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Announcing Hillel International’s First-Ever Student Cabinet

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March 18, 2016

Hillel International announced today the 24 members of the inaugural Hillel International Student Cabinet. The Cabinet will allow Hillel International’s leadership to directly benefit from the advice, opinions and perspectives of current Jewish college students from throughout the world. A richly diverse cohort, the members selected represent the full spectrum of Jewish backgrounds, size and location of schools and area of study. The members were selected through a highly competitive process which drew close to 100 applicants.

The cabinet will also serve as a vehicle to connect Jewish college students to their peers throughout the world, by leveraging the global Hillel network. Currently, Hillel operates on four continents in 18 time zones.

“Having diverse students in positions of power and influence within Hillel will make our organization stronger,” said Hillel International Vice President for Social Entrepreneurship Sheila Katz. “The 24 students selected represent great diversity from our movement. They range from all sects of Judaism, varying levels of involvement with organized Jewish life, and diverse ideologies about Israel and the world.

 “The makeup of our cabinet includes students from small private schools and large public schools, students from international campuses and American campuses, and includes Jewish students of color, students from interfaith backgrounds, students with disabilities, students who identify as LGBTQ, and more,” added Katz.

Student Cabinet Co-Founders Hannah Schlacter and Evan Traylor have worked closely with Hillel International leadership and 2015-16 Bronfman Fellow Kayla Sokoloff to implement this new initiative.

“Seeing the Student Cabinet develop from idea to execution over the last year has been inspiring and empowering. Now more than ever, Jewish students need an equal voice and global connection as we face challenges affecting the Jewish people in the 21st century,” said Schlacter, a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “These students’ creativity and passion will realize the Cabinet’s vision.”

“I’m incredibly excited to provide Jewish college students from around the world the opportunity to connect to one another and expand the impact of Hillel International,” echoed Traylor, a senior at the University of Kansas. “The diversity of backgrounds and opinions of the Student Cabinet will strengthen Jewish life for years to come.” 

Cabinet members will convene at the Schusterman International Center Washington, D.C. on April 10-11, 2016. Follow our blog and social media for more announcements.

Below is a full list of the 2016-17 Cabinet members:

Co-Founders

Hannah Schlacter, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ‘17

Evan Traylor, University of Kansas ‘16

Members

Gilad Atlacevitz, Hebrew University of Jerusalem ‘17

Jordan Berger, Cornell University ‘17

Ross Beroff, Northeastern University ‘18

Jonathan Boretsky, Dawson College ‘19

Rachel Brunelle, New York University ‘19

Elaine Cynovich, Universidad ORT ‘17

Liat Deener-Chodirker, University of Maryland ‘17

Alexandra Frol, Westminster College ‘18

Evan Gottesman, Rutgers University ‘17

Jonathan Israilov, Western Michigan University ‘17

Tomer Kornfeld, John Jay College of Criminal Justice ‘17

Bianca Levy, University of Alabama ‘18

Rachel Marcus, University of California Berkeley ‘18

Yoel Rotterman, Florida International University ‘17

Nicole Selz, Virginia Tech ‘17

Aaron Serota, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences ‘17

Mikhael Smits, Princeton University ‘18

Jacob Sussman, Roger Williams University ‘18

Jeremy Tibbetts, University of Massachusetts Amherst ‘17

Zach Wolff, New York University ‘18

Shiran Yahav, Hebrew University of Jerusalem ‘19

Rachel Zucker, University of Chicago ‘18