Hate at the Root: How One Family’s Commitment to Education Became a Blueprint for Change

For Sharon Nazarian, the connection between education and social change has never been abstract. It's a conviction that has guided her family's philanthropy for decades, and one that took on new urgency in the wake of October 7.

The Nazarian family are proud USC Trojans, Nazarian herself earned her undergrad, master's and Ph.D. all at USC. And their long history of giving to the University of Southern California reflects a belief that institutions shape people, and people shape society. For years, they had been interested in deepening Jewish and Israeli cultural presence on campus. But when the attacks of October 7 triggered a wave of antisemitic incidents across the country, something shifted. "The world began to fall back into old hateful trends," Nazarian says. It was no longer enough to celebrate Jewish culture and identity - though that, she is quick to note, remains essential. It was time to confront the hatred directly.

That conviction led the Nazarian family to partner with Hebrew Union College on a new initiative at the College's Louchheim School for Judaic Studies, focused on educating students about extremism, rising hate, and antisemitism as a gateway to broader bigotry. The goal, as Nazarian frames it plainly, is to "fight hate at its roots."

The choice of Hebrew Union College as a partner was not incidental. Hebrew Union College's extraordinary more than 50-year partnership with USC is deep and longstanding, including the College's Louchheim School for Judaic Studies which provides USC's undergraduate Jewish Studies. The Nazarian family had watched that relationship for years with admiration. "Hebrew Union College has a lot of credibility in this space," Nazarian says. When the moment came to act, "it felt like a natural and important collaboration - one aimed at developing new solutions to very old problems."

"This gift reflects exactly the kind of partnership that allows institutions like ours to meet this moment," said Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., Gus W. Herrman President and Professor of Political Thought. "Hebrew Union College has long been committed to fostering Jewish identity, pride, and scholarship, and this initiative deepens that mission in a vital way. The Nazarian family understands that combating antisemitism requires sustained, serious effort - and their investment will ensure that students at USC have access to the rigorous, expert-led education this subject demands. We are honored to work alongside them."

Karen Skinazi, Ph.D., Director of the Louchheim School, agrees. "Antisemitism is not a relic of the past - it is a present and urgent challenge, and it demands serious, rigorous scholarship."

The course being developed through this partnership is designed not only for Jewish students navigating a newly threatening campus climate, but for non-Jewish students as well. Nazarian is emphatic on this point. Understanding antisemitism, she argues, isn't only a Jewish concern - it's a lens through which to understand hate itself. "Antisemitism leads to other forms of hate," she says. "Fighting hate is the ultimate goal."

What makes this initiative distinctive is its grounding in Hebrew Union College's existing mission. The College has long been admired by Nazarian for "cultivating Jewish joy, pride, and identity" and she was clear that she didn't want this gift to overshadow that work. The new curriculum is meant to complement it, adding a harder-edged conversation about bigotry to an institution already fluent in the celebration of Jewish life.

For other funders looking to make an impact in this space, Nazarian offers a perspective shaped by years of philanthropic work. Change, she says, doesn't happen through single gestures. "Any sort of systemic change needs to happen over time and needs to be consistent." The lessons of the Holocaust, she notes soberly, did not hold. "We lost some of the gates, the guards, that kept the really hateful parts of society at bay." Rebuilding those guardrails requires sustained, deliberate investment - in people and in institutions.

She is also candid about the ongoing responsibility that comes with giving. Writing a check is not the end of the work. "It's your duty to continue to follow your investment, have your arms around it, make sure that it grows into something you are proud of, and that has an actual impact on the world." Philanthropy, as she describes it, is both an art and a science - and impact must be tracked, nurtured, and held accountable over time.

The Nazarian family hopes this model can be replicated. The scale of what's needed - on campuses, in communities, across the country - is far larger than any single donor or institution can address. "We can't do it alone," Nazarian says, "and the pernicious effect of the last several years does not simply disappear on its own."

There is something both urgent and hopeful in that framing. Urgent, because the trends are real and accelerating. Hopeful, because Nazarian clearly believes that education, thoughtfully designed and consistently supported, can change the way people think - and ultimately, the way they treat one another.

For the Nazarian family, that belief has always been the foundation. October 7 simply made acting on it impossible to defer.