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New director for Hillel 818

Hillel 818 has undergone a major facelift in the past year, culminating in the April arrival of executive director David Katz, who trekked across the country from Pittsburgh with the hope of bringing a fresh start to Jewish life on three Valley college campuses.
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August 27, 2015

Hillel 818 has undergone a major facelift in the past year, culminating in the April arrival of executive director David Katz, who trekked across the country from Pittsburgh with the hope of bringing a fresh start to Jewish life on three Valley college campuses. 

Hillel 818 works with an estimated 8,000 Jewish students, serving Pierce College, Los Angeles Valley College and CSU Northridge, where it is located near campus. Katz comes from a similar situation, having previously served as assistant director for the Hillel in Pittsburgh, which serves Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University.

The 33-year-old arrived here in the wake of controversy after Hillel 818’s board dissolved in September at the insistence of its single-largest funder, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. But Katz has high hopes moving forward and discussed everything from combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to the importance of having a good kitchen.

ON SERVING MULTIPLE COLLEGES: 

The challenge is the proximity of the three campuses and figuring out how, with a limited staff, we spend time on all three campuses. But there is also this amazing opportunity, and that is these are commuter students who have the ability to really come together in not the traditional college campus setting. The goal for us is to … be a Hillel that’s on campus, in the building, but also throughout the entire Valley. 

DEALING WITH ANTI-ISRAEL SENTIMENT: 

Students … should expect to see a much stronger proactive approach to Israel advocacy on campus with the goal of building relationships among a number of student organizations — not just Jewish student organizations — to help them gain a better understanding of the situation on the ground in Israel. The goal is how do we pre-emptively stop a BDS resolution from coming about. 

DEALING WITH CONTROVERSY:

While this is a Hillel that has seen controversy, the mission of the organization remains the same, and that is to engage every Jewish student on campus. I think that as a community we need to focus on moving forward … and understanding that our goal is to get out there and have a positive impact on campus. The past is the past. This in a lot of ways is a new Hillel with a new approach to how we are doing our work, and I’m excited to get moving along. 

FINDING FUNDING:

Other than the Federation, yes, I would say Hillel 818 is looking for investors throughout the Valley who … care about supporting Jewish student life on campus. … These are students we have invested in — from preschool to summer camps and Israel travel — and that investment needs to continue to their time on college campus. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A GREAT KITCHEN:

We received a grant for $50,000 to make some much-needed renovations in our kitchen. As we know, just as the kitchen is the heart of a Jewish household, the kitchen is a key engagement tool for reaching students on campus, and it is just going to help us do everything, from Friday night Shabbat dinners to building a thriving Challah for Hunger chapter. 

LOOKING AHEAD: 

I’m really looking forward to … having the opportunity to work with students of multiple identities — in particular, our Russian students, our Persian students and our Israeli students. It is exciting to see how many different ways we are going to be able to celebrate Judaism. 

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