B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation

The Ohio State University Hillel Foundation, the center of Jewish campus life, engages students in social, cultural, educational, and religious activities both on and off campus. Students participate in more than 60 programs per quarter ranging from - community service, social action, athletic activities, singing, Israel programming to religious education. With a strong focus on leadership development, students are encouraged and trained to organize and lead their own groups while benefiting from the extensive resources of this nationally-recognized institution.

Our goal is to create an ongoing tight-knit community of Jewish students here on campus, and to make them feel a part of Hillel. We ultimately seek to develop our students into strong, active Jewish community members wherever they may go after graduation. We help to develop leadership skills in them through internships and jobs, committees and groups, and seek to enrich their college experience.

Students participate in more than 60 programs per semester, including everything from community service, social action, and athletic activities to music, Israel programming, and religious education. With a strong focus on leadership development, students are encouraged and trained to organize and lead their own groups while benefiting from the extensive resources of this nationally-recognized institution.

OSU Hillel was established in 1925, and has been able to cultivate many quality, lasting relationships with the community throughout the years. These relationships aid us in many ways-- both financially, and on a more personal, student-to-adviser level. Our Board of Trustees is made up of influential members of the Columbus Jewish community, each of which brings something unique to our organization. With our full-time office staff of about 11 people, we are able to engage our students on a one-on-one basis and create real relationships with them. Financially, we run off of donations, sponsorships, grants, etc. Many of our grants are written directly by our students, which gives them real-life experience with fundraising and furthers their leadership skills and abilities. The staff that we have in addition to our wide array of community connections enable us to consistently achieve our goals here at OSU Hillel.

With each passing year, we make necessary adjustments to better serve our students. With our goal of reaching out to each Jewish student on campus, there is always room for improvement. Each year we think of new ways to include everyone-- from one-on-one meetings with our Rabbi, to student groups and special events. One major step forward was the incorporation of CEIs. These students are hired solely to find Jewish students who are not currently active at Hillel, and to bring them to events. Though we are not yet perfect at reaching everyone, we are constantly improving and reaching out to more and more Jewish students on campus each year.