MBAs Hold Seder to Raise Awareness of Hunger

A diverse group about 20 full-time Smith School MBA students of all faiths and backgrounds gathered on April 21, 2011 at Van Munching Hall to celebrate Passover and raise awareness of hunger. The event offered students an opportunity to learn more about the heritage of Jewish classmates and to join with the MBA community in learning what steps you can take to end hunger in America. Students shared traditions and discussed the injustices of hunger.

The event was hosted by the Jewish MBA Association in collaboration with the MBA Association as part of Team MBA month. It was an interactive event in which all participants took turns reading from the Hagaddah, the Passover prayer book. The Hunger Seder is part of a movement started by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and happens on a yearly basis around the country.

“We thought this was an excellent opportunity to share Jewish culture with fellow MBA students and to build the MBA community,” said Becky Eisen, a first-year MBA student and one of the organizers of the event, along with fellow student Ben Pollack.

“I found that the Hunger Seder really added to the traditional themes of Passover,” said Carly Cowley, a first-year MBA student. “It was extremely interesting to take the Passover Seder and relate it to the modern issues of hunger and apathy. I had never considered Passover to be connected to anything but freedom, but the Seder really showed me how it can really be applied to many different social issues.”