By Michelle Latshaw
A delegation from Oakland University traveled this April to the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel College in the central Galilee region of Israel to establish a partnership between the two institutions. Oakland University President Gary Russi and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Virinder Moudgil signed three agreements on April 7 with the Max Stern Academic College that will allow for future student and faculty exchange programs and research collaboration.
“This partnership will benefit students and faculty for generations to come…,” said Russi. “Oakland University is committed to providing global experiences for all students who seek them and this partnership with allow us to expand research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.”
Russi, Moudgil and the OU delegation met with Aliza Shenhar, president, Max Stern Academic College, as well as other faculty from the Israeli college including Matthew Silver, head of the General Studies Department and assistant to Shenhar. Other OU delegates included Susan Davies Goepp, vice president for University Relations, and Michelle Piskulich, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Max Stern Academic College is located in the Yezreel Valley in the Galilee region and is the largest public university in northern Israel. The college has approximately 4,000 students currently pursuing bachelor degrees, of which an estimated 75 to 80 percent of the student population is Jewish and the rest consist of Arabs and Druze.
The Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit worked with OU to help create this partnership, according to Susan Davies Goepp, OU vice president of University Relations. “This is one of the many ways that OU has become involved with community organizations to enhance OU programs and help us add value to the communities we serve,” said Goepp.
Robert Schostak, alumnus (CAS '78) and member of the CAS advisory board, and his wife, Nancy, led the trip for the OU delegation. Schostak is the president of Schostak Brothers & Company, a commercial real estate company in Oakland County, and a member of the executive committee of the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit.
A long-time advocate of increasing Jewish community relations at OU and a firm believer in giving back to the community, Schostak, along with his wife and family, recently established the Schostak Family Foundation Endowed Fund to support the Judaic Studies program at OU, including program development, faculty and operating costs.
OU’s College of Arts and Sciences is looking not only to offer students religious education through the Judaic studies program, but also provide global and cultural experiences that can help students and faculty alike to understand political, social and economic problems that exist between culturally diverse countries.
“To understand the conflicts that are so problematic in the Middle East and the world, Americans need to understand religion and culture,” said Michelle Piskulich, associate dean of OU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “By adding the Judaic Studies minor and creating this opportunity to study abroad in Israel we hope to increase the knowledge and understanding of Judaism, not only among Jewish students, but among students of all backgrounds.”
Michelle Latshaw is a senior journalism major from Clinton Township, Mich.
A delegation from Oakland University traveled this April to the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel College in the central Galilee region of Israel to establish a partnership between the two institutions. Oakland University President Gary Russi and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Virinder Moudgil signed three agreements on April 7 with the Max Stern Academic College that will allow for future student and faculty exchange programs and research collaboration.