Student Testimonial Detail

Lauren Kerner

After graduating from UC Irvine in Spring 2017, I was working at a Jewish student organization at a major university. The events of that summer and fall, in particular the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and the Las Vegas shooting, brought me to an inflection point. Alarmed by inflamed nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism in the United States, I went on to earn a Master's degree at Oxford University in Modern Middle Eastern Studies, focusing on the history and international relations of the region, a subject area I had come to love in the History and Jewish Studies programs at the UC Irvine School of Humanities. During my time at Oxford, I watched the news of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting and family separations from across the Atlantic. I felt strongly about bringing change to our national leadership and immediately after graduation I began working as a field organizer in New Hampshire for Joe Biden's campaign, going on to work in South Carolina and Virginia during the Democratic Primary Elections and as the Regional Organizing Director in Broward County, Florida during the 2020 General Election. As I wait for my next chapter to begin, I am reminded of the extraordinary community at UC Irvine's School of Humanities, the History Department, the Humanities Honors Program, the Jewish Studies Program, and Professor Lehmann, all to whom I owe a great deal for believing in me as a young undergraduate and pushing me to explore, to care, to question, and to engage.