About the Committee
Over the last several years, there has been a dramatic rise of public antisemitism in the United States and across campuses nationwide, including at USC. President Folt and USC’s leadership care deeply about the Jewish community and, in January 2022, convened an Advisory Committee on Jewish Life at USC to consider a number of tangible solutions across disciplines and domains to ensure USC remains a destination university for Jewish students, faculty, and staff. Over the course of the Spring 2022 semester, this committee held five meetings and developed a set of actionable recommendations to support Jewish students, faculty and staff in several areas, including: experiences of antisemitism; university communications, processes and policies; the Jewish experience on-campus, especially for students; and education and training.
In August 2022, President Folt accepted the Committee’s final recommendations and asked the Committee’s members to continue serving in a standing capacity to implement them. Many of the recommendations are already underway, and updates on the committee’s progress and implementation will be shared periodically.
Click here to access committee’s final report and recommendations.
Standing Committee Members:
Varun Soni, Chair
Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life
University of Southern California
David Cohn
Allen & Ruth Ziegler Executive Director, USC Hillel
CEO Jewish Alumni Association
Leah Hochman
Director, Louchheim School for Judaic Studies at USC
Associate Professor of Jewish Thought HUC-JIR
Hebrew Union College – Jack H. Skirball Campus
Elyse Levine
Senior Director, Special Projects and Initiatives, Office of the President
University of Southern California
Jessica Marglin
Ruth Ziegler Chair in Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion, Law and History
University of Southern California
Rabbi Dov Wagner
Director, Chabad Jewish Center @ USC
Rob Williams
Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Chair, USC Shoah Foundation
UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research
Advisor, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
2021-2022 Committee Members:
Varun Soni, Chair
Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life
University of Southern California
David Cohn
Allen & Ruth Ziegler Executive Director, USC Hillel
CEO Jewish Alumni Association
Daniel Gold
Vice President, Community Engagement
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Leah Hochman
Director, Louchheim School for Judaic Studies at USC
Associate Professor of Jewish Thought HUC-JIR
Hebrew Union College – Jack H. Skirball Campus
Linda Hoos
Associate Vice President, EEO-TIX
Deputy Title IX Coordinator
Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity and TIX
University of Southern California
Elyse Levine
Deputy Chief of Staff
Office of the President, University of Southern California
Ariella Loewenstein
Deputy Regional Director
ADL Los Angeles
Christopher Manning
Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer
University of Southern California
Jacob Miller
Former Student President
USC Hillel
Hanna Reisler
University Professor, Professor Chemistry
Lloyd Armstrong, Junior Chair for Science and Engineering
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Michael Renov
Vice Dean, Academic Affairs Professor
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Steve Ross
Distinguished Professor, Dean’s Professor of History
Myron and Marian Casden Director of the Casden Institute for the Study of Jewish Role in American Life
Megan Saghian
Former Student President
Chabad @ USC
Saba Soomekh
Associate Director, AJC-LA
Adjunct Professor, Academy of Jewish Religion, UCLA
Kori Street
Former Interim Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation Institute
Rabbi Dov Wagner
Director, Chabad Jewish Center @ USC
Diane Winston
Associate Professor of Journalism and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism