Last Friday, a dinner was held to honor the Jewish tradition of Shabbat. The event was held by Delta Phi Epsilon (ΔΦE), a sorority at the university.
This was the second year the event was held, with hope of continuing the tradition in the future. The event was open to all of the university and was hosted in the student union.
After a quick speech and candelabra lighting from the event organizer, Kristen Tweedy, everyone bowed their heads in an opening prayer.
“Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to light the Shabbat candles,” said Tweedy.
With that prayer, people were free to eat. The selection of food included sandwiches with several different lunch meat choices, potatoes and desserts.
Attendees at the event, such as Nicholas Wines, seemed to enjoy the food.
“I loved the food, and I love the atmosphere that was given here in order to support other people and religions across the world,” Wines said.
For the sorority, this event was very important.
In 1917, Delta Phi Epsilon was founded by five Jewish members. These women founded the sorority on the ideals of providing acceptance of all races and religions.
Allison Carroll, a member of the university’s Delta Phi Epsilon chapter, discussed the importance of this dinner to the organization. “Shabbat Dinner is really symbolic of the community that we built in the sorority. I think that having it just shows how far along society has come in terms of acceptance.”
As for planning the event, a lot of time was spent in order to get everything perfect.
Kristen Tweedy, who is the vice president of equity and belonging in the organization, especially spent a lot of time planning the event.
Tweedy’s role, which is the newest role assigned in Delta Phi Epsilon, aims to ensure fairness and belonging within the university chapter and create Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) events for people to enjoy.
For this event, Tweedy mentioned the most challenging aspect of planning the Shabbat Dinner was keeping the event culturally accurate.
“The actual logistics, like catering, was easy. I think the most work came from actually making sure that we were approaching this appropriately and correctly,” said Tweedy.
With this planning, members of Delta Phi Epsilon expressed their support for Tweedy.
“I think Kristen, the one that planned it, is an [absolutely] amazing person. She worked very hard to put all this together, and I appreciate her so much and everything she does for the sorority,” said Carroll.
As someone who will graduate within the next year, Tweedy is hopeful that the next vice president of equity and belonging will continue the tradition of Shabbat Dinner, but this is not a guarantee.
Even with this dinner concluded, there are other DEI events that are in the works. Annual events such as “Letters and Legacy,” “Be Kind to Humankind,” and a potential DEI workshop are all upcoming.
