How Welcome Week Events Reinvent Jewish Life on Campus Each Year — And Why You Should Be There to See It Happen
As Hillels on college campuses across North America head back to school in the coming weeks, Hillel International is sharing welcome week events that invite first-year students to find their communities from the first moment they set foot on campus. Lauren Goldberg, Hillel International’s director of solo pro and small campus support, shared her thoughts and experiences on the critical need for these programs:
After fifteen years of working in the Hillel movement, and now working as a campus support director for Hillel International, I’ve seen just about every possible version of Hillel Welcome Week programming, from early move-ins and Shabbatons to block parties and barbecues. Whatever shape they take, they have one thing in common — they set the tone for the next year of Jewish communal life on campus.
Jewish peoplehood has been evolving for thousands of years. We’ve reinvented ourselves collectively dozens of times, and Hillel models itself on this collective reinvention. Each time a new class joins a Hillel community — which is every academic year! — we’re reinventing what it means to be Jewish on that particular campus.
That sense of community, belonging, and peoplehood, is what so many first-year students are seeking. When Hillel offers an open door from the moment those students step onto campus, welcoming them into their new communities, it shows them that Hillel is more than just a place to go for a Shabbat dinner or High Holy Day services.
They’re able to learn that this is a space they can trust, where they can be their whole selves and find their people. Sometimes that means finding the friends who will be their closest-knit community for the next four years, sometimes it means they’ll find opportunities for internships or networking in their future career fields, and sometimes, they even find life-long friends or the person they’ll spend the rest of their life with.
I have proof of concept of that one — two alumni from my time as the Hillel director at Ithaca College, met at our Welcome Week barbecue their first week on campus. Today, they’re married, have an adorable baby, and now sponsor that same welcome barbecue each year!
One of the best things about Welcome Week programs, in my experience, is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. We know, from years of collecting data both through Hillel and across the field of higher education, that early engagement in any micro-community or activity has positive outcomes for students.
Attending orientations and welcome programs, joining learning communities — anything that helps a student feel like they’re becoming part of something bigger than themselves helps create a smooth transition into college life. And the ripple effects from that smooth transition go so much farther than people think: It leads to higher academic performance, improved mental health, greater campus retention numbers, and improved job prospects after graduation.
What that actually looks like is different for every campus, but what makes Hillel’s opening programming so special is that the programs are really a collaborative effort between student leaders and professional staff. Our student leaders partner with Hillel staff members to design programs and events that the first-year students on their campus really need and value.
So, to any incoming first-year students, as we head into another new semester, and early move-in and Welcome Week programs start up all around the country, here’s my advice to you: Say yes. Say yes to going to that first night barbecue — or, even better, invite someone to walk over with you. Say yes to putting your name on the email list to learn more about upcoming Hillel events or to following your campus Hillel on Instagram. Your Hillel staff and student leaders want to meet you and want to help you find your community.
Be bold and say yes! You never know who you might meet, or how it could change the rest of your life.
Lauren Goldberg is the director of solo pro and small campus support at Hillel International.