By Elianna Mintz, ICB Reporter 
When members of Columbia University’s pro-Israel and African American student groups accepted an invitation to hear two leaders of the Vanguard Leadership Group (VLG) speak on campus recently, they assumed it would be an interesting program, but they had no idea they would be a part of a groundbreaking event.
As they RSVP’d for the program, they could not have known that the event would herald significant change at Columbia. Once they arrived, however, they realized just how potent the unification of the campus’ African American and Jewish American students could be.
Most were unfamiliar with VLG, an Atlanta-based honor society for high-achieving African American students at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. Established in 2003, VLG is committed to instilling a global mindset within their students and as such has had been engaging the pro-Israel community since 2007.
VLG founder and executive director Jarrod Jordan traced the history of the group’s strong embrace of Israel to the 2008 AIPAC Policy Conference, where members were in the audience when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama stressed the importance of the historic relationship between African Americans and Jewish Americans.
“Obama explained that together African Americans and Jewish Americans are pushing America forward,” Jarrod recalled. “He expressed gratitude to AIPAC for their continuance of that relationship, which inspired us to pursue that relationship as well.
“Once we understood the issues and the importance of the US-Israel relationship,” he continued, “it became our duty to expose students of VLG and African Americans in general to the Jewish American and African American relationship.”
“The VLG is about creating global citizens,” added the group’s president, Michael Hayes. “We expect each student to understand issues that go on in the world and the conflict in the Middle East is included in such issues. By taking a stance on such issues, we hope to make a difference in the world and inspire the students of VLG to do the same.”
VLG members pursue these goals by participating in AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference, lobbying against divestment efforts in Atlanta and neighboring communities and, most recently, placing ads in campus newspapers across the country condemning the use by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other of the word “apartheid’ in regards to Israel.
The ad, which has been published in campus newspapers at UCLA, the University of Maryland, and Brown University, has spurred tremendous public attention. The ad is entitled “Words Matter” and demonstrates that SJP’s hateful rhetoric hinders peace efforts.
In the ad VLG proclaims, "We request that you immediately stop referring to Israel as an apartheid society and to acknowledge that the Arab minority in Israel enjoys full citizenship with voting rights and representation in the government."
VLG members’ voices carry significant weight when it comes to addressing the apartheid charge. As a group with special ties to the people who suffered under South African apartheid, their criticism of SJP’s use of the word is extremely potent. They know what apartheid is, and they know that Israel is not practicing it.
VLG members decided to use an ad campaign to spread their message about the “Israeli apartheid” canard. Their initial efforts to publish the ad in Columbia Spectator were rebuffed with the explanation that the newspaper does not publish political ads. Ultimately, it was published as an
op-ed by a member of the campus Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.
A number of campus groups at Columbia decided to bring the two VLG leaders to campus to discuss the emerging relationship between the African American honor society and the national community of Israel supporters. The event was sponsored by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), Columbia Black Students Organization (BSO), LionPAC, Columbia/Barnard Hillel Interfaith/Intercultural Committee, and StandWithUs.
At the event Jordan and Hayes spoke about the historic relationship between African Americans and Jewish Americans. As oppressed minority groups, they said, Jews and African Americans united during the Civil Rights movement. This collaboration was underscored by the fact that all presidents of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) were Jewish from its inception until 1975.
Since the 1970s, the speakers noted, black-Jewish ties have waned, and VLG is determined to change that. The recent ad campaign is just one step in that process, and Jordan said the group’s efforts have not generated backlash from the African American community.
“Many are curious as to why we have taken such a strong stand in Middle East politics but no one has expressed any malicious intent,” Jordan told ICB.
At the Columbia event Jordan and Hayes stressed the need for Jews and African Americans to join together in a concerted effort against SJP as they worked together in the past.
“What unites us is far greater than what divides us,” Hayes told the assembled audience. “We all have the passion to make a change in the world, so why not do it together? This partnership is where to begin.”
Following the event, CAMERA campus fellow Danielle Reich, who helped organize the program, called it “an epic event, because it’s on a campus with such a strong anti-Israel group. As I saw everyone in the audience, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, nodding to what Jordan and Hayes were saying, I realized that despite the political differences we can truly come together. I really hope that we can make a change for the future.”
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