Michal Golovanevsky, President of CAMERA-supported group Mustangs United for Israel at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo has the following updates from her group:
CAMERA Boston Conference
Our treasurer, Jordan Kochavi, and I, had the pleasure of attending CAMERA’s Student Leadership Conference in Boston. CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, is one of MUFI’s closest and oldest partners, and this conference allowed us to get to know their staff and organization better. The conference covered the anti-Israel media bias around the world, history and background of the conflict in the Middle East, and most importantly, concrete ways and methods to combat anti-Israel sentiment on campuses.
We all learned how to be better leaders and Israel advocates, as well as made connections with dozens of wonderful students and professionals from all over the country, who we can rely on for ideas and support. In addition, I had the privilege of giving a presentation about our club to the conference, as an example of a successful pro-Israel organization. I received overwhelmingly positive feedback, admiring MUFI’s work and dedication, which is entirely attributed to the amazing board members that we have. The conference reassured me that we are on the right path, and that we will continue to achieve bigger and greater things.
Partnerships & Fellows
As in previous years, MUFI’s board members will be serving as campus fellows for several pro-Israel organizations. This year we have Charlene Niku, our Hillel Liaison, as the Jewish National Fund (JNF) fellow, Roee Landesman, our Vice President, as the CAMERA Fellow, myself as the StandWithUs fellow, and most recently — Jordan Kochavi, as the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) fellow. We will also continue to work closely with Chabad, Hillel, AEPi, and AEPhi, through our liaisons. We plan on strengthening our partnerships with other campus organizations such as the Multicultural center and the Office of Diversity & Inclusivity.
Future Events
So far, first quarter is looking pretty busy for MUFI, and we couldn’t be more excited about it! Here are just a few of the events we have planned so far:
Early on, MUFI is planning an event sponsored by CAMERA with Dr. Clive Lipchin, the Director of the Transboundary Water Management Center at the Arava Institute in Israel. Dr. Lipchin will be flying out from Israel to present at Cal Poly about the Arava Institute. Specifically, Dr. Lipchin will be speaking about Israeli water innovation and technologies, and how this water innovation is used to promote regional peace between Israelis, Palestinians, and the other Arab countries. Lipchin is an incredible speaker and we are honored to be hosting him.
Coming up after, will be an IDF Soldier Tour, brought to us by StandWithUs, which we hope to host with the ROTC Army department. This event has been very successful in the past, and we are looking forward to continuing this tradition. Later in the quarter, Artists 4 Israel will be coming back to Cal Poly to do one of their coolest events — custom making shirts for dozens of students. In addition, we will be having several social events and tabling sessions around campus. Keep up with our Facebook page for more information about dates and locations of these (and more!) events.
Contributed by Michal Golovanevsky, President of CAMERA-supported group Mustangs United for Israel.