Sad About Hillel Institute Moving

The national Hillel staff Conference was held in St. Louis the last four years

Ever since Rachel and I came out to begin working with Long Beach Hillel, we have enjoyed attending the annual national Hillel staff conference in St. Louis at Washington University.  Entitled “Hillel Institute” and organized by Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the conference, which took place at the gorgeous Washington University campus, lasted a few days long, with some sessions either taking place prior to the beginning of the conference proper, or following it for new professionals, new directors, and others.

Attending my first Hillel Institute in 2010, holding cookies with the conference’s logo

We have looked forward every summer to gathering with our colleagues across the country (no matter how hot it can get in St. Louis in late July or early August) (and, yes, I love getting together with my fellow YCT’ers), with the West Coast Hillel Staff Conference (WHO) taking place every December and re-connecting with our west coast Hillel colleagues.  One of the elements I have enjoyed about it is that it is centrally located in the country, meaning that both coasts have to meet in the middle and those in the middle of the country can more easily make it (granted, I am a midwesterner, so I am a bit biased).

Hillel’s announcing changing of timing and location of Hillel Institute for 2014

However, last week, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life announced that they were switching the conference cycle.  They are now moving the national Hillel staff conference to December to the east coast. Although many of my colleagues might be excited about this change, I have enjoyed meeting up in the warmth of the summer and beauty of St. Louis coupled with the beginning of the school year with its energy, the potential, and the anticipation for the oncoming school year.  Of course, there’s also the opportunity for new Hillel professionals to meet each other; however, they will still keep some programs there, such as a new professionals, etc., although it won’t be the same….

I think this change will take me some more time to process….  In the meantime, I will be attending the annual West Coast Hillel Staff Conference next week (of which, I am one of the co-chairs) and am looking forward to connecting with my west coast Hillel colleagues then/there 🙂

Working on the 2013 West Coast Hillel Staff Conference

YCT Rabbis at WHO 2010

Since I have worked in my current position, included in which is serving as the rabbi for Long Beach Hillel, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life holds an annual [inter]national staff conference in St. Louis, known as Hillel Institute, at the beautiful campus of Washington University either at the end of July or the beginning of August. It’s an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues; learn new techniques, skills or ideas; and to regroup for the new academic year. In addition to this professional development opportunity, the West Coast Hillel staffs have an additional professional development opportunity in the middle of the academic year. The West Coast Hillel Staff Conference, known as the “Western Hillel Organization” (WHO, for short), has been held in the middle of December, usually during finals week (of the semester schools and the week following finals week for the quarter schools) at the very welcoming Brandeis-Bardin Campus of AJU, just north of LA.

Drew Kugler addressing last year’s WHO about having difficult conversations

WHO is not only significantly less expensive (about a quarter of the registration fee), but is also much closer than St. Louis, so many Hillel staffs can simply drive there rather than needing to fly there (which, in the last few years, has become more expensive). Moreover, since it’s just the West Coast Hillel staffs, it’s a more intimate atmosphere, more laid-back, and there are greater opportunities for discussing geographically-relevant matters (e.g. a couple of years ago, the staff members of the Hillels who work with campuses of the California State University got together to discuss how the process was for getting the study abroad to Haifa University to be reinstated was going and what we could do (eventually, it did)). In addition to seeing how geographically-proximate Hillels can work together (e.g. a few years back, some of us got to spend some of our time there working on an upcoming student leadership gathering), it also has offered intimate settings to have break-out sessions to learn skills, share best practices, and to get a better sense of what possibilities lie out there in our work.

Some of the West Coast Hillel staff members attended a breakfast at this year’s Hillel Institute to hear about the plans for this year’s WHO

Having attended WHO for the past three years, I have enjoyed the atmosphere, collegiality, and more. WHO has been chaired every year by two directors who put together the schedule, promote WHO, and serve as the MCs for the conference. Toward the end of last year’s WHO, however, the powers that be selected my wife, Rachel, who is the director of Long Beach Hillel, as well as me to serve as the co-chairs (and we accepted) along with Alison Levine of USC Hillel to serve as our assistant co-chair. So, this year, the three of us have met up several times (and will continue to meet up (for instance, we have a meeting today)) this year and to put it together for December. We also held a breakfast meeting at Hillel Institute for West Coast Hillel staffs to update them on how WHO is looking for this year as well as to put it on their radar. We are all looking greatly forward to this year’s WHO and making it great!