Exciting life update from Andy Gitelson:
To our Duck, Beaver community of parents. students, alumni and our friends:
I am reaching out to share some exciting news. Beginning in January 2024, I will be assuming a new role with Hillel International as a Campus Support Director (CSD). In my new role, I will be partnering with about 15 campus Hillels to serve as a strategic partner in their work to build and grow strong Jewish communities and confront antisemitism, which we know is impacting the day to day realities of Jewish college students today. I’ll be working remotely here from Eugene, so I will continue to be involved in the Eugene and Corvallis Jewish communities. And Oregon Hillel will be in my CSD portfolio, which will allow me to continue to be directly involved with this amazing campus community.
Beginning on January 1, I will transition into the role of Oregon Hillel’s Interim Executive Director, and will stay in that role in a limited capacity until a new Executive Director is hired and onboarded. The Board of Directors, with significant help from Hillel International, is already planning the search for a new Executive Director which will launch in the next few weeks.
It has been a real blessing to be the Executive Director of Oregon Hillel for the past eleven and a half years. I am so proud of the incredible growth we have accomplished since I walked in the door at 1059 Hilyard in August 2012. We grew the number of engaged students from 200 to 1200 annually, developed a presence on the campus of Oregon State University to provide a professional team dedicated to Jewish student life on campus, we established a first of its kind partnership with Jewish Studies at the University of Oregon that helped quadruple enrollment in Jewish Studies courses, and established Oregon Hillel as a key partner and advocate for Jewish life with the administrations on both our campuses. Hillel’s mission is to secure the Jewish future and one of my proudest accomplishments is the 100+ alumni that are serving in professional or volunteer leadership roles with Jewish organizations around the world. I am grateful for their leadership and appreciate the impact they are having on the communities they are serving now.
I want to thank all of you – the students, staff members, board members, volunteers, campus partners, donors, alumni, and our greater Jewish communities, who have contributed to making Oregon Hillel a vibrant, passionate, and caring community. You make all that we do possible, and you have made the last eleven years a real joy for me. And for that I am forever grateful.
B’Shalom
