Operation Understanding Hampton Roads accepting applications

by | Jan 22, 2016 | What’s Happening

Applications due Monday, Feb. 1

A year-long leadership development program for 40 African American and Jewish high school students in Tidewater, Operation Understanding Hampton Roads (OUHR) is now accepting applications for the relaunch of the program by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.

Over the course of the OUHR year, high school student participants build understanding, respect, and friendship through monthly workshops and a fourday summer Civil Rights trip to sites in the Farmville and Richmond areas. OUHR participants develop their personal strengths, share one another’s cultures and religions, and enhance their leadership abilities. Sophomores and juniors are invited to submit applications to participate in this prestigious program.

“Operation Understanding Hampton Roads will play a critical role in preparing students to be inclusive leaders in their schools and community,” says Jonathan Zur, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. “At a time when hurtful rhetoric, bullying, and prejudice create divisions and barriers in our society, OUHR invests in students who will develop life-long skills in communication and leadership across lines of difference.”

OUHR was originally conducted from 1998 through 2006, and is being led in 2016 by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, along with coalition partners the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Tidewater Jewish Foundation, Urban League of Hampton Roads, and the YWCA of South Hampton Roads.

For more information about Operation Understanding Hampton Roads or to obtain an application form, visit www.inclusiveva.org/ouhr or email RMancoll@ujft.org. Applications from high school sophomores and juniors will be accepted through Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.