Campus Insider: The Resilient Rise of Jewish Campus Leaders

Since October 7, 2023, Jewish college students across the U.S. have faced increasing hostility on their campuses. Once active in diverse student organizations, many now find themselves excluded from spaces they used to call home. In response, these students are leaning into Hillel and the Jewish community, emerging as a new generation of resilient leaders. 

Meet Sammi, a Jewish second-year student at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, who was confronted with a poster declaring, “Zionists, Fuck off!” on the wall of her university’s Feminist Student Union (FSU). As a committed feminist, Sammi wanted to join the FSU, but the disturbing anti-Zionist rhetoric in the organization’s social media posts and newsletters made clear that Jewish and Zionist students weren’t welcome. After attending Hillel International’s two-day Israel Summit in Chicago, a gathering of more than 500 pro-Israel student leaders, speakers, stakeholders, and young alumni, she courageously engaged directly with an FSU leader about the group’s exclusion of Israeli and Jewish women from their advocacy. Sadly, her peer denied that the sexual assaults of October 7 had occurred, lectured Sammi about “the deep colonial space,” and refused to continue further dialogue. 

Another Jewish student, Adam, a member-at-large of Case Western Reserve University’s student government, realized immediately after October 7 that the chamber was no longer a place he would be respected. As the only Israeli and identifiable Jew in a room full of members wearing keffiyehs, Adam didn’t feel student government was safe for him anymore. As a self-identified progressive, he had long felt aligned with the missions of the Black Student Union, Middle Eastern Cultural Association, Sunrise Movement, and women’s groups. But that changed when the leaders of those organizations lobbied in favor of a BDS resolution in the student government and called him racist for opposing it.

Students like Sammi and Adam, once integral to campus leadership, are being pushed out of spaces where they used to feel welcome simply because of their Jewish and Israeli identities. Talented and driven, they might have led an a cappella group, the environmental science club, or the legal society. Instead, they are turning to their Hillels — often the only places on campus that fully welcome them — and channeling their leadership into the Jewish community.

Today, Sammi and Adam serve in leadership roles at their campus Hillels and are members of Hillel International’s prestigious Israel Leadership Network (ILN), which connects North America’s top Jewish and Zionist student leaders into a united cohort empowered to lead their generation and future generations in support of Israel and the Jewish community through education, advocacy, and engagement..

Sammi has hosted powerful campus displays at Lewis and Clark to honor Israel’s hostages in Gaza and mourn the losses of October 7, even as her installations are defaced with hateful flyers. She embraces her passion for women’s issues through her campus Hillel, and she works tenaciously to build bridges that will combat the isolation and tension she experiences when other clubs refuse to collaborate and ignore invitations to partner.

Adam, realizing that Jewish students were excluded from cultural diversity spaces, founded a Jewish Student Union to increase campus representation. His group was admitted to the undergraduate diversity collaborative but ignored by fellow members. Undeterred, Adam developed strong and positive relationships with campus administrators and local media to amplify Jewish voices at his university.

Their visions for campus are clear. “I want Jewish students to be fully included in campus life,” Sammi says. “No one should have to hide their Jewish or Zionist identity because they are afraid of what roommates or teammates might think.” Adam, who hopes to work in public policy, sees his Jewish campus leadership as foundational to his future career.

Hillel International, the world’s largest Jewish student organization, is cultivating a generation of resilient Jewish leaders who are drawing inspiration and strength from current challenges, not shying away from them. 

The impact of these incredible young leaders extends far beyond campus. The leadership pipeline of the Jewish community will be shaped by the students emerging from this moment. This year, a record number of candidates applied for Hillel International’s Springboard Fellowship, an early-career Jewish campus engagement program. When the demand exceeded the supply of open positions, and because of the influx of highly qualified candidates, Hillel asked applicants if they would allow us to share their data with national partner organizations including BBYO, JFNA and local Jewish Federations—and they overwhelmingly agreed. This type of interest in the Jewish community is helping to generate a skilled, engaged, and committed pipeline of talent that will only make our community stronger. As Hillel continues to invest in these vibrant young leaders on campus, they will be empowered to go on to serve the global Jewish people in broad and diverse roles throughout the sector. 

Sarah is one of these leaders. Currently a Springboard Fellow at Mizzou Hillel at the University of Missouri, she once planned a career in tech, interviewing with Fortune 500 companies and Wall Street firms.

But after October 7, Sarah no longer felt safe in her role as a campus math tutor. She overheard crude jokes about Israel and Gaza in her classes and wasn’t comfortable at the tutoring center. She made the difficult decision to step down from her position and redirected her energy to Hillel, joining ILN. Just months before graduation, while attending Hillel International’s Israel Summit, she pivoted from tech and applied to be a Springboard Fellow. 

Today, Sarah wakes up excited to help Jewish students experience joyful campus life. “We are lucky,” she tells them. “If we need something, our community is here for us.”

Following October 7 and the dramatic increase in antisemitism in the world and on college campuses, Jewish students turned to Hillel as their refuge. Some came for a Shabbat dinner or a social event. But they stayed for the safety and belonging they found.

And then they stepped up. They took on leadership roles. They ran for office. And they became the strongest generation of young Jewish leaders in decades.

This is the third in a series of opinion pieces called Campus Insider, in which Jon shares his firsthand observations about the real challenges Jewish students are experiencing at colleges and universities in North America, a situation with strong implications for the broader Jewish community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon Falk is the Vice President of Hillel International’s Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program. Jon leads teams that support campus Hillels in navigating and responding to antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel activity, as well as celebrating, advocating, and educating about Israel.