Latest News from Campus

Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Colorado Boulder drew condemnation from CU Boulder and others after they published a statement calling for the release of the perpetrator of the 2025 firebombing attack that killed an 82-year-old woman and injured more than a dozen others. The statement described the violence as “resistance,” prompting strong reaction from the university, state officials, and community members. “[SJP’s] reprehensible rhetoric causes real harm to Jewish students on our campus — students who are still grieving, still healing, and still showing up every day with courage and pride. We are in close contact with CU administrators and are committed to making sure our community feels supported,” CU Boulder Hillel said.

In a recent article, Hillel professionals reflected on the designation of Honorary Rabbi Ben Frankel Way, recognizing the rabbi who founded the world’s first Hillel at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1923. The recognition highlights Frankel’s legacy and the growth of Hillel from a campus organization serving a few hundred Jewish students into a global movement that now reaches students on hundreds of campuses worldwide. “It’s a reminder that one person with one little idea can make amazing, huge things happen,” said Rabbi Ben Berger, Hillel International’s senior vice president of Jewish Education, Community, and Culture.

Actress Jackie Tohn spoke at a Northwestern Hillel event organized by students, where she reflected on her path from child actor to television star and discussed the connection she found between her Jewish identity and her role as Esther Roklov in “Nobody Wants This,” Tohn also spoke about discovering she had the BRCA1 gene mutation, increasing her risk of breast cancer, and why she hopes to spread awareness about genetic testing.

After the University of Maryland moved its primary commencement ceremony to the beginning of Shavuot, Maryland Hillel quickly organized an alternative graduation ceremony for Jewish students. The ceremony brought together more than 70 graduates and their families, and included remarks from UMD President Darryll Pines and Dean for Undergraduate Studies William Cohen. Emma Steinhause, a graduating senior, said the event “turned what could have been a really difficult moment into one of the most meaningful nights of my college experience,” adding that the swift response from the Jewish community and university leadership made her feel “truly seen and supported.”

The U.S. Justice Department filed a third lawsuit against UCLA alleging the university has shown it is “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students following the October 7, 2023 attacks and subsequent campus protests. The suit focuses on incidents tied to a 2024 anti-Israel encampment and alleges the university failed to adequately respond to reports of harassment. In response, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk cited actions the university has taken to confront antisemitism this past year, saying, “The suggestion that UCLA has been passive in the face of antisemitism is simply wrong.”

Three Hadar Institute rabbis will begin work at Rutgers University, New York University, and UMass Amherst starting this summer as part of a campus expansion initiative. The rabbis, who will be embedded with campus Hillels, will engage in leading Jewish learning, prayer, and student programming. Hadar says the partnership aims to deepen pluralistic Jewish life and increase access to Torah learning for Jewish college students of all observance levels.