In Washington, where political difference is often treated as a fault line, a group of college students spent part of the summer doing something increasingly rare: listening together. They came from 14 colleges and universities across the United States. More than half were completing concurrent internships in the nation's capital, including placements in both Democratic and Republican congressional offices. Others worked at Legal Aid DC, in commercial real estate and with a faith-based organization.
What united them was not a political affiliation, but a willingness to confront difficult history. Through the 2026 Two Museums Program, the students visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The program, led by founder Dr. David Machlis and Program Director Professor Joseph Celentano, is an initiative of Adelphi University's Robert B. Willumstad School of Business in affiliation with International March of the Living.
From the beginning, Machlis made clear that the experience was intended to travel far beyond Washington. "This is not a one-and-done event," he told the students in his opening remarks. "You will be the boots on the ground at your university, in your community, and wherever you might go to combat hatred, intolerance, racism, and antisemitism."
Machlis framed the program around a principle that is both simple and demanding: "The Holocaust is not just a Jewish issue, nor is racism just a Black issue." Learning from both museums, he argued, can help form a more tolerant and just society at a time of widespread hate. "Fighting hatred must be a team game," he said, "and we have assembled a fabulous team of students to enter this battle."
The idea took shape after Machlis received Adelphi University's first President's Humanitarian Award in June 2021, following 54 years at the university. He recalled telling the audience that if the honor merely recognized longevity and retirement, it should go to someone else. If it motivated him to become more deeply involved in combating racism, antisemitism and other forms of hatred, however, he would graciously accept. As he left the stage, the idea for the Two Museums Program came to him.
For the students, the program's power came from the combination of historical scholarship, museum artifacts and human testimony. Participants heard from 97 year old Holocaust survivor Peter Feigl and learned from experts about antisemitism, the Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement and the Rwandan genocide. The result was not a set of easy answers, but a series of questions about how prejudice develops, how language can prepare a society for violence and what responsible leadership demands.
Adeline Johnson, a St. Olaf College junior interning at Legal Aid DC, called the experience life-changing. "There is no textbook that can truly teach you about the lived experiences of torture, hatred, and intolerance that marginalized groups have faced throughout history," she wrote. Being close to survivors, scholars and historical artifacts gave her what textbooks could not. Feigl's testimony left her asking how young innocence can be prevented from hardening into complacency and obedience. Her response was a commitment to use her own leadership roles to speak against discrimination and injustice, even when doing so carries a cost.
At the Holocaust museum, several students returned to the corridor containing thousands of victims' shoes. For Gabi Maldonado, a George Washington University sophomore, the display made the Nazi inversion of human worth painfully tangible. "It is truly unimaginable how physical items could be valued over a human life," she reflected. Feigl's account of his father's final act - giving his son a small pouch containing his parents' valuables - deepened that realization.
Simon Santodomingo, a videographer who has spent years explaining complex politics to Spanish-speaking immigrant audiences, described a different kind of transformation. He entered the program thinking of communication as a craft; he left understanding it as custodianship. "I have read the history; I know the figures," he wrote. "None of it prepared me for the particular gravity of a person who carries the thing inside his own memory, speaking in the first person about what the books render in the third."
The program also challenged participants to understand the histories of Black and Jewish Americans not simply as parallel narratives, but as stories that have often intersected. River Le, a George Mason University junior, said he had not previously understood the depth of the relationship between the two communities during the Civil Rights movement. He left believing that future leaders have a duty to protect the history of racism and antisemitism from erasure and to keep learning the parts of history they have not yet encountered.
The emphasis on leadership was practical. Every participant who completed the program received a Certificate for Ethical Leadership from the Willumstad School of Business. Lily Spoerke, a St. Olaf junior and Legal Aid DC intern, will serve as president of her university's Student Government Association during the coming academic year. She sees that position as an immediate opportunity to bring what she learned to a broader campus audience. Kennedy Stewart, a Tennessee State University sophomore, expressed the central lesson succinctly: "Change begins with awareness, but it must be followed by action."
"The feedback from this year's cohort highlights the profound societal impact this initiative has on young minds, as these exceptional students confront the historical roots of hatred and build bridges for a better future, “said Program Director Professor Joseph Celentano.
That bridge from memory to action explains why the program is a natural fit for International March of the Living. Its annual educational program brings students from around the world to Poland to study the Holocaust and examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hate.
Eli Rubenstein, Director of Education, International March of the Living, observed: “Among the goals of the March of the Living are the need to stand up against antisemitism and racism, attesting to the dignity of all members of the human family, welcoming opportunities to learn about different ethnicities and cultures, and bearing witness to the common humanity we all share. Visiting these Washington museums along with other young people from diverse backgrounds, listening firsthand to the testimony of Holocaust survivors, learning from world renowned experts about other 20th century genocides, dovetails perfectly with the mandate of the March of the Living.”
First launched in 2023 and held again in 2025, the Two Museums Program expanded in 2026 as its organizers worked toward a national model. Its bipartisan composition is not incidental. Students preparing for careers in law, public policy, business, advocacy and public service learned together before returning to very different institutions and communities.
The Two Museums Program continues to cement its reputation as a benchmark for experiential learning, combining academic rigor with real-world civic engagement, observed Mark Ginsberg, Towson University President and Two Museums Presidential Advisory Board member. “With the mentorship of renowned experts, participants “dive deep” into the societal and personal implications of history while also reflecting on how lessons of history inform the challenges of today. In short the Two Museums Program is remarkable,” he said.
In a message to the participants, Lee MaschIer, Co-Founder and major supporter for the program said, “I hope this experience strengthens your ability to listen, to understand, and to inspire others. You are the leaders of tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see the impact you all make.”
After reading the participants' reflections, Machlis said the outcome was already visible. This cohort, he predicted, would become "boots on the ground" in combating hatred, intolerance, racism, and antisemitism and in building bridges toward a better tomorrow. The students did not leave Washington believing that two museum visits had completed the work. They left understanding that the work was now theirs.
Written in collaboration with March of the Living