He remembered the diversity of the group — which was bipartisan, interfaith and intergenerational — as being particularly impactful as they toured sites of importance to Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

“As a Jew, seeing Israel through the eyes of the Christian members of our delegation was a moving experience which greatly added to my understanding of why so many people care about this small piece of land,” he explained.

Kritz was selected for the trip due to his work as an intern with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) and his travel was sponsored by a grant from the Minneapolis Jewish Federation. The JCRC was asked to plan the trip, which included meetings with key figures in Israeli and Palestinian politics and tours of religious sites, centers of business, and locations of political importance.

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Fardosa Hassan ’12

Fardosa Hassan was born in Somalia and graduated from Washburn High School in Minneapolis. She is now a senior at Augsburg majoring in sociology and international relations with a minor in religion.

Her leadership was key to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum held at Augsburg. She worked to prepared the interfaith dialogue that occurred between former Prime Minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik; Rev. Mitri Raheb of Palestine; USAID leader Zeenat Rahman; and U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison.

Fardosa served as an intern in the Kenya Parliament. Here her experience with Kenyan culture and politics led her to change her major. Fardosa’s firm belief in the importance of basic human rights was strengthened by her experience in Kenya. It was there that she came to the realization that what she cares about most is women’s rights: equal pay for equal work, and much more. Fardosa also completed an internship with Lutheran Social Services, where she had the opportunity to work on immigration and refugee issues.

A founding member of Augsburg’s Interfaith Scholar cohort, Fardosa was recognized by President Barack Obama and invited to the White House to take part in the Interfaith Campus Challenge. This further strengthened her strong belief of the importance of protecting basic human rights here and around the world.

Marie Braun

Marie Braun has spent nearly six decades, starting when she was twenty-something, working on behalf of peace and justice. She marched with Martin Luther King to Selma, and was further motivated by King’s 1967 speech against the Vietnam War. Her effort has been constant, and her focus has been in helping those who need it most.

Marie co-founded the Counseling Clinic in Brooklyn Center, which provided outpatient chemical dependency and mental health treatment to those who might otherwise not have been served. Marie, on behalf of the victims of war, has been to jail, traveled to Iraq, and demonstrated at Alliant Tech and in the offices of our elected officials. She has repeatedly risked arrest. Her primary purpose is peace, and in this, she strives to make a difference for women who always bear a disproportionate share of the ravages of war.

Marie works relentlessly and with courage to bring constant attention to the immorality of war and the weapons of war, and to say, “You may not fund or carry out these wars in my name—not in my name.”

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