 |
|
 |
Meet the 2004-05 Schusterman International Center Fellows
June 15, 2004Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friendBring together a former Justice Department intern, Hillel presidents and board members, musicians and honors students, and what results are the 2004-05 Schusterman International Center Fellows. This group of recent college graduates recently joined the Hillel staff to spend the next year developing their leadership skills, establishing relationships in the Jewish professional arena and representing Hillel on college campuses nationwide.
Lina Dreyfus, a native of Homewood, Ill., is this year's Arline and David L. Bittker Fellow. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she served on the Hillel Board of Directors and led Reform Shabbat services. Lina also participated in the Jewish Theatre Project and Alternative Spring Breaks, and she co-created an a cappella group. She spent a semester in Jerusalem studying in a Hebrew immersion program, and she worked for several summers as a unit director and counselor at Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute, a Jewish youth camp in Wisconsin.
Lina works with the Department of Jewish Student Life to help identify and train student leaders. She helps Hillel's Student Initiatives Committee facilitate grant opportunities and serves as the primary contact for the student members of Hillel's Board of Directors. Look for her at the Charles Schusterman International Student Leaders Assembly this August, where she will be planning student programs.
"I'm excited to work together with students to empower them to be fantastic leaders and have successful programming on their campuses," she said.
Bronfman Fellow Naomi Korb is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, not far from her hometown of Silver Spring, Md. She served as the vice president and president of Kedma, the largest Hillel student group, and was one of the founding members of the Religious Leadership Consortium, a committee dedicated to bridging the gap between the Jewish community's three major denominations. She founded the annual Women's Megillah Reading and directed a women's a cappella choir for one semester. She participated in both the University Honors Program and the Robert H. Smith School of Business Departmental Honors Program, and as a senior, she co-taught a freshman honors colloquium.
As Bronfman Fellow, Naomi works closely with President Avraham Infeld on such issues as fund-raising and communication. She serves as the liaison to Edgar M. Bronfman, the chairman of Hillel's International Board of Governors, and she is also the contact for alumni of the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel program. Naomi hopes that her experience at Hillel is the beginning of a career in the Jewish community.
"I am thrilled to have the privilege to learn from among the best leaders of the Jewish communal world, and I hope to be able to contribute as much to the organization as I gain," she said.
Joining Hillel fresh from Middlebury College is David Bernay, the new Iyyun fellow. A native of Syracuse, N.Y., David served in many capacities at his local Hillel, including president, secretary, Webmaster and chazzan. He received a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Scholarship to study German-Jewish literature in Mainz, Germany. David interned at the Department of Justice's Office of Special Investigations in Washington, DC, where he translated Nazi war documents and did case research on former Nazis who illegally entered the U.S. after World War II.
Working with the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, David is a resource for students and professionals looking to add Jewish content to their programming. He plays a major role in developing the Jewish learning component of Hillel's international conferences, training programs and symposia, and he also helps to plan regional workshops sponsored by the Meyerhoff Center. David hopes his Fellowship year will be a wonderful educational experience not only for students, but also for himself.
"I have always been drawn to Jewish learning on both academic and personal levels. Having studied German language and German-Jewish literature at Middlebury, I felt the need to switch gears a bit – to learn more about Jewish texts and at the same time work to enable Jewish students navigate them on their own," he said.
Hailing from Allentown, Pa., Amy Born will be the Samuel and Helene Soref Fellow for the following year. An active member of the St. Louis Hillel at Washington University, where she co-chaired a peer advising program for first-year students, Amy also represented students for two years on the Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Board of Directors.
Amy focuses on the more than 350 campuses served by the Soref Initiative, a program aimed at colleges and universities with small Jewish populations. Acting as an advocate for Jewish life on emerging campuses, she will travel to several schools throughout the year to help students create engaging programs and grow into leadership positions.
"I hope the opportunities I will bring to students on small campuses will help them really own their college Jewish experiences," she said.
Philadelphian Stephanie Schwartz is stepping into the Israel Leadership Fellowship. She brings a wealth of experience in Hillel and Israel-related programming from her years at Rutgers University, where she served as Hillel president her senior year. Stephanie chaired the award-winning "Israel Inspires" campaign and was on the editorial board of the Rutgers Student Journal of Israel Affairs. She also won two academic performance awards for Jewish studies and a Political Science Honors Society award.
Stephanie is putting together innovative, pro-active Israel programming for both local Hillels and the movement as a whole. She also helps to administer the Grinspoon Quick Turn-Around Grant Program, which fund student-driven programs in response to late-breaking issues on campuses, and organize Knesset Member Avraham Burg's fall speaking tour. Stephanie hopes that her work throughout the year will help other students share her enthusiasm for Israel.
"Rutgers afforded me the opportunity to go to Israel three times, and I've seen the effect those programs can have on students. I want to reach out to other students and encourage them to take advantage of what Hillel has to offer," she said.
The Weinberg Tzedek Hillel Fellow for 2004-05, Jessica Beitch, will join the Hillel staff in August.
Students interested in applying for Fellowship positions for the 2005-06 year and beyond can learn more about the program at http://esther.www.hillel.org/careers/fellowships_hq/default.
|
 |
|
 |