STOP Conference in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Date: January 19, 2012

For the past 7 years, the Anti-Defamation League has worked with Siena College’s Martin Luther King, Jr./Coretta Scott-King Lecture Series’ advisory committee to present a full day conference called Students Together Opposing Prejudice. This year, the STOP Conference took place on Friday, January 13th, 2012. Over two hundred students and thirty adult advisors representing eighteen schools from around the Albany area participated in this day dedicated to exploring issues of tolerance and respect.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the advisory committee was established to bring in speakers to talk about the legacy of Dr. King.  However, the committee soon realized that they also wanted to provide an experience specifically for young people to work on violence prevention within their school environment.

The ADL coordinates the educational programming for the STOP conference where participants engage in large and small group sessions that focus on A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute activities. This year the conference break-out sessions were facilitated by eight ADL facilitators. The students and adults engaged in meaningful discussions and action planning.

Etzion Neuer, Director of Community Service & Policy in the New York office, spoke at the event, highlighting that ADL’s work is not done:

“Upon first hearing the news of the hate crime(the firebombing in New Jersey), my first thought was how the incident was a chilling echo of another religious leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who – decades earlier – had also been the victim of a fire-bombing motivated by hate.  At a time when we gather in Albany to commemorate his great legacy, it is a sobering reminder that as a society we have still not been able to completely rid ourselves of hate and the vicious violence it can breed.”

With that in mind, it is with excitement that we look forward to next year’s STOP conference where we will have an opportunity to educate another group of students about the importance of working together, regardless of differences, to move from tolerance to respect. What a great way to celebrate ADL’s 100th birthday!

Click to view News10 ABC Coverage of STOP Conference