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Sitting in her office at SFSU, Lyles recalled the day when Zoloth-Dorfman approached her and asked her to teach the course, slated to begin this fall.

"My initial reaction was, `No.' I thought: What right did I, a non-Jew and a black woman, have to teach such an important and emotional class? But as I came to realize its multicultural potential I felt that yes, I should do it…I wanted to do it."

Made possible by a $4,000 grant from the Holocaust Memorial Education Fund, a fund of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation's Endowment Fund, the class will be jointly offered through SFSU's English and Jewish studies departments. It marks the first time the English department has offered a Holocaust-related course.

Having recently completed Brandeis University's Summer Institute Program on Teaching the Holocaust, Lyles is prepared to teach a class comprising Jewish and non-Jewish students.

Zoloth-Dorfman believes Lyles will provide a "fresh lens" for looking at the Holocaust. "Her unique perspective should broaden class appeal to students from a range of cultural backgrounds," she explained, noting that of SFSU's 30,000 students, only 6,000 are Jewish.

Zoloth-Dorfman said there has been a renaissance in Jewish studies at SFSU, which offers more classes in this field than any other university in the Bay Area. Last year, some 200 students enrolled in Jewish studies courses. This year that number is up to 300.

SFSU's Jewish studies program began operating in 1994, thanks to a planning grant of $46,000 and seed funding of $100,000 from the Endowment Fund. The program, which already offers courses through the departments of history, film and comparative literature, covers subjects including the Holocaust, immigration, feminism, Zionism, biblical and talmudic literature, and issues of Judaism and social responsibility.

Lyles intends to use the new Holocaust course as an opportunity to study the works of authors such as Elie Wiesel and bring in guest speakers and Holocaust experts from both the university and the outside community.

"As a black person, I feel the forces of oppression and racism. I want to teach young people to reject prejudice and stereotypes and learn to hear the truth," she said.

Several years ago, when SFSU became the focus of national attention following the unveiling of a controversial Malcolm X mural, Lyles demonstrated her determination to speak out against intolerance.

At the time, she was arrested for attempting to paint the words "stop prejudice" on the painting — which was later denounced as anti-Semitic for its inclusion of Stars of David amid dollar signs, skulls and crossbones and the words "African blood."

Now she is committed to helping her students understand why it was "so objectionable to paint that swastika on the mural" and help them gain a sensitivity to other cultures.

"With professors like Lyles, they should get the message," observed Bill Lowenberg, a Holocaust survivor and chair of the Holocaust Memorial Fund.

With intolerance an "unfortunate fact of life," Lyles called courses like the one she will soon teach increasingly necessary.

"The Holocaust is not a pretty subject. But I believe we have to study it to be fully human. It is our responsibility to provide a voice to the voiceless."

The grant to SFSU was one of five totaling $16,000 allocated in support of pilot projects promoting Holocaust education in public, private and parochial schools and colleges. The following Holocaust Memorial Education Fund grants were also awarded:

*$4,000 to the Holocaust Center of Northern California to begin a Holocaust Education Mentor Teacher program in the San Francisco Unified School District. After becoming experts at teaching the Holocaust, mentor teachers will train other teachers in their districts.

*$3,000 to Facing History and Ourselves for three full-day follow-up workshops for teachers using the Facing History program to help young people make the connection between the history of the Holocaust and the moral choices students face in their own lives.

*$2,500 to the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Holocaust Center of Northern California to implement a scholar-in-residence program with Professor Rudolf Vrba, author, scholar, lecturer and Holocaust survivor.

*$2,500 to the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust at Sonoma State University to support the broadcast quality videotaping of lectures from the Sonoma State Holocaust lecture series as part of the college's distance learning program.

For information about SFSU's new Holocaust course, call the Jewish studies department at (415) 338-6075.