http://www.tuftshillel.org/

http://www.tuftshillel.org/jl-rabbis-corner.html

http://www.tuftshillel.org/jl-student-groups.asp

http://www.tuftshillel.org/jl-sp-moralvoices-20072008.asp?ID=14

Tufts University - Index

Tufts University - Beyond Boundaries Newsletter Spring 2008 - Index

Hillel
Meets Its
Goal for
Student
Programs
Tufts Hillel recently completed
a $6.4 million campaign
to support its broad
range of programs that
promote Jewish community
and culture, interfaith dialogue,
and social justice and serve not only
Tufts’ 1,400 Jewish students, but the
entire university community.
The program endowment campaign,
chaired by Daniel Kraft, A87,
a Tufts trustee and member of the
Hillel Board, exceeded its goal with
the help of a $750,000 matching
challenge by Tufts Trustee Joseph
Neubauer, E63, J90P, and his wife,
Jeanette, J90P. Leadership gifts were
received from Kraft and his wife,
Wendy, J87; Vivian Merrin, A80P,
A82P, A85P, and Trustee Emeritus
Edward Merrin, A50, A80P, A82P,
A85P; and Joan Arbetter Rosenberg,
N84, and Hillel Board member
David Rosenberg.
Tufts Hillel, the second largest
student organization on campus,
is believed to be the first Hillel
to complete such an endowment
fund in support of its programming.
The Hillel fundraising effort also
helps the larger Beyond Boundaries
campaign draw closer to its target
of $50 million for programming
university-wide.
The Beyond Boundaries newsletter
spoke with Rabbi Jeffrey A.
Summit, AG88, AG95, A03P, A05P,
Neubauer Executive Director at
Tufts Hillel, about the unique
contribution Hillel makes to
university life.
Spring 2008 News of the Campaign for Tufts
What is the significance
of the recently completed
campaign?
We want to develop programming so
compelling that we double the number
of students meaningfully engaged in
Jewish life at Tufts. We’ve been engaging
approximately 35 percent of Jewish students
on campus through our programs,
but that leaves 65 percent who have yet
to be reached.
Hillel at Tufts is run by a very
active 40-student board that does broad
programming for the entire Tufts community.
When Hillel is rolling, we have
activities practically every day: workshops,
lectures, service trips, religious
services, performances, and educational
programs open to the entire campus
community.
Hillel’s Merrin Moral Voices program
recently invited leaders of a Jewish,
Muslim, and Christian fair-trade coffee
organization in Uganda to campus for
a large interfaith conference. Our Vitality
program examines health and wellness
from a Jewish perspective. Another
major initiative, Read by the River,
encourages children’s literacy: Jews are
called the “People of the Book,” and we
have a responsibility to promote literacy
in our culture.
A goal of Hillel is to engage the Tufts
community in a larger discussion of values
we feel are essential. Those values are
encapsulated in certain questions: What
does it mean to make a difference in the
world? How do I contribute meaning-
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit: Hillel plays
vital role in Tufts community
fully to my community? What does it
mean to build strong families and positive
friendships?
At a time when religious divisions
plague so much of the world, it’s our goal
to present the Tufts campus with a different
vision. We want to develop a dialogue
based on respect of other religious
traditions. If you can’t talk to people
who are different in college, when are you
ever going to do it?
How would you describe
the spirit of Hillel?
Our goal over the years has been to build
a vibrant Jewish community, where
students celebrate, argue, eat, sing, and
learn in a welcoming atmosphere—
where Jewish students appreciate and
understand their heritage at the same
time they are engaged with the entire
Tufts community. Hillel has made a real
contribution to date. Now we’re poised
to impact so many more students as a
result of this program endowment.
7
BEYOND BOUNDARIES