COMMUNITY VIEWS
4:46,5g A
Keeping Campus Hillels Relevant
constructing a new building to house
he Jewish News editorial
the increasingly respected Hillel pro-
challenging the Jewish Fed-
gram at Michigan State University. In
eration of Metropolitan
addition, both Berman and Bittker
Detroit, in particular, and
have generously endowed much-
the Detroit Jewish community, as a
sought-after fellowships for
whole, to maintain a high
professional staff. Berman
level of accountability with
and Bittker have laid the
regard to campus Hillels is
foundation for those of us
both necessary and responsi-
who love to toil in the
ble ("Validating Campus
tremendously fertile field of
Outreach," Feb. 25).
our college youth. They
With that admonition, it
continue to be inspiring role
probably would be in the
models.
community's best interest to
A new cadre of national
receive a "report card" to
leaders from Michigan is
evaluate how our college
GARY S NYDER emerging. Chuck Newman
youth are being served by the
of Ann Arbor has taken up
Spec ial to
Hillels on Michigan's cam-
the mantle of chairing Hillel
ish
News
the Jew
International. Under his
puses.
For decades, Michigan has
reign, Hillel International
been looked to nationally for
has grown exponentially with campus
guidance in the area of Jewish college-
Hillels springing up in the former
aged youth. Two well-respected lead-
Soviet Union and many other nations
ers, Mandell "Bill" Berman and David
throughout the world.
Bittker, not only have shaped the
As further evidence of Michigan's
Michigan Hillel movement, but the
impact, nationally and internationally,
national one as well.
it is very well represented on the board
The outstanding program at the
of governors of Hillel International
University of Michigan and the build-
and its executive committee.
ing that bears his name represent a
The "Michigan Model," as we are
tribute to Bill Berman. David Bittker,
known, is in fact, the envy of every
father of the modern-day Hillel move-
other state in the union. Our Hillel
ment, is currently the honorary chair-
community is blessed with a strong
man of the campaign committee for
relationship with Federation, whose
foresight has assured that the local col-
lege-campus Hillel foundations have
Gary Snyder of Farmington Hills is
sufficient financial support to serve
chairman of the Michigan Hillel Con-
our youth. Furthermore, with the
sortium.
T
assistance of Hillel International, Fed-
eration has made certain that "emerg-
ing" campus Hillel programs through-
out the state are meeting the needs of
students on those campuses.
Our extraordinary college-aged
youth continue to attract the interest
of people such as the Bethea and
Irwin Green family. Although they
were already substantial contributors
to the U-M Hillel, the Green family
recently has seen the merits of assist-
ing other campus Hillels in Michigan.
I was fortunate to see the unfolding of
the Green family gift over the past
year. The thoughtfulness and delibera-
tion of the Green family, working in
close counsel with Federation staff and
leaders, was remarkable. Their gift to
the Millennium Campaign for
Detroit's Jewish Future will have an
indelible impact for years to come.
In recognition of not only their
financial contribution, but also their
deliberative approach to sharing their
gift, Federation, the Michigan Hillel
Consortium, our Michigan Hillels and
Hillel International: The Foundation
for Jewish Campus Life will honor the
Greens at a conference in Toronto in
late March.
In Michigan, the number of cam-
puses with Hillels has doubled over
the past few years. Our college youth
now have vibrant entities at Eastern
Michigan, Western Michigan and
most recently, Central Michigan. The
programs at all of our campuses are
student driven with fantastic guidance
from one of the best groups of direc-
tors in the world. The Hillels cutting-
edge programming, once again, shines
the national spotlight on Michigan.
We also continue to bask in the
glow of the unique model of Hillel of
Metro Detroit, serving several cam-
puses in southeastern Michigan and
young adults as well. We feel tremen-
dous pride in what has been accom-
plished at Michigan State University
in the past few years and we continue
to be amazed by the new and innova-
tive-programming at the University of
Michigan Hillel.
With Federation's generous finan-
cial support, the Michigan Hillel Con-
sortium (MHC) was created. It is a
unique entity with a governing body
consisting of representatives of all the
federations in Michigan, philanthropic
foundations and each of the Hillel
foundations in Michigan, including
students. The MHC has assisted in
sending students to Israel, to attend
conferences throughout North Ameri-
ca and has supported educational pro-
grams locally, statewide and nationally.
A current major undertaking is to
ensure that the boards of the Hillels
are strong, which includes significant
and thoughtful student input at all
levels.
A spinoff of the MHC has been the
Michigan Hillel Student Consortium.
This student organization has repre-
sentatives from campuses throughout
CAMPUS HILLELS on page 42
LITTERS
vices agency in six locations servicing
approximately 20,000 individuals
annually.
Not only have we become Federa-
tion's largest agency, but Barbara, Leah
I read with great interest your recent
and our board have managed to do it
article ("The Leadership Dance," Feb.
with a balanced budget every year.
18) on national and local women ris-
JVS programs are now not only
ing to the top in Jewish communal
national models, but our leaders are
positions.
recognized on a national and interna-
It was wonderful of you to cite the
successes of so many talented lay and
tional level.
Having two women professionally
professional leaders of our community.
lead our community's largest agency is
At first, I was extremely surprised and
no problem with our lay leadership
disappointed that you failed to men-
since we have had several outstanding
tion Barbara Nurenberg, president and
women lead our board, most recently
CEO, and Leah Rosenbaum, executive
Nora Barron and Linda Klein as its
vice president and COO, of Jewish
chairperson.
Vocational Service. In the last nine
I can only guess that the real reason
years under Barbara and Leah's leader-
ship, JVS has grown from a $5 million
that the Jewish News did not include
Barbara and Leah as examples of
vocational-training organization to a
female leaders in your recent article is
$19 million full-service human ser-
Local Women
Overlooked
a
3/3
2000
that you have come to view them the
same way we do at JVS: not as
"women in leadership positions" but
simply as "leaders."
Dennis S. Bernard
chairperson,
Jewish Vocational Service
Southfield
Show Me The Yearbook!
=7,
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At
po o `''
Yearbook Project
A Big Success
The Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan would like to thank the Jew-
ish News for the article it published
("Show Me The Yearbook!" Feb. 18)
regarding our school yearbook project.
We have received numerous responses
to our request for donations of year-
books and now have 229 books in the
collection.
Besides donating their own gradua-
tion books, many people have donated
the books of family members who
have passed away. In doing so, they
honor the memory of their relatives b)
ensuring that the record of their loved