Tufts Hillel earns accolades for
outstanding programming, leadership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 20, 2004

Contact:
Lenny Goldstein
Associate Director
Tufts Hillel
617-627-3242

Medford , MA - The Tufts University Hillel was the recipient of the 2003 William Haber Award for its ongoing "Patches for Peace" program and the organization's Executive Director, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, was recognized with an Exemplar of Excellence Award by Hillel International: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life at its annual conference in Princeton , New Jersey in December. The Haber Award honors innovation and excellence in programming. Since its inception, Tufts Hillel has earned the Haber Award five times, twice in the past three years.

A campus response to September 11, "Patches for Peace" was spearheaded by Tufts Hillel and brought together 88 campus organizations, each of which designed a patch for a giant quilt that now hangs on display at the Meyer Campus Center. Over 150 students, faculty and staff attended a ceremony for the raising of the quilt. The purpose of the continuing program is to foster community-building and forge strong relationships between Hillel and other campus cultural groups.

The Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award is given to Hillel professionals that epitomize the Hillel mission - to inspire and nurture a renaissance of Jewish life on campus and to build strong communities within their universities. Rabbi Jeffrey Summit has been the Executive Director of Tufts Hillel for 25 years, building the organization up from a small group of students working in a second-floor campus office into a multi-faceted institution reaching out to the entire Tufts community through religious, cultural and social action programming. Over 10 years ago, Rabbi Summit led the initiative to build the Granoff Family Hillel Center, which serves as the hub of Jewish student life at Tufts.

Tufts Hillel's mission is to promote Jewish life on campus and beyond, through broad programming and a commitment to building a diverse Jewish community. The organization aims to provide an environment in which students can grow religiously, socially and ethically, and a broad understanding of what it means to be Jewish.