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Santa Barbara Hillel will recognize community leaders Rabbi Evan and Lori Goodman, Lindsay and Joe Pasternack, and alumnus Richard Leib, during its 23rd annual Hall of Fame Brunch. The event will bring together students, alumni, and community members to celebrate individuals whose leadership and service have strengthened Jewish student life at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Santa Barbara City College, and the wider Santa Barbara Jewish community.

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.

Jewish leaders and college students gathered in Washington, D.C. for a two-day advocacy fly-in focused on strengthening security for the Jewish community. Hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), participants met with members of Congress to advocate for federal legislation connected to JFNA’s Six Point Security Agenda. Through Hillel International’s Leadership Passport program, Jewish student leaders joined the fly-in to raise concerns about campus safety and bring student perspectives into national policy conversations.

Hannah Rosenberg, assistant director of Drexel Hillel, spoke with the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent about how her work helps Jewish students feel welcomed, supported, and connected on campus. Rosenberg said she creates space for students from all Jewish backgrounds to explore Jewish life, leadership, and tradition in ways that feel meaningful to them.

Aasia Gabbour, a graduating fourth-year student at New York University, reflected on how NYU Hillel supported her in exploring her Asian-Jewish identity. She helped lead the first-ever Asian-Jewish Shabbaton at Yale University, which brought together more than 500 students from over a dozen colleges and universities to celebrate shared identity and community.

Houston Hillel launched a $3.5 million campaign to revitalize its physical space, which serves over 650 students across more than a dozen Southeast Texas universities. The renovation will transform the center into a more flexible and welcoming hub for Jewish campus life, adding an updated kosher teaching kitchen, expanded gathering areas, and redesigned spaces for study, programming, and socializing. Leaders say the project will strengthen student engagement and Jewish life across the region for years to come.