Whitman joins network for Jewish students

David Messer, Marcie Hutt, and Nathan Roller are the first students to reap the benefits of a new affiliation between Whitman College and Hillel, The Jewish Foundation for Campus Life.

As the adviser to Shalom, a Jewish student group on campus, Sharon Kaufman-Osborn spent the fall semester formalizing Whitman’s affiliation to Hillel, a Washington, D.C., based organization. Colleges and universities with affiliations to Hillel are eligible for grant funding for on-campus programming, and Hillel also provides guidance, financial assistance, online resources, and a communication network through its Soref Initiative for Emerging Campuses.

“Being part of the Hillel network provides tangible benefits to Jewish students,” Kaufman-Osborn said. “The affiliation is also important to prospective Jewish students and their families as they make decisions about which colleges they might want to attend.”

Marcie Hutt and Nathan Roller, both sophomores, are co-presidents of Shalom. They received Hillel funding last summer to attend the Schusterman International Student Leaders Assembly in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Hillel funding allowed Whitman junior David Messer to participate in a 26-day educational retreat at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in southern California.