Alumni Spotlight Interview with Dalia Zahger Levy

SSI Columbia University — 2019 alumna

I was the co-founder of SSI Columbia. I was then also president and was involved for 3.5 years. The reason I got involved was because I arrived from Israel and was exposed for the first time to how rampant anti Israel sentiment was on campus. I wanted to make sure I stand up for what I believe in and SSI allowed me to do so without any specific demand for political views or stand, simply being a Zionist, believing in Israel’s right to exist.

I think one of the biggest accomplishments of our chapter was starting our group and having it grow and become what it did. We had incredible events such as Hebrew Liberation Week that then spread all over the country. We brought incredible speakers and even had a trip for non Jewish student leaders to Israel. All those have allowed us to stand up to the Jewish hate we faced on campus. I do believe the biggest challenge we had and Columbia still faces is the hate coming from the administration and professors.

The best thing about being in SSI was the support. SSI has allowed us and supported us to be activists in the way we believed was right for our campus. As long as we do something to support Israel- they had our back.

To this day I still work in the Pro Israel/Jewish world and it is all thanks to my activism on campus with SSI. It has paved my professional life.

For current students, it is extremely isolating to be an activist on campus. Know that you are not alone and you are standing up in a way our ancestors couldn’t in the darkest times in history. You are acting for Never Again and there is nothing more valuable. We are with you.