鈥淢y dad is Jewish, and my mom is Chinese. Growing up, I noticed I was different from others in Boulder, Colorado. There wasn鈥檛 anyone like me walking down the street, sitting in classrooms, eating at restaurants or attending synagogue. Everyone was white. So, I thought it would be so much easier to embrace my whiteness and Jewishness, burying my Chinese heritage. That part of my identity wasn鈥檛 important to me anyway 鈥� at least that鈥檚 what I told myself. Leaving home to study at the University of Kansas helped me realize I could be Jewish and Chinese. My campus had the most diversity I鈥檇 ever seen, which is surprising because it鈥檚 predominantly white. This was the first time I was able to connect with people who were interested in learning about all of me, not just parts of me. At KU Hillel, the staff listened to my story, worked to increase diversity in our spaces and encouraged me to incorporate my passion for social justice into Hillel programs. They pushed me to become a leader inside and outside of the Jewish community, and ultimately, helped me realize my Chinese identity has been and will always be an important part of who I am. I have come so far, but my journey to accepting and valuing my dual identities isn鈥檛 over. I don鈥檛 think there will ever come a time when I stop working to fully embrace my Jewish and Chinese heritage. This is something I鈥檒l always be working on, and I hope to help more Jewish spaces engage in that work.鈥� 鈥� Jade Groobman, University of Kansas听

鈥淲hen I came out as nonbinary, I distanced myself from my Jewish community. I wasn鈥檛 sure how people would react. Through conversations with Ira Kirschner, the assistant director at KU Hillel, I realized that I can be Jewish and queer. One identity doesn鈥檛 negate the other. Now, I go by SD and use they/them pronouns. During one of the first events I attended at KU Hillel, we were asked to introduce ourselves by saying our name and our pronouns. Being asked to say my pronouns as part of a normal introduction completely took away the stigma surrounding my transgender identity. Using they/them pronouns aren鈥檛 the typical pronouns people use to refer to themselves, but it doesn鈥檛 mean they aren鈥檛 valid. When people refer to me as 鈥榮he/her鈥� and then correct themselves to say 鈥榯hey/them,鈥� it means so much to me because I know that they鈥檙e actively trying to value my identity.鈥� 鈥� SD Klein, University of Kansas