills, they were given failing grades, made to repeat a year, even told to leave the school. A half century later, S. Perry Brickman—one of those former dental students—brought this injustice to light by organizing the production of a documentary film, From Silence to Recognition: Confronting Discrimination in Emory’s Dental School History, which premiered at Emory in October 2012.
Dr. Brickman’s research and the moving film that resulted led to Emory’s formal apology for the actions of the former Dental School’s dean and faculty. Dr. Brickman’s work opened the door to healing for the former students, and it highlighted the efforts of Arthur Levin, the Anti-Defamation League Southeastern Regional Director at the time, who documented the pattern of discrimination and took his findings to then Emory President, Walter Martin, more than 50 years ago.
Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies are honoring those who suffered and fought against this discrimination with a new endowment to fuel the work of graduate students in Jewish studies. With your gifts, the Brickman/Levin Fund will increase the amount of financial support these scholars receive for their work toward a PhD at Emory. By making the study of Jewish life and culture a permanent part of Emory’s graduate curriculum and providing support that will allow the university to train the next generation of Jewish scholars, the Brickman/Levin Fund will serve as a powerful repudiation of the discrimination that occurred a half-century ago.
Your gift allows Brickman/Levin Fellows to learn from world-renowned faculty.
Your gift provides a graduate student the time and space to pursue his/her research.
Your gift helps graduate students in the Tam Institute hone in on their language and analytic skills to become world-class scholars of Jewish Studies.
Your gift allows Brickman/Levin Fellows to share their passion and knowledge with undergraduate students at Emory.
Your gift enables Brickman/Levin Fellows to carry out their dreams of becoming leading scholars in the field of Jewish Studies.