PLS student’s efforts to unite Jewish-Arab students wins him the Outstanding Student Leadership Award

May 2, 2025 - Karessa Weir

Tyler Pohl, a Political Science and Economics junior, has been awarded the 2025 Dean’s Student Advisory Council (DSAC)’s Outstanding Student Leadership Award.  

Pohl, who is vice president of external affairs for the MSU Jewish Student Union, submitted an essay on the efforts he has made to improve relationships between Jewish and Arab students at MSU.  

“With the current events in the Middle East and the ongoing war, this endeavor has been extremely important to my personal agenda for a more inclusive Spartan community,” he wrote in his essay.  

Pohl has hosted joint events for the JSU and the Muslim Students Association and arranged coffee meetings with the Arab Cultural Society (ACS) and the JSU executive boards. 

“It has been a long-time goal of mine to leave a legacy for my student community, to create open lines of communication and to be a good student leader,” he said.  

Last year as Interim Chair for the Council of Racial and Ethnic Students, Pohl pioneered an Iftar-Shabbat meal “in order to bridge the gap between the Arab and Jewish communities here on campus,” he wrote in his essay. 

“During the meal, we held meaningful conversations and helped to normalize conversations between our different student groups with differing world views,” he wrote. “I have learned through my work ... that collaboration is the key.” 

He has also worked with ASMSU to combat anti-Semitism on campus this semester “making the campus environment feel more welcoming for Jewish students.” 

"Tyler's work fostering collaboration and dialogue between Arab and Jewish communities on campus via meals, conversation, and community understanding, was recognized by the awards committee as representing leadership that promotes mutual understanding, open dialogue, and respectful exchange of ideas. His leadership was applauded for promoting well-being, cultural understanding, and respect," said Associate Dean Emily Durbin.

Pohl is originally from Dresher, PA, where he graduated from Upper Dublin High School in 2022. He is passionate about many things regarding politics, but the topics most interesting to him are foreign affairs and global markets. 

After his undergraduate, Pohl hopes to find himself working in a congressman’s office, either in Michigan or Pennsylvania, or alternatively, he hopes to become a congressman himself.  

Pohl was among three students to receive DSAC Outstanding Student awards this year. The 2025 Humanitarian Award was given to Noah Forman, Economics, while the Undergraduate Research Award went to Melissa Teja, Anthropology.  

The students were honored along with the Outstanding Seniors from each department at a luncheon with Dr. Emily Durbin and Dean Brent Donnellan.