In the wake of three pro-Palestinian protests on the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) campus that rendered the Golda Meir House unsafe for Jewish student events, administrators have found a replacement venue for Jewish students to conduct Shabbat services and other activities.
The Golda Meir House Museum, where the three protests were staged, required the addition of iron gates for protection and was essentially closed for security reasons on Oct. 25, and Nov. 7, the dates of the second and third protests on the Auraria campus.
Iron protective gates erected during the demonstrations were taken down, though the Golda Meir House Museum is open only for museum events and no longer for Jewish student activities. The conference side of the museum, coincidentally, is closed for renovation that was planned many months ago.
The renovations are slated to conclude in March, 2024.
“The conference space in the house is currently undergoing significant renovations planned since spring 2023, which is another reason for the building’s closure,” said Rebecca Ruiz, AHEC marketing director, in a statement to the IJN.
“Like any construction zone and others on campus, the location was closed to protect visitors from possible harm,” said Ruiz. “The museum continues to schedule private tours for when it is safe to access the building.”
“The construction was supposed to happen in June,” said Lena Fishman, executive director of the Golda Meir House Museum.
“Just by nature of the calendar, it didn’t happen, and they started construction last week [the week of Nov. 13].
“The museum itself is still open. Other groups that are not directly museum-related are not meeting there for now, but that will probably change.
“That it was closed for safety, unfortunately, affected the Jewish student programming the most, like Shabbat dinners, and also regular leadership meetings that were happening in the Golda space.”
The exhibit, “Colorado: Birthplace of Ideas as Presented in the Pages of the Intermountain Jewish News,” does remain on display at the Golda Meir House through the end of 2023.
As for services and meetings previously conducted at the Golda Meir House, AHEC has designated space in the Tivoli student center for interim use.
“They are actively helping us to find an alternative until we can return back to the Golda Meir House, said Rabbi Yisroel Ort, head of Chabad of Auraria.
“They are working to ensure that we have a place that meets the needs or all of our special accommodations, especially for Shabbat observance,” said Rabbi Ort, who has also been in communication with AHEC administrators about anti-Semitic events occurring on campus.
“AHEC staff has worked extensively with Rabbi Ort to address community concerns and reschedule events previously scheduled at Golda Meir to another location on campus during the renovation,” said Ruiz.
“Additionally, staff who worked within the museum have been relocated due to the ongoing renovations to an environment that offers additional support during this time of turmoil.”
“AHEC has worked really hard to find other spaces that are not in a museum where you have to worry about artifacts,” said Fishman.
“Because [Tivoli] is such an old and very historic building, there are a bunch of fun spaces all over the building that would actually be perfect for Shabbat dinner,” Fishman said.
“Skip Spear, who is the legal counsel at AHEC, made the call that it wasn’t really safe to have other programming in Golda right now. He went out of his way to find another room, which will be a great space,” she said.
Denver Students for a Democratic Society, which is not required to register with AHEC or give advance notice about a subsequent rally, has not established a presence outside the Golda Meir House Museum since Nov. 2.
Copyright © 2023 by the Intermountain Jewish News
