Bias to Box Graters: Jewish Life Then & Now at UVM

You should have seen it; the pure joy emanating from students’ faces as they accepted a glittery blue bag filled with potatoes, an onion, a couple eggs, oil, stickers, swag and yes…a box grater.

It was a look I haven’t seen from UVM Jewish students in a long while and it reminded me how far we have come in the past five years. After the anxiety and uncertainty of what this semester would be, I needed that reminder that Jewish joy still happens. I glimpsed it watching students engage with our Hillel staff in the Davis Center yesterday.

Last year was chaos.

The previous few years were exceedingly difficult.

Five years ago in 2019, a group of brave Jewish students had finally had enough of the antisemitic hatred they faced and could no longer continue being ignored. They pleaded with Hillel to amplify their experience and better advocate for them with the university. In 2021 when a sexual assault survivor student group expelled Jewish women for “being Zionist” and the institutional response was indifference, they had enough and called on the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to intervene.

Back then, when an incident of antisemitic bias was reported to the university it could take days, weeks, and even months for a response. And when Jewish students did finally report the bias and harassment they faced for their identity they were told it wasn’t actually antisemitism and nothing can be done about free speech. Jewish students felt dejected and rejected from the institution they called home. For some students, their entire experience at UVM was defined by antisemitism and the uphill battle for basic recognition of one’s identity. I don’t mention this to dwell in the past but it’s important to note so we can reflect on how far we have come.

Today with new leadership, a new approach for people and planet, and policy changes in the wake of the federal investigation into antisemitism at UVM, Jewish life is thriving.

Something I absolutely love about this work is helping Jewish students celebrate their identity for the first time, a shehchyanu moment if you will. Whether empowering a first-year student to lead Shabbos prayers for the very first time or knowing a student will make a latke with Hillel’s help brings me a lot of joy in a time where moments of joy can seem few and far between.

Yesterday we distributed 100 box graters along with early Hanukkah ingredient kits for a Latke Box. This weekend as the semester of classes wraps up, 100 students will be able to cook latkes themselves, perhaps for the first time, in their residence hall or off-campus apartment. For the first time, on their own as adults away from home, they’ll be able to smell that uniquely fried smell of Hanukkah and hear the sizzle as their first latke hits the oil for the first time. Maybe they’ll be golden brown or burnt to a crisp, but the point is that these students are owning their Jewish experience and helping share that with their roommates and friends. That’s what it looks like when Jewish life is thriving; Jewish students actively and joyfully sharing their traditions and inviting their friends to celebrate with them.

For me, it was the box graters that put this Latke Box idea over the top. There are many times as a Hillel professional I think to myself, what even is my job? This can be when I am filling the fridge with cases of “emergency finals pickles” or buying out the entire backstock of Kedem at my rural grocery store because of a super sale too good to pass up. I happens when I buckle up the Torah in my passenger seat to transport it for services and last year when we baked 994 hamentaschen in one night. The box grater was that little extra touch to encourage students that yes, they could actually make latkes for themselves! 100 students were overjoyed because they had wanted a box grater for their apartment but just never got one because adulting is a lot. We put the means to own their Jewish experience in their own hands, and they were overjoyed with the promise of bringing their own Hanukkah lights to shine.

We give students metaphorical “box graters” all the time in our work with Hillel. When our professionals tap a student for a leadership opportunity and they excel. When we step back for student-led Shabbat services. When we help students sunrise hike Camel’s Hump with a Jewish text study they can teach others. When we empower students and support their connections to Jewish life, learning, and Israel, they can shine. 100 students grating potatoes and onions for 300 of their friends is Jewish life thriving.

I’m proud to report that we will end the semester engaging more students than we did in all of last year. After some early hesitation and anxieties we all shared about what campus would be like this fall, students have rushed to participate and experience Jewish joy together. Skinny Pancake Shabbat was a raging success as we took the Shabbat experience to the campus crepe hotspot one Friday night. We’ve partnered more with Chabad to promote Jewish unity and joy. Thanks to the incredible leadership of our student president, we have had multiple programs with the campus interfaith center, and not just about antisemitism! We’ve shared breakfast, prayers, and celebrations together this year and look forward to more collaboration next semester.

While this shouldn’t be a big thing, it’s actually a big deal to be able to table, promote trips to Israel with flyers, and offer our Zionisms curriculum without being protested and reviled. Our daylong vigil on 10/7 had 1,200 Israeli flags in memory of those lost and it wasn’t vandalized. It shouldn’t be a big deal but in 2024, it is.

I don’t want to remember when things weren’t like this but I do and it’s important to remember. Helping support our staff and student and UVM community through these challenges took its toll. I still remember when the Star of David flag was put up following the Tree of Life massacre and groups on campus demanded it be removed because of what it symbolized to them, regardless of what it meant to us. I remember the open letters and public vitriol we faced for existing as a Hillel a few short years ago. Our Burlington City Council will, for the fifth time, again take up a resolution in opposition to Israel in the coming weeks. I viscerally recall the times before when Jewish students were jeered and shouted at from the rafters and mocked mercilessly online for having the temerity to express their own rights to free speech in these meetings.

Jewish students have faced a lot of adversity but I can honestly say that this year, things are markedly better. Last year there were 74 reported incidents of antisemitism. This year we are aware of but a few. Last year I coordinated extra security and regularly coordinated with UVM Police to ensure our students were safe. This year, it’s quieter thanks to UVM’s policy and procedural changes to keep our entire community safe.

So I don’t say things like “Jewish life is thriving” at our university lightly. We spent too many years in a very different situation to not take stock of the moment and celebrate success when it happens.

At this moment, and now into our future Jewish life at UVM is thriving. I want this university and our Hillel to be a destination for Jewish life, learning, and Israel in the northeast and it’s completely possible. Our university is now an R1 research institution. We have a magnificent Burack Hillel facility at the center of campus. We have a growing Jewish Studies program and a world renowned Holocaust Studies Center at our institution with a Hebrew language program near capacity enrollment. The kosher food on campus regularly sells out. We’ve connected with 1,200 students this semester alone. I’m proud to report we exceeded our Giving Tuesday goal with more than 150 new gifts from our alumni, parents, and supporters and last year over 700 individuals came together to support our annual work with their philanthropy.

We are only just getting started as we all grow this thriving community together.

As we wrap this semester and look back while planning ahead for the future…Jewish life, learning, and Israel, UVM Hillel, our Jewish students, and our Burlington community are thriving.

All it took for me to see it again was a glittery blue bag and a box grater.