Mondale Leadership Series
2012-2013 Series 2013 Keynote Speaker Student-Led Changes Internships Get Involved
Student-Led Changes- Hillel
One of the flagship examples of student empowerment stemming from the Mondale Leadership Series was the student-led establishment of a Hillel chapter on campus. After writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel presented the 1987 Mondale Keynote Address, students on campus began to notice that EBU celebrated the Hmong New Year with large cultural events throughout the week and a special menu in the dining facilities that corresponded with the events, and special menus and events to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but did not offer kosher meals or recognize Jewish high holidays. Students, recognizing that Hillel was a campus organization designed to engage and develop Jewish college students, secured the student support needed, and was officially recognized as a student organization on campus during the Spring 1987 semester. [33]
In Fall 1987, Hillel worked to build student and administrative support for the objectives the studens set out to accomplish, including daily offering of kosher meal options and institutional recognition of Jewish high holidays. Students met regularly with campus dining to create a cost-effective, 100% kosher meal plan for students year round. Starting January 1988, EBU Campus Dining began offering kosher meal options at every meal in the campus cafeterias. During Passover in 1988, Millie Arnold, the wife of President Steven Arnold, then President of EBU, invited all Jewish students on campus to the President's house for a kosher meal.
However, as the students began to make strides administratively on campus, they began to realize the general lack of knowledge and comprehension of Jewish culture on campus. Some professors still counted absences during high holy days as unexcused absences, and institutional calendars failed to denote any Jewish holidays during the 1988-1989 academic calendar. Jewish students reported that though they felt safe on campus, they still felt unsupported by students, faculty, and administrators.
However, in Fall 1989 twelve Jewish students formed the Hillel living-learning community in Carlson Hall (now Klobuchar Hall). The faculty member, Dr. Leo McGarry, praised the establishment of the Hillel LLC. In an article, he described the difficulties faced by campuses in creating inclusive, catchall multi-faith groups, but with the Hillel LLC, Jewish students garnered much more respect and experienced greater levels of spiritual and identity development by having programming just for them. [33][34] That year Jewish students experienced a greater presence on campus and saw changes begin to take place in institutional priorities.
As Hillel began to grow in presence on campus, the students began to note the lack of a true Jewish center on campus, let alone a true multi-faith center on campus. To further their feelings of inclusion, and to help promote general religious inclusion on campus. During the 1993-1994 academic year, Hillel, along with several student organizations and academic departments, joined to propose the creation of the Joshua Lyman Multi-Faith Center. When the Lyman Center opened, the impact on the student body was immediate, with one student saying that, “I never really thought that people weren’t Catholic, let alone people weren’t Christian.”[35]
After the founding of the Lyman Center, students of all faiths began to note how it had become a comfort zone on campus. Jewish students noted that although they were not required to know the prayers or consign to a particular movement of Judaism, it still allowed them to partake in Jewish culture and traditions, all the while providing an atmosphere and venue for community and fellowship. [33]
Ultimately, the active citizenship that led to the formation of Hillel helped develop and strengthen the Jewish student community on campus, aided exstensively in the learning and intellectual development of all EBU students, and only furthered the encouragement of cognitive development of students. Throughout time, the effects of the Lyman Center, along with the maintained presence of Hillel on campus, has helped to provide a safe space on campus that encourages spiritual development, guides students in developing and authentic identity of their own, and empowers students to be advocates for social justice and multicultural inclusion. [34]
One of the flagship examples of student empowerment stemming from the Mondale Leadership Series was the student-led establishment of a Hillel chapter on campus. After writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel presented the 1987 Mondale Keynote Address, students on campus began to notice that EBU celebrated the Hmong New Year with large cultural events throughout the week and a special menu in the dining facilities that corresponded with the events, and special menus and events to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but did not offer kosher meals or recognize Jewish high holidays. Students, recognizing that Hillel was a campus organization designed to engage and develop Jewish college students, secured the student support needed, and was officially recognized as a student organization on campus during the Spring 1987 semester. [33]
In Fall 1987, Hillel worked to build student and administrative support for the objectives the studens set out to accomplish, including daily offering of kosher meal options and institutional recognition of Jewish high holidays. Students met regularly with campus dining to create a cost-effective, 100% kosher meal plan for students year round. Starting January 1988, EBU Campus Dining began offering kosher meal options at every meal in the campus cafeterias. During Passover in 1988, Millie Arnold, the wife of President Steven Arnold, then President of EBU, invited all Jewish students on campus to the President's house for a kosher meal.
However, as the students began to make strides administratively on campus, they began to realize the general lack of knowledge and comprehension of Jewish culture on campus. Some professors still counted absences during high holy days as unexcused absences, and institutional calendars failed to denote any Jewish holidays during the 1988-1989 academic calendar. Jewish students reported that though they felt safe on campus, they still felt unsupported by students, faculty, and administrators.
However, in Fall 1989 twelve Jewish students formed the Hillel living-learning community in Carlson Hall (now Klobuchar Hall). The faculty member, Dr. Leo McGarry, praised the establishment of the Hillel LLC. In an article, he described the difficulties faced by campuses in creating inclusive, catchall multi-faith groups, but with the Hillel LLC, Jewish students garnered much more respect and experienced greater levels of spiritual and identity development by having programming just for them. [33][34] That year Jewish students experienced a greater presence on campus and saw changes begin to take place in institutional priorities.
As Hillel began to grow in presence on campus, the students began to note the lack of a true Jewish center on campus, let alone a true multi-faith center on campus. To further their feelings of inclusion, and to help promote general religious inclusion on campus. During the 1993-1994 academic year, Hillel, along with several student organizations and academic departments, joined to propose the creation of the Joshua Lyman Multi-Faith Center. When the Lyman Center opened, the impact on the student body was immediate, with one student saying that, “I never really thought that people weren’t Catholic, let alone people weren’t Christian.”[35]
After the founding of the Lyman Center, students of all faiths began to note how it had become a comfort zone on campus. Jewish students noted that although they were not required to know the prayers or consign to a particular movement of Judaism, it still allowed them to partake in Jewish culture and traditions, all the while providing an atmosphere and venue for community and fellowship. [33]
Ultimately, the active citizenship that led to the formation of Hillel helped develop and strengthen the Jewish student community on campus, aided exstensively in the learning and intellectual development of all EBU students, and only furthered the encouragement of cognitive development of students. Throughout time, the effects of the Lyman Center, along with the maintained presence of Hillel on campus, has helped to provide a safe space on campus that encourages spiritual development, guides students in developing and authentic identity of their own, and empowers students to be advocates for social justice and multicultural inclusion. [34]