Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, last week presented awards to recognize individuals and campus Hillels that are creating innovative experiences and meaningful connections to help students develop stronger ties to their Jewish identities. Greater Portland Hillel, serving Portland State University, Lewis & Clark College, and Reed College received Hillel’s highest honor, the Philip H. and Susan Rudd Cohen Outstanding Campus Award.
“Greater Portland Hillel serves as a model of how Hillels around the world succeed in engaging and educating students, no matter their size or location,” said Hillel International Interim President and CEO Adam Lehman. “We’re incredibly proud of our talented professionals for the work they do every day to inspire and support Jewish students and their entire campus communities.”
The awards, which also recognize those who reflect Hillel’s culture of excellence, were presented at Hillel International’s annual Global Assembly in Atlanta, attended by more than 1,100 Hillel professionals from around the world as an opportunity for professional development, networking and continuing education.
“We’re so excited about this award!” said Liora Gonicman, Greater Portland Hillel’s student president at Lewis & Clark College. “I’m very proud of everything Greater Portland Hillel has accomplished, helping create a welcoming, safe and fun Jewish community at Lewis & Clark. Thank you Hillel International for supporting our work and recognizing our achievements on campus!”
Rudd Cohen Award-winning campuses successfully engage 70%+ of the Jewish undergraduate students on campus at least once and engage 30%+ of Jewish undergraduate students in either six or more experiences or one high-impact program. Greater Portland Hillel’s strategy of meeting students where they are at and their focus on high impact, leadership opportunities has resulted in extraordinary growth in both breadth and depth of student engagement in Portland.
“Our successful engagement on Portland’s college campuses is in large part thanks to the amazing partnerships we have with the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, our campus administrators, our board of directors and major donors. We are so grateful for their commitment to our work and excited to see this recognition of how we are building the future leaders of the Jewish community” added Greater Portland Hillel’s Executive Director Hannah Sherman.
