Each spring, universities across the United States honor their campus Hillels for their outstanding programming, dedicated leadership and generous contributions to the campus community. Please join us in congratulating the following Hillels that have been recognized during the 2004-05 academic year:
• Hillel at Colorado State University received three awards at the university's third annual Student Organization Awards Recognition (SOAR) ceremony. Freshman Elizabeth Goldberg won an individual SOAR Award for Emerging Student Leader, and CSU Hillel also was recognized as an Organization of Character, a new award presented as a partnership between SOAR and the Campus of Character Council. CSU Hillel's "Holocaust Awareness Week" program also won a SOAR award for Outstanding Marketing.
• Hofstra Hillel was recognized with three awards at the Student Government Association Banquet. Hofstra Hillel was honored as Outstanding Club of the Year for the second year in a row and won the Outstanding Co-Sponsored Event award for its "Songs of Love" program, in which students recorded an original song for a child battling cancer. Executive Director Rabbi Meir Mitelman also won the inaugural Admistrator of the Year award for his outstanding commitments to Hillel.
• Middlebury College Hillel was honored with the college's Overall Outstanding Achievement Award for its work improving the entire Middlebury community. Sarah Lauing, the co-president and Tzedek advocacy intern at Middlebury College Hillel, also won the Public Service Leadership Award.
• The Hillel/Jewish Student Union at San Diego State University was recognized as Outstanding Student Organization of the Year by the Associated Students of San Diego State University.
• Akiva Roth, the director of Drew University Hillel, received an honorary "D" award at the university's athletics banquet. The award recognizes Roth's work reaching out to student-athletes, coaches and the entire university community.
• Sue Kurtz, the director of Hillel at Virginia Tech, won the Advisor of the Year award at the university's student leadership award ceremony. The award honored Kurtz's work in helping to increase the visibility of Hillel at Virginia Tech during the past year.
• Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach won awards at several of the campuses it serves. Hillel won four awards at Lynn University's recent leadership celebration, including the Multicultural Day Recognition Award; Most Improved Organization of the Year; Outstanding Community Service Project Award for the "Relay for Life" program; and the Knights Award for Outstanding New Student, awarded to Shira Grauman, vice president of Hillel at Lynn. At Florida Atlantic University's club leadership awards, the Students for Israel group won the Spirit Award, and Hillel at FAU's advisor, Carole Pfeffer, was honored as New Advisor of the Year. Hillel at Florida Atlantic University's Honor College on the Jupiter campus also was recognized as Best New Club. At Nova Southeastern University, Hillel received five awards from the university's Inter Organizational Council, including Outstanding New Organization, Outstanding President (Andrea Fass), Outstanding Vice-President (Randi Samuels), Outstanding Treasurer (Diane Klein) and Outstanding Faculty Advisor (Professor Gary Gershman).
• Clark University Hillel won multiple awards at the university's annual Student Leadership Recognition Night, including Most Collaborative Student Group. Student president Ethan Prosnit was named Most Active Student of the Year, and Clark Hillel Director David Coyne was also presented with a special award for his service both on and beyond the Clark campus.
• Hillel at the University of South Florida was named Volunteer Religious Organization of the Year by the university's Office of Student Affairs.
• University of Virginia Hillel won an award for Best Collaboration from the Virginia Service Council's Service Awards. The award was given to Hillel for its work with STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), the Muslim Students' Association and the Minority Rights Council for its "Week of Conscience" programming, a series of programs that raised awareness of the genocide in Sudan and money for victims of genocide.
• University of Minnesota Hillel Executive Director Amy Olson and Associate Director Rabbi Sharon Stiefel received "Breaking the Silence" awards from the university's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Programs Office. The awards recognize people and organizations on campus for their efforts to improve the climate for GLBT students at the University of Minnesota.
• University of Florida Hillel was honored with the Celebration of Community Service Award from the university's Office of Community Service. The award recognizes University of Florida Hillel's extraordinary dedication to community service through programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Mitzvah Day and its Poker for Charity Tournament.