Six LMU undergraduate students along with Rabbi Mark Diamond, a Jewish Studies lecturer at LMU, participated in a Young Leaders Roundtable with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti at City Hall on Dec. 1. The program brought together campus leaders from LMU, UCLA and USC for an open dialogue with the Mayor’s team on critical issues of interest to students, including immigrant and minority rights, homelessness and public safety.
The forum was a follow-up to a well-attended November roundtable held on the LMU campus. Students who attended the City Hall program will brief their fellow campus leaders later this month and strategize about future plans to strengthen intergroup relations on and off campus.
Students Dylan Fox, Alfredo Hernandez, Nicolas Martinez, Janie McManamon, Lauren Moreno and Kaelyn Sabal-Wilson represented LMU in the community roundtable with Mayor Garcetti.
“It was a thought-provoking discussion to say the least,” said Nicolas Martinez ’17, a political science major. “It was great to collaborate with Mayor Garcetti and his staff, all of whom deeply care about the future of Los Angeles and the next generation who will fight for justice for all those who live here.”
“I’m proud of these students for their involvement and commitment to strengthening intergroup relations,” said Rabbi Diamond, who worked with student leaders and LMU Student Affairs to coordinate LMU’s participation. “Civic engagement is always important, but civic dialogue is especially timely and critical in this post-election period.” Diamond teaches LMU’s “Interreligious Experience and Engagement” course in the Jewish Studies program.