Campus Microcommunities Have a Big Impact

Liora Knizhnik — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 17:49:00 +0000

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Campus Microcommunities Have a Big Impact

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Date

January 3, 2024

Students step onto college campuses every day to explore their identities, their communities, and to find new ways of expressing who they are. When I was a student at the University of Buffalo, I found ways to lift up the different parts of my own multi-faceted identity. I am Jewish. I grew up speaking Russian. And I also have Japanese roots. Being involved with Hillel gave me opportunities to bring my whole self into the Jewish community.

When I became the Springboard Fellow at Stony Brook University, I was determined to create the same kind of opportunities for other Jewish students. Together with student leaders, I have worked to create a range of microcommunities within Stony Brook Hillel; spaces where students who share multiple cultural backgrounds can connect with each other and deepen their relationships with their own identities.��

The first community I turned to was the Russian Jewish community. As a Russian-speaking Jew, I was able to ensure that programming was authentic and accurately represented our culture. This brought so much meaning to students within the Jewish Russian-speaking community at Stony Brook and inspired me to further broaden this opportunity to include other microcommunities. I invited students to launch programs that not only brought their identities to life but also introduced their fellow students to their unique cultural backgrounds.

Just a few months later, with the creation of the “Culture Committee,” a cohort that empowers students to authentically and effectively host events for microcommunities, we are growing into a Hillel that celebrates the diversity of the Jewish people by hosting events that gather Jews from various backgrounds. Whether watching Russian cartoons or painting tote bags together at the LGBTQ center, we create meaningful opportunities for students to connect with and learn from one another.

This work helps me connect with students who may not have initially found meaning in their Jewish identities. While the Jewish community is often perceived as monolithic, our microcommunity-focused work uplifts all kinds of Jewish students, altering that perception both within the Jewish community as well as the broader campus community. This means that Jewish students who would have never considered connecting with a Jewish community on campus now feel welcome and that they have a home ��ϴ��.��

We have also been able to welcome a new group of student leaders who began their Hillel journeys in the Culture Committee. Students who have led microcommunity-specific events have gained experience and confidence to take on other leadership roles ��ϴ��.��

I’m so grateful that our efforts around building space for all kinds of Jewish identities have provided Stony Brook students the opportunity to connect Jewishly and culturally and grow in their leadership abilities. I am excited to see the ongoing growth of our Hillel as the Culture Committee continues to evolve.

Springboard Fellowship

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Welcoming our New Springboard Fellowship Director

��ϴ�� — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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Welcoming our New Springboard Fellowship Director

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��ϴ��

Date

June 30, 2022

Leah Palestrant (she/her) is thrilled to be joining the Springboard Fellowship team at ��ϴ�� after serving as a learning and development professional for education non-profits for the past decade.�� As the Director, Springboard Fellowship ��ϴ��’s Schusterman International Center, Leah is passionate about engaging students and providing powerful leadership development experiences for young professionals. Before joining Hillel, she oversaw training and Alumni strategy at both City Year Jacksonville and Teach For America and was also a former high school Biology teacher. When she’s not strategizing about what’s next for Jewish early career professionals, Leah spends her time volunteering for local organizations -coaching basketball with Special Olympics and rescuing manatees with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. As an involved member in her local community of Jacksonville, Florida, Leah belongs to Congregation Ahavath Chesed, participates in a local chapter of the Daughters of Abraham book club, and serves on the Board for the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida.�� Leah is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she studied Zoology and Psychology.

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��ϴ�� launched the Springboard Fellowship in 2016 to train cohorts of young Jewish professionals in highly-valued skillsets and place them at local Hillel campuses for two years. The Springboard Fellowship is a reimagining of the Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellowship, a Hillel program that ran from 1994 to 2008 and trained a generation of emerging Jewish communal leaders through their roles in Jewish student engagement.

In addition to compelling work and professional development training, Springboard Fellows receive a minimum base salary of $40,000 as well as full benefits, jointly funded by ��ϴ�� and by the local Hillel campuses that they serve, as well as generous donations from the Beacon and Shapira Foundations, the Marcus Foundation, and Mosaic United.

For more information, and to apply for a future Springboard cohort, visit the Springboard Fellowship page.

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Springboard Fellowship

The Ohio State University

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Campus Microcommunities Have a Big Impact