Failure in Chicago

Posted on April 27, 2012

     In Michael Lipkowitz’s article, “Failure in Chicago,” the author responds to Dan Brown’s article titled, “Looking Beneath the Surface in Chicago.”  Dan Brown writes about the controversy of the “now public, disagreement between the University of Chicago Hillel’s recently fired director and advisory board and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Hillel’s owner.”  Lipkowitz adds the additional point that, “If you’re a JFMC donor, do yourself a favor.  Next time some nice person from their campaign department tells you how important it is to contibute, ask them tough questions about how they actually ‘support’ agencies.”  The most important thing I found was that Brown “encourage[s] both the Federation, and those formerly connected to UC Hillel, to begin to think about what is best for the students – something clearly absent from the various conversations we’ve had.”  Making sure that the students stay the focus of this discussion is of the utmost importance.  Politics always come into play and present issues, but what must be remembered is that the organizations are here to provide services to the people who need them and the students should not  be deprived of the good that can come from these organizations.  Sometimes, we lose sight of the goal because of the politics involved, and should try and focus on what our missions are and return to who we are and maybe more importantly, who we serve.  
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