Introduction to My Hillel

Staff:

Edda S. Post, Executive Director. Edda has been at our Hillel for three years. She is in charge of the financial matters, and is overseeing various daily operations. In the middle of the summer Edda is moving to Florida to be closer with her family. Right now we are looking for a new director for next year.

Zak Mazur, Jewish Student Life Coordinator/Program Director. Zak worked at our Hillel for two years. He was working with student leaders in organizing most of the major programs, such as guest speakers, Shabbat dinners, etc. In the middle of April Zak went to South Korea to teach English there for two months. In the fall he will be starting graduate school at UWM. Right now we are looking for a new JSCL for next year.

Felix Grudsky, Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow. My job is to find unaffiliated Jewish students and organize fun, social programs for them.

Sharon Greene, Office Manager. This is Sharon’s first year at hillel. She manages the business aspects of our daily operations, such as payroll, office inventory, etc.

Staff Structure:

Edda oversees everything that goes on at hillel. She supervises the work of Zak, Sharon, and I. We also have two student workers, Rebecca Brodie and Vitali Gueron. Rebecca was helping out in the office the first semester before Sharon started working, while Vitali updates our website.

Engagement and Empowerment:

The majority of our students are engagement students. Only a small portion of UWM students live on campus, while the majority either rent apartments in the area, or live with their families. We have a small group of empowered students (about 10) who help out with programs, advertising, etc. Marquette, on the other hand, is mostly a residential school, but there are so few Jewish students there (under 100) that all of them are under the category of engagement students.

Responsibilities:

My responsibilities as a JCSC fellow have been to meet as many new students as possible, and to make them more involved in Jewish life on campus either through one on one relationships or by encouraging them to participate more regularly in the programs that our JSLC and I are organizing. As a staff member I help with planning and running any other programs that our Hillel is offering.

Supervision:

Edda has been my JCSC supervisor this year. We meet for an hour each week, discussing my programs, engagement strategies, and my overall progress as a JCSC fellow.

Resources and Partners:

My major resources have been the notes from the last two JCSC fellows, UWM student government office, and Marquette University ministry. My major partners have been Marquette University ministry, UWM student government, Campus Organization for Israel (at UWM). I have also worked with JCSC fellows in Chicago, Madison, and Minneapolis on a couple of programs.

Suggestions for Next Fellow:

1. Interfaith programs are very successful at Marquette (remember it’s a Catholic school).
2. Try to meet as many local Jewish community members as possible. You never know when they’ll be helpful to you.
3. Plan for programs as far in advance as possible. That way you will not be overwhelmed the last few days before.
4. Get as many students to help you with programs as possible. You cannot do everything by yourself.

How to Get Started:

1. Look through this yearbook.
2. Take a tour of the campuses.
3. Familirialize yourself with the city.
4. Meet several Jewish faculty members.
5. Invite random engagement students on coffee dates.
6. Organize your office to fit your working style.