In this Issue:

• Meet Jacob.

• Big growth for Hillel at a small school: Post from a Bradley University student

• Levine Hillel at UIC Receives National Accreditation

• Groups coming together with Loyola Hillel

Join other supporters of Jewish campus life in The Hillels of Illinois Facebook group.

Hometown: Bethel, CT
School: Columbia College Chicago
Major: Product Design
Graduation date: 2012
Hillel Involvement: Hillels Around Chicago: Columbia College Chicago Hillel; Hillels Around Chicago: Hillel Arts in the Loop

“I love the fact that Hillel Arts in the Loop is multi-campus so that Jewish students from all over, from different campuses, can connect with each other and together explore who we are as Jews in an artistic way.”

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Bradley Hillels at a back-to-school mini-golf outing.

Molly Bloom, a Bradley University junior from Northbrook, Illinois, talks about her growing Hillel and some exciting news, including their new facility.

Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois, is a small school of 5,000 students, but our Hillel is pretty big, regularly engaging one out of every three Jewish students with weekly Shabbat dinners and bagel brunches, and with speakers such as Gil Hoffman of the Jerusalem Post, Krav Maga instructor Moshe Katz, and Holocaust survivor Marian Blumenthal Lazan. BU Hillel always has something going on.... I met most of my college friends through Hillel, so Hillel has been the best part of my college career. There is nothing more comforting for a new college freshman than to be welcomed in by such a great community.

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Four of Levine Hillel's five Peer Network Engagement Interns at Hillel's Engagement Institute, Clayton, GA.

In a great accomplishment that speaks volumes about their dedication to the Hillel mission, Levine Hillel at UIC was re-accredited by Hillel. Receiving certification as an Accredited Hillel means that Levine Hillel has undergone a thorough process with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life that showed Levine meets Hillel’s international standards of excellence. To receive accreditation, campus Hillels must demonstrate compliance with standards of excellence in the areas of governance, student programs, communications, resources and management systems. The Hillel accreditation team – comprising an international center staff member, a student, a field staff member and a lay leader – also evaluates the Hillel’s relationship with its university and local Jewish community.

“The accreditation self study provided an excellent opportunity for the many stakeholders in UIC Hillel—students, faculty, administration and community members—to come together in a renewed commitment to our Hillel,” said Marla Baker, Executive Director of the Levine Hillel Center. “The process led to the addition of a Rabbi/Jewish educator to the Hillel staff this year and the creation of the Peer Network Engagement Internship program that we launched this fall [four of five interns pictures above]. With more Jewish students choosing UIC every year these additional resources make a huge impact.”

Loyola students at “Rosh HaShanah Mazanas Y Miel,” a celebration of Rosh Hashana and Mexican Heritage Day.

Hillel at Loyola continues to take the lead with some unique intergroup programming that once again brings together students from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Hillel and the Hindu students started the new school year by co-hosting a fast-breaking vegetarian/kosher iftar meal for the Muslim student community at Loyola. The event, which brought together a group of over 125, was an incredibly moving experience for students who came together for the event and some have already planned to make this an annual event. “There was such a visceral sense of community,” said Loyal Hillel director Patti Ray. “It is really hard even for me to put into words that intangible sense of being part of something very special. When all the Muslim students who had been fasting all day had taken their dinner, the Jewish and Hindu students got their dinner and sat among their Muslim peers and shared their dinner together.”

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