On Monday, Nov. 18, students from O’Connell’s Global Studies Program and Unity Council attended the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Concert Against Hate at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This powerful and inspirational event honors heroes in the fight against intolerance, extremism and terrorism. Stories are told about individuals who chose to act when faced with hatred and bigotry.
Soon after entering the Kennedy Center’s grand foyer, students were able to meet Nesse Galperin (pictured left, with chaperones, second from right), a devoted volunteer at the United States Holocaust museum and passionate advocate of Holocaust education. Originally from Lithuania, Ms. Galperin lived through a ghetto, a concentration camp, four labor camps and a death march. Her father was killed in the gas chamber at Auschwitz. She immigrated to Washington in 1950.
The 2013 honorees included:
Representative John Lewis, one of the most important leaders of the Civil Rights Movement,
Jose Antonio Vargas, who covered the Virginia Tech shootings and founded “Define American
Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered by a terror group working with Al Qaeda four months after the September 11 attacks
Judy and Dennis Shepard, parents of Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in 1998. Their work led to the passing of the Federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Bishop O'Connell students, accompanied by faculty members, Dan and Monica Stabile, and Andrew Edmondson, were deeply touched and inspired by the stories told by celebrities Charles S. Dutton, Omar Epps, Harvey Keitel and Gabrielle Union. At the end of each story, the National Symphony Orchestra performed a specially-selected piece of music.