South Florida Congressional Delegation Urges FAU to Keep Holocaust Center Open
Reps. Wexler, Klein, Hastings, Wasserman Schultz, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Meek sign onto letter to FAU President

(Washington, DC)  Today members of South Florida's Congressional delegation sent a letter to Frank Brogan, President of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) expressing concern over the possible shutdown of FAU's Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education.  Representatives Robert Wexler, Ron Klein, Alcee Hastings, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Kendrick Meek signed onto the letter, which urges Brogan to ensure that FAU's Holocaust Center remains fully funded despite budget cuts by the State of Florida.

The Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education was established in 1996 to provide resources for the unfunded state mandate for Holocaust Education.  FAU has been integral to this education process and served as a resource to an average of 338 pre-service teachers, 2173 community members, and 275 in-service teachers with classes, exhibits, workshops, and more each year.  In March, Congressman Wexler collaborated with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to hold a critical briefing for Holocaust survivors at the FAU Center to discuss the opening of the International Tracing Service Holocaust in Bad Arolsen, Germany.  The Center is also been integral in addressing and raising public awareness regarding the ongoing crisis in Darfur, Sudan where hundreds of thousands of Darfurians have been brutally killed over the past several years.

"Since its launch, the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights at Florida Atlantic University has been an invaluable resource for Holocaust survivors, educational institutions and the entire South Florida community,” said Congressman Wexler.  “It is essential that FAU keep this prestigious Center open at a time when the scourge of genocide as well as anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial continues globally.  Members of the South Congressional delegation are ready to work with President Brogan and Florida Atlantic University to ensure that this center remains open and continues to be source of information and education to Holocaust Survivors and all South Floridians.”

The full text of the letter is below.



May 12, 2008

Frank T. Brogan

President, Florida Atlantic University

Office of the President

777 Glades Road

ADM 334

Boca Raton, FL 33431

 

Dear President Brogan:

As members of Congress representing Holocaust Survivor communities in South Florida, we are greatly concerned about the possible shutdown of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education due to budget cuts by the State of Florida.  Such a shutdown of the Center would greatly impact Holocaust Survivors in South Florida who rely on FAU’s Center for assistance and would eliminate much-needed educational workshops for thousands of teachers and students in Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Glades, and Okeechobee counties.

As you know, the Center was established in 1996 to train teachers and provide resources to public schools to implement the unfunded state mandate for Holocaust Education.  FAU has been integral to this education process and has gone above and beyond in providing this much-needed curriculum, serving an average of 338 pre-service teachers, 2173 community members, and 275 in-service teachers with classes, exhibits, public lectures and training workshops each year.  Its lending library is utilized by educators and students in seven counties and on an average of 100 schools and 318 teachers per year, lending out over 7600 items annually. Additionally, the Center’s Holocaust Survivors’ Speakers Bureau serves a yearly average of 160 teachers, 56 schools, and over 4000 students.

Most recently, the Center hosted a critical briefing with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) for Holocaust survivors to discuss the recently-opened International Tracing Service Holocaust Archive at Bad Arolsen, Germany, which until November 2007 was virtually inaccessible to Survivors and the public.  This event was extremely successful in educating Survivors in South Florida about how to access millions of documents recently transferred to the USHMM.  It is essential that the Center be maintained in order to facilitate requests for information from those archives to the USHMM from local Holocaust survivors in an effort to provide them with vital information about their loved ones, many of whom perished over six decades ago.

President Brogan, at a time when anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are on the rise around the world and atrocities continue to occur in Darfur, it is critical that the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education be fully funded to ensure we do not forget the lessons of the Holocaust.   We greatly cherish the role the Center has and continues to play in assisting students, teachers, and most importantly members of the local Holocaust survivor community who utilize the resources at FAU.  We know that you are making every effort to ensure that this program continues to provide its invaluable service to our community, and we appreciate all your efforts in this regard.  To this end, we ask that you exhaust all possible efforts to ensure FAU’s Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education remains fully funded in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

We greatly appreciate your support on this issue and look forward to your response to our letter.

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Congressman Wexler is Chairman of the Europe Subcommittee and a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Judiciary Committee; and he also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

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