Jewish-Greek Council
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| Hillel at SFCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jewish students at Santa Fe Community College have never really had a need or desire to create a group of their own on their campus, until now. In the past, they have been content to just come to the UF campus to fulfill their need for Jewish life. This year, there were about six students who expressed a strong need to have a Hillel at Santa Fe Group started. Therefore, as the JCSC fellow I worked to help them build a student board, recruit a professor on their campus to be an advisor, elect a president, hold meetings, and become officially recognized as a student organization on their campus. While there have been some hold-ups in terms of being officially recognized on their campus, as of fall semester 2004, things will be set. This group of students require a great deal of attention and regular follow up. I created a form for the president to fill out on a bi-monthly basis to keep track of the progress of the group. This form (which is saved on the desktop of my computer) has been essential to the on-going development of the group. Because many of these students are looking to transfer to UF in the next 1-2 years, they are good engagement students both for Hillel at SFCC as well to prepare to be leaders at Hillel at UF. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| JIGLO (Jews in Greek Letter Organizations) Jewish-Greek Council |
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| This group of students is a key body of engagement students. In the past there has been very little energy focused on them, but in the past two years JIGLO, the Jewish-Greek Council, was formed. There are three Jewish fraternities (AEPi, ZBT, and TEP) and two Jewish sororities (AEphi and DPhiE), but there are also many Jewish students in the other houses that are not nationally recognized Jewishly. There is a very close relationship between AEPi and Hillel and JSU because many of the same guys are involved in all three organizations. First semester this year, my focus was on the Santa Fe students, and therefore, the Greek students were slightly neglected. I didn't want to leave them out entirely, so Aaron, one of our rabbinical interns and former UF AEPier, took over the role of program planning for the Greek students on the weekends that he was in Gainesville. While it was not ideal, it was a good temporary fix. Second semester when the Santa Fe students were more independent, I was able to focus more on getting the JIGLO group up and running. There have been many great events this semester including: a traveling bagel brunch, JIGLO social at the Swamp Restaurant, and Shabbat dinners in the AEPi house. It is imperative that these students are engaged because of the vast number of potential Jewish students in the Greek system, but also because they are just a really cool presence at Hillel. Ari Kaiman will be the JSU President in the fall. He is also an active member of AEPi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FYSH-Freshman Enagagment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freshman are where it's at. Wherever the freshman hang out is where you want to be. In my experience, the best places to find them are: Broward/HUME/Jennings (Jewings) Residence Halls, the food court in the Reitz Union (good place for coffee dates), Broward Beach (fun the the sun), bars (not a good place to find them), and Turlington Plaza (the place to hang if you want to look cool but are struggling with getting your college cool on). Freshman are great because they typically don't know what Hillel is (or the dorky place that its been in the past), and they are impressionable and willing to come to your programs. Free food is a MUST! Monday nights are the worst nights to plan programs because it's Greek meeting night (and many of the freshman rush a frat or sorority). Thursdays are alright if the prgoram is done early enough. Some of my freshman programs this year included: FYSHing for Friends (a Friends TV marathon), Jewshi (sushi rolling), Chocolate Seders, Ice Cream Social nights (ask Taal about that one), and many others. Freshman are great. Take the time to get to know them. Thet are truly the future of Hillel, both in terms of leadership as well as being participants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dorm Students | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dorm students are mostly freshman, although not always Jewish. Drom programs, I have found, tend to be educational, mostly towards the non-Jewish dorm populations. The programs are geared for an entire floor of a dorm, regardless of the religious beliefs of the students. These are the programs where it is ESSENTIAL to work with a Resident Assistant (RA) to plan the event. No one will know about it if you don't (Note: Ask Taal about the ice cream social). The best place to hold a dorm program is in Jennings, Broward, or HUME. Some of the programs that I put on included: A Hanukkah De-Stress Fest (I did this in 3 different dorms), Sushi rolling and discussion about kosher fish, Chocolate Seder, Wick and a Flick, Apples and Honey for Rosh Hashana, and more. You'll get many Jewish students coming to these progams, and many more who will bring their curious non-Jewish friends, which is great. It's all about education. To get in touch with the RAs, e-mail the Resident Life Director and ask if you can post on the RA listserv and thet'll post it for you. RAs are great! (Especially in Jennings!) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||