Dean Aaron Fetrow Takes Interfaith Trip to Israel
Aaron Fetrow, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, took part in a March trip to Israel sponsored by the Greensboro Jewish Federation, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Community Foundation of Greensboro.
“It was an interfaith mission trip, but the term ‘mission trip’ is a bit misleading — that makes it sound like we were there to convert people,” Aaron said. “It was more an interfaith education trip about religion.”
The trip was from March 18-28, and included about 40 people who are in leadership positions in Greensboro.
“Guilford has a history of being on this trip — a lot of past Guilford presidents have gone on it,” he said. “But [President] Kent [Chabotar] had been to Israel in the past few years, so he asked me to go, and I went on behalf of Kent and the College.”
During the trip, the group learned about the Israel/Palestine conflict.
“Once I got there I realized what I didn’t know,” Aaron said. “I felt like I understood the basics, but until you’re there, you have no clue, no understanding of the depth of the issue — I still don’t.”
However, he believes that the trip can be beneficial for Greensboro.
“We can’t solve the issue,” he said. “But can we make a difference in Greensboro? Yes. Can we make this issue open in Greensboro? Yes.”
This story was written by David Pferdekamper ’12, the 2011-12 news editor of The Guilfordian.
