Editor’s Note: A correction to the title of Jordann Ondo was made on Sept. 12. 

Two religious organizations at Florida Atlantic University, Catholic Owls and Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach, representing Catholic and Jewish students, held a collaborative dinner on Wednesday night. The event was meant to strengthen and build relationships with each other, regardless of religious beliefs.

Though both groups represent different religious groups, the two organizations came together to talk about their faiths while also encouraging lighthearted conversations between one another. This was the first time the two organizations had collaborated.

Broward and Palm Beach Hillel’s Vice President of External Programming, Jordann Ondo, a senior majoring in public safety administration, helped set up and organize the event. She said she met members of Catholic Owls who agreed an event like this would help both communities grow together during Hillel’s annual trip to Israel, a trip that invites non-Jewish student organization leaders to visit Israel. After further talks, the two groups finally pulled through and made the event a reality.

“It’s basically for us to make friends in the organization and really build the connection that will lead to more dialogue and relationships with each other,” Ondo said. “The world is a tough place, and everyone can always use more friends.”

The event featured games like trivia, with teams having to answer questions about both Catholic and Jewish traditions and culture. With each team consisting of members of either one or neither group, team members had to discuss answers with their whole table. The winning teams were rewarded with first dibs on the kosher taco bar.

Attendees like Jorianys Rivera, a junior biochemistry major, said the event felt very welcoming, with everyone being easy and fun to talk to. “I think they strived for everyone to make new connections with the starting bingo game, and it definitely encouraged new and open-ended conversations,” Rivera said.

Vice President of Holidays for Hillel, Samantha Kuzel, a senior psychology major, also helped to set up the event. She said she was amazed by how well it turned out, given all the hard work that went into it. “Leaders from both communities worked closely to design the flow of the evening. Through many thoughtful meetings, we discussed the best ways to communicate our goals and decided on a mix of games and guided discussion to spark dialogue and connection,” Kuzel said.

Both sides agreed that the event’s purpose was to get people out of their comfort zone and talk to one another. Catholic Owls president and senior business management major Ryan Preston said, “We really want to have an opportunity for the members of our clubs, who don’t often interact to have an event that they can go to where they can meet new people.”

The collaboration also encouraged participants to openly acknowledge their different backgrounds. Instead of focusing only on similarities, the organizers wanted to highlight what made each group unique. That decision shaped the structure of the night, from trivia to seating arrangements.

“We had Catholic and Jewish trivia so we could learn about our religions, our traditions and our cultures,” Preston said. “And then we had icebreaker questions, we had randomized sitting so that people wouldn’t just sit next to people they knew.”

Ondo said that both groups made sure to make the event as inclusive as possible, choosing a taco bar to appeal to everyone and trivia to encourage teamwork and friendly competition. She said she loved how the event went, and said that even after games and during dinner, people were still talking with each other, which is what the whole event was about.

“The actual structured part of the event is dying down, and everyone is still talking and having fun, so I feel like it really went well,” Ondo said. “I’m not Catholic, I’ve never been to a Catholic mass, so this is my way to really talk to new faces that I’ve never talked to before.”

Julius Demosthenes is a Staff Writer for the University Press. For more information on this or other stories, contact Demosthenes at jdemosthenes792@gmail.com or DM jay_dem0 on Instagram.