Dena Sara Kohn

“How do you measure the life of a man?” This question is a central theme of the Broadway show Rent, Dena’s favorite musical play. In so many ways, Rent also represented Dena’s epic struggle between life and death, which she fought on a daily basis for half her young life of 23 years. While AIDS and drug addiction were the diseases most prominently featured in Rent, Dena was afflicted by and eventually died from complications associated with depression and eating disorders. Rent attempts to measure the life of one of its protagonists in quantities of love. And love was certainly what motivated Dena. Everything she did was out of love for others. It was love that pushed her to continue living as long as she could. It was love that gave meaning to her life. And it was love that dictated all her efforts. Her love could be summed up in the Hebrew ethic of tikkun olam, which loosely translated means “to repair the world.” Throughout her life Dena practiced tikkun olam, but her motivations were best described in some of her own words:

“I think that every challenge that has been given me will allow me to help better this world in believing that we are all human, and we deserve to live a better life. While my diseases have challenged me deeply, they have also given me many gifts, like compassion, empathy, and an ability to see beauty in all. This is the reason why I am so drawn to using creative arts, like cinema, music, literature, and theater to promote conflict resolution and peace. I believe that if given a chance, I will make a difference in my life and the lives of others throughout the world.” (Application to the University of Hawaii, February 2, 2008)

As mentioned, Dena’s commitment to making a difference in the lives of others was not just words on paper. She was unconditionally devoted to community service, and her community was the world in which we all live. While most of her efforts were local, she dreamt that someday she would overcome her diseases and put her skills, love and dedication to practice abroad. She dreamt of helping to eradicate AIDS in South Africa. She desperately hoped to help fight disease and poverty in India. She had an abiding hope of working for peace in Israel.

Dena’s resume was more than a summary of the activities she participated in. It was an atlas of her efforts to make a difference in the world. Those efforts focused on several areas of interest including education, health care, faith, and politics.

And finally, Dena loved the arts, especially musical theatre. Not only did she love attending performances, she developed her personality and her dreams around the power of the theatre. It was Dena’s involvement in an organization called City at Peace that helped shape her future goals. City at Peace (CAP) is a youth organization that uses the performing arts to promote cross-cultural understanding and non-violent conflict resolution. Dena has said that she learned life lessons from kids from totally different backgrounds, the most important being that they all desired to be loved and understood. Dena has credited City at Peace with giving her the tools to combat injustices and challenge stereotypes that people face every day, and to enlighten others that diversity is not only important, but it makes the world a more beautiful place to live in.

Dena’s record of civic involvement taught her many lessons, and those lessons helped her discover the formula for how she hoped to shape her future and that of the world. If she had lived to pursue her dreams, Dena hoped to create a foundation that would enable her to use music and theatre to help troubled children learn to love themselves and one another through conflict resolution and other healing methods.

Again, Dena’s words say it best:

“I know the importance of culture and diversity. I also understand the power of hope and faith. I hope that I can be the one to make a child smile or laugh when they are crying. I want to give these children hope and not despair, to show them there are so many positive ways to live, and to see beauty instead of pain.

Having suffered much, I am more inspired to help others who are less fortunate than I am. I’ve learned the power of love and how important it is to have positive support in your life. I believe everyone needs someone to hold their hand at times, and to pave the way.” (City Year application, June 2008)

Dena’s is the story of a young woman who struggled against insurmountable obstacles that eventually took her life at an all-too-early age. But she did not let her struggles deter her from serving her fellow human beings in the ways she knew best. Let her record of love and of civic involvement serve as a model for all of us to live up to. And let the Dena Kohn Memorial Scholarship Fund serve as an opportunity to support local teenagers in need who demonstrate their involvement in community service as a legacy to Dena’s memory.

The Dena Kohn Memorial Scholarship Fund