We would like to acknowledge the support and guidance we received from our advisors, Charles A. Dana Professor of German Studies Scott Denham and Visiting Professor of German Studies Emily Frazier-Rath, as well as Sharon Byrd, Jessica Cottle, Molly Kunkel, and Debbi Lee Landi from the Archives and Special Collections team and Sundi Richard, Assistant Director for Digital Learning. The current version of this project was made possible by funding from Justice, Equality & Community, a Davidson College institutional initiative. We would also like to thank Chaplain Rob Spach, who dedicated substantial time to oral history interviews and gave us access to various archives, letters, and contacts. We are also indebted to Davidson College alumni such as Bry Reed ’20, Jalin Jackson ’19, and Jade Juana Polly ’19 (to name a few), not to mention the Africana Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies Departments, for the inspiration for this project.
Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has worked to preserve Jewish life at Davidson, namely the interviewees for trusting us with their stories and the countless community members who supported us at our events.
If you are interested in other student-led projects that have made visible stories of Davidson College, outside of its dominant narratives, we encourage you to read:
- Davidson Microaggressions Projects co-founded by Isabel Ballester ’18, Itziri Gonzalez-Barcenas ’19, and Jacob Hege ’18. An ongoing project highlighting anonymous stories of microaggressions that members of Davidson College have experienced, as well as thought pieces from contributors and guest bloggers and other programming.
- Disorienting Davidson HD Mellin ’20 and Tian Yi ’18. A history of Davidson College’s White supremacy and anti-Blackness, including a virtual tour of prominent locations on campus.
- Demands Met, Voices Lost Sanzari Aranyak ’22, Yashita Kandhari ’22, Arianna Montero-Colbert ’19, and Savanna Vest ’22. A history of past and contemporary student activism at Davidson College, as well as organizing strategies drawn from interviews with past student activists.
We also urge our readers to recognize ongoing student demands for a more inclusive Davidson College that fully adheres to its purpose:
- Student Working Group for Jewish Studies initiated by Dahlia Krutkovich ’21 and Severine Stier ’19. Linked to the Petition for Jewish Studies at Davidson College (published 1/27/2019), the group works towards hiring professors of Jewish Studies and establishing a Jewish Studies program at Davidson.
- Project ’87 Linked to the Davidsonian, found on pg. 11. Proposal drafted by the Black Student Coalition calling for Davidson College to act upon the demands of its Black students. Demands include Black representation within admitted students, faculty members, the Dean of Students, and academics (with the addition of Black Studies courses).
- Asian American Initiative co-founded by Sanzari Aranyak ’22, Raven Hudson ’21, Ashley Ip ’22, Yashita Kandhari ’22, and Cathy Xu ’21. Student activism working towards hiring Asian American Studies specialists and establishing an Asian American Studies program at Davidson College, as well as building community between Asian Americans and other marginalized identity groups.
- Davidson College Governance Reform currently spearheaded by Hannah Foltz ’13, building on the work of the Sufficient Support Campaign. The contemporary iteration of the fight to change the bylaws that mandate the President of Davidson College and 80% of its Board of Trustees be Presbyterian.
