Leadership Matters: A Note from Adam Lehman
Dear Friends,
Leadership matters. This maxim applies in all contexts, though it’s especially true in times of challenge. Unfortunately, Jewish college students are familiar with such difficult times, as they continue to face extreme conflict and related violence, harassment, intimidation, and threats directed at them on campus.
In this context, it was truly inspiring to be with more than 800 student leaders and 200 professionals at our 2024 Israel Summit in Atlanta. The Israel Summit provided these student leaders with a much-needed opportunity to be in community with their peers from colleges and universities across the country; as Student President of Georgia Tech Hillel Talia Segal (‘24) noted, “Sharing a space with students who have all dealt with antisemitism on their campuses was like coming up for air after months of being trapped underwater.”
Even more so, Hillel’s Israel Summit provided students with invaluable access to top scholars, geopolitical experts, and community leaders through three mainstage plenaries and 56 masterclass breakout sessions to help them deepen their understanding and hone their leadership skills. Faculty and keynote speakers ranged from human rights icon and former Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky, to former Vice Prime Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni, to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dennis Ross, to Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, to author and former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz.
Beyond these meaningful and intensive learning moments, students had the opportunity to dance, sing, and celebrate together during a private concert featuring Netta Barzilai, the Eurovision-winning Israeli songwriter and musician. Throughout the two-day Israel Summit, I was inspired by the thoughtfulness, compassion, and commitment of the students. Leadership matters, and these students are already leading the way. You can see more of my thoughts on the Summit in this Jewish Insider interview.
I traveled directly from the Israel Summit in Atlanta to our latest convening of college and university presidents and administrators participating in our Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) to counter antisemitism on campus. More than 100 participants from 30 universities joined us in Cleveland for a convening of CCI participants.
Just as we will depend on the inspiring leadership of our Jewish students, we are also counting on our university leaders to step up. We’ve now surpassed 1,000 incidents of harassment, threats, vandalism, assaults, and targeted hate speech directed at Jewish college students since 10/7. More than ever, we need university administrators to show leadership in reasserting authority on their campuses to ensure a safer, more welcoming learning environment for the students being subjected to these unacceptable expressions of antisemitism.
In turn, our CCI Summit provided participating higher education administrators with practical guidance on how they can improve their policies and procedures to address and prevent these issues. Program highlights included hearing from Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, Ohio State Representative Terrence Upchurch sharing reflections on his travels to Israel, and a “Tuesday Night Shabbat” Dinner at Temple Tifereth Israel to help participants understand the role of Jewish ritual for their students. Just a week later, we kicked off our fifth cohort of CCI campuses, extending CCI’s reach to more than 70 major universities engaging in this critical work.
While I know news from campus tends to be dominated by the challenges described above, it’s also important to remember that Hillel and Jewish students are creating positive Jewish experiences and relationships each and every day on campuses across North America and around the world. More students than ever before — 180,000 this school year alone — are participating in joyful and meaningful experiences like Shabbat and holidays, Jewish learning opportunities, challah baking, and wellness programs with Hillel. To that end, I’m also sharing a recent opinion piece published in Newsweek for prospective college students and their families, so they can pursue a holistic view of Jewish life on the campuses they’re considering.
In speaking about leadership in our work, I would be remiss not to mention and share gratitude for your leadership. Without your engagement and support for Hillel, we would not be able to do our work supporting, inspiring, and empowering Jewish students through all of the ups and downs of this academic year.
May we all go from strength to strength,
Adam