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Learning Together
HCAM retreat gives Hillel leaders new skills to use.
Mimi Marcus
T
jewish@edu writer
he 10 Michigan campuses of the
Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan
Shark Tank started out with each group
having to create a possible program for a
(HCAM) came together for a leader-
ship retreat at the Lester and Jewell Morris
campus. They had to create the idea, the
amount of money needed, where the money
Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan
was going and even provide a supply list.
State University on Friday, Jan. 16.
The retreat included ice breakers to get to
Each group then presented their program to
a board, which would then issue an alloca-
know other Hillel executive members, a ses-
sion on using social media to promote each
tion for the program or deny the request. The
goal of Shark Tank was to learn how to cre-
Hillel, conflict and allocation presentation
request workshops and even a board meet-
ate a great program, learn what is needed in
a presentation to receive funds and how to
ing to work on each university's calendar for
the semester.
properly answer questions from the funders,
all in a professional manner.
As president of Saginaw Valley State
Overall, this retreat was very helpful for
University's Hillel, I found this retreat very
useful for my executive board. It was some-
each executive board at each HCAM school.
We gained skills that can be used in all
thing I wished we did more often, as it
helped bring unity to my members and form
of our organizational activities and were
able to come together as a board to better
many new ideas we want to work on for the
future.
understand how we network and program
on campus.
The social media portion shed light on
Looking forward to the future, HCAM is
what we should be posting on our Facebook,
Twitter and even Instagram accounts. What
we learned gave us motivation to use social
media as a resource when posting future
in the midst of planning an Israel retreat for
students from across the state to be held
March 20-22. This retreat is open to students
from Michigan State University and the 10
events and notifications. Our Hillel has
now created an "automatic" posting each
week, and we've attracted new followers on
Facebook and Twitter due to posting more
often and getting retweeted by others.
Another very helpful portion of the retreat
was a program called "Shark Tank." This pro-
gram was created to educate us about how
to present a program to an organization to
receive allocations and sponsorships. HCAM
schools are encouraged to use HCAM money
for their programs, but also to use their own
school's resources to bring in allocations for
programming.
HCAM campuses.
Additionally, Hillel at SVSU is eagerly
anticipating our upcoming Holocaust pro-
gram. We invite all in the community to our
university on April 22 to join us as Holocaust
survivor Martin Lowenberg of Southfield
shares his story. @
Mimi Marcus of Southfield is a senior at
Saginaw Valley State University. She is
president of SVSU Hillel.
SVSU senior Mimi Marcus of Southfield with CMU
sophomore Sarah Shalewitz of Annandale, Va., at the
HCAM leadership retreat
30
February 26 • 2015
ZOA Fellow Sarah La Pearl at a recent event about
terrorism at U-M
Inclusive Views
ZOA fellow brings terrorism into focus
for U-M students.
Sarah La Pearl
jewish@edu writer
returned to Israel for my 2014 sum-
mer internship at the Jerusalem Post
just before Operation Protective Edge
began. I was unaware that the early morn-
ing air raid sirens blasting through Tel Aviv
would wake me up, both literally and figu-
ratively, to the fact that a Jewish state is
paramount to Jewish survival.
I felt compelled to actively support the
enduring existence of Israel and the Jewish
people after experiencing an alarm that
I could not ignore. Unfortunately, this is
the daily reality for many Israeli citizens. I
returned to the United States on a mission
with meaning and purpose.
After diligent research, it became obvious
that the Zionist Organization of America
exemplified my objectives, so I reached out
to them. The organization enabled me to
return to Israel on an educational advocacy
trip. This leadership mission taught me how
to organize and advocate for the ZOA at
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
It did not take long to become aware
that the ZOA is essential to promoting the
interest of Israel on my campus. Higher
education institutions have been plagued
with a variety of relative views about the
State of Israel. Those views are promoted
through individuals, groups and institutions.
I am honored to represent, introduce and
implement the ZOA's solid support for Israel
on my campus.
On Jan. 28, the ZOA hosted its first event
at U-M. It was designed as a candlelight
memorial for worldwide victims of terror,
specifically those targeted in the recent
I
attacks in France and Nigeria. Several
speakers, such as Pandit Mami, ZOA's cam-
pus coordinator, provided a diverse audi-
ence with personal insight about the global
efforts of radical Islamic terrorism.
Other speakers at the event, such as
Sean Martin, ZOA's young adult coordinator,
advanced the idea that the horrific impacts
of terrorism affect many nations and are
not exclusive to the State of Israel. ZOA
Michigan Director Kobi Erez spoke about
anti-Semitism.
Their approach generated a broader
understanding about terrorism that indi-
rectly induced a greater understanding
about Israel. Overall, the event successfully
promoted the interest of Israel on campus
due to the speakers' all-inclusive focus.
Efforts to gain support for the Jewish
homeland should be generated from a per-
spective that it has a paramount relation-
ship to humanity as a whole. Most college
students do not want history lessons during
their free time. They want to be young and
connect to the world around them through
authentic interactive relationships. They
want to be inspired, rather than convinced
or coerced. They want complexities that are
simplified.
As a student leader and ZOA fellow on
campus, I plan to organize many more
thought-provoking and interactive events
on topics that promote the interest of
Israel. @
Sarah La Pearl of White Lake is a junior at
the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.