A Place to Belong: How Oregon’s Hillels Welcome Jewish Students on Campus

Greater Portland Hillel, Lisa Hendricks, Executive Director

1. How would you describe your organization’s mission to someone who has never encountered Hillel before?

Greater Portland Hillel is a home away from home for Jewish college students. We help them find community, build relationships, and explore their Jewish identities. There isn’t one right way to be Jewish, or one right way to be involved with Hillel. Our mission is to give students the relationships and support to figure out what it means to them, so Jewish community stays part of their lives long after graduation.

2. How do students find their way to Hillel, and what keeps them coming back?

All sorts of ways. Sometimes a friend invites them, or they hear there’s free food. I will never underestimate the power of free food with college students!

But what gets someone through the door isn’t what keeps them coming back. They return because someone remembers their name, they’ve made a friend, and they can just be themselves. I love watching the progression: a student comes to Shabbat dinner, then brings a friend, then helps plan the next one.

We also want to make sure getting there is never the barrier. Through our JUber initiative, we provide rides to Jewish programs across Portland, so transportation and cost don’t keep anyone home.

3. What does “Jewish life on campus” actually look like day to day? What would a student experience if they walked in for the first time?

People imagine services and holidays, and we do those. But so much of Jewish life happens in the ordinary moments: sharing a meal, studying together, or finding a familiar face on a campus where you might feel anonymous.

If you walked in for the first time, you wouldn’t need to know the prayers or anyone in the room. Grab some food, meet a few people, and join in however feels comfortable.

And because we serve students across Portland, Jewish life doesn’t stop at the edge of one campus. JUber helps students get to other campuses, synagogues, and community events, because no one should miss a meaningful experience for lack of a car.

4. What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen in what students want or need from Hillel in recent years?

I call it “Choose Your Own Adventure Judaism.” Students increasingly want to build the Jewish life they actually want to live, not just inherit someone else’s version. I love that.

This October, we're launching Kabbalat Shabbat with Lisa. Each month, I’ll take students to a different synagogue or Jewish community in Portland to experience a different way of welcoming Shabbat. Maybe you’ve never been to a service outside your own movement, or you have no idea what those distinctions mean. Now you have someone to go with. Come with me!

I also think a lot about students who don’t feel comfortable, or even safe, walking into a Jewish event on their campus. That’s part of what inspired JUber. It gets students to synagogues, lectures, volunteer opportunities, and the JCC, so their connection to Jewish life doesn’t depend on one room.

Sometimes that leads them to Hillel, and sometimes somewhere else in the community. Either way, they’ve found a connection that matters. We're not trying to make everyone Jewish in the same way. We’re giving them the confidence and access to make it their own.

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Oregon Hillel, Lenny Steinberg, Executive Director

1. How would you describe your organization’s mission to someone who has never encountered Hillel before?

Oregon Hillel exists so that every Jewish student on our campuses has a place to belong. At the University of Oregon and Oregon State, we meet students wherever they are in their Jewish journey, whether they grew up in a synagogue, in a secular home, or are exploring for the first time. We help them build community, explore who they are, and connect with Jewish culture and values on their own terms.

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2. How do students find their way to Hillel, and what keeps them coming back?

Most students find us through a friend, a campus event, simple curiosity, or Instagram; plenty just walk in. They come back because Hillel starts to feel like theirs: people know their names, there’s always good food, and they find friends who share what matters to them. Belonging brings them through the door, and relationships keep them here.

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3. What does “Jewish life on campus” actually look like day to day? What would a student experience if they walked in for the first time?

On any given day, it might be a student stopping in between classes for a snack and ending up in a two-hour conversation. It might be a crowded Shabbat dinner on Friday night, a guest speaker, or an event a student planned themselves. A first-time visitor is greeted at the door by a friendly face, offered something to eat, and introduced to someone. No prior knowledge, background, or level of observance is required.

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4. What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen in what students want or need from Hillel in recent years?

Students increasingly want connection without a heavy commitment. Fewer are drawn to formal, structured programs, but they want community as much as ever, on flexible terms that fit their lives. They’re also far more open about wellness and mental health. Many arrive stressed, stretched thin, or lonely, and they’re looking for a place where they can be honest about how they’re doing rather than perform. We’ve adapted with more drop-in opportunities and more student-led initiatives, and we’ve made well-being part of how we build community, from low-pressure gatherings to Shabbat as a weekly pause from the pace of campus. The need for belonging hasn’t changed, but the way in has to be wider.