Here's to Hillel

by Jill Cousins

As a member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s allocations committee in the 1990s, Hank Katzen recalls how a group of Hillel advocates from the University of Central Florida would make a pitch to the Federation for a program grant almost every year. The committee would give the school a small sum of money to hire yet another young program director, but the pay was so low, the director would inevitably leave for a better job after just a year or two, and the Hillel advocates would return, year after year, asking for another grant.

Finally, in 2001, Hank and some fellow committee members decided to do something to fix the situation and give UCF’s Hillel a foundation on which to grow.

“A few of us said, ‘This is for the birds!’” Hank recalls.   “We needed to form an agency with a board and a campaign – something that would stabilize the program. 

This program is too important to live year-by-year on just one program grant. We wanted an agency that would be alongside all the other great agencies of the Jewish Federation. So, that’s what we did.”

With Nina Oppenheim as its first president and Wendi Harris as the first executive director, Central Florida Hillel became an official agency in 1999 – with just a few dozen student members. At first the group ran out of Campus Ministries, eventually moving across the street into a four-bedroom, off-campus apartment for office space. At the time, UCF had an enrollment of fewer than 20,000 students.

Fast-forward to the 2021-2022 school year. UCF now has more than 60,000 undergraduate students and ranks #1 in the country for total on-campus enrollment among public universities. UCF is also home to America’s third-largest population of Jewish students (approximately 6,000), behind only the University of Florida and Rutgers University.

And 20 years later, Central Florida Hillel has grown right along with UCF. In fact, the organization now serves UCF, Seminole State College, Valencia College, and Full Sail University. 

Central Florida Hillel’s 20th Anniversary Celebration – with the moniker Honoring the Past, Charging into the Future – began this past July with a ceremonial tree planting in honor of its alumni, past and present board members, and the Central Florida community. On its Facebook and Instagram, Hillel has been honoring 20 of its supporters, alumni, and founders with a 20 for 20 Alumni Spotlight. Hillel also hosted an alumni weekend in November, beginning with a Shabbat dinner and featuring an alumni tailgate party before UCF’s Homecoming football game. In May, Hillel will host a special event during which Hank will be honored with a lifetime achievement award.

Chairing the 20th Anniversary Celebration is Lauren (Friedman) Koblick, a graduate of the University of South Florida who got her first job out of college as Central Florida Hillel’s program director in 2006. During her time at UCF, where she worked out of one of those apartment bedrooms, Lauren earned a master’s degree in nonprofit management. She is currently the special events director for the Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton and has been on Central Florida Hillel’s board of directors for the past two years.

“Hillel has always been very important to me,” says Lauren. “I give full credit to this organization for inspiring me both personally and professionally. Hillel provided me hands-on leadership and guidance from professional staff that allowed me to see firsthand the impact a Jewish nonprofit can have on the community. It is because of my early involvement with this wonderful organization that I remain motivated to continue supporting it year after year. I want to help provide current and future students the same positive and influential experiences I had.”

In 2013, thanks to the generosity of real-estate developer and philanthropist Alan Ginsburg, Central Florida Hillel moved its offices into a new, state-of-the-art luxury apartment complex called NorthView, across from the UCF football stadium. The seven-story building includes UCF-run dormitory apartments for 600 students as well as office and event space, a resort-style pool, full fitness center, beach volleyball courts, and even a tiki hut. A kosher cafe is set to open in January 2022.

Central Florida Hillel shares NorthView’s office space with UCF’s Catholic Campus Ministry. The Hillel space – the Jeffrey & Diane Ginsburg Center for Jewish Student Life – is dedicated to Alan’s late son and daughter-in-law. Jeffrey was also involved in the formation of Central Florida Hillel back in 2001.

“When the new building was opened, it was transformative for the community,” says Hunter Gold, who replaced Aaron Weil as Hillel’s executive director in July. “Now Hillel has a place to do more Jewish education programs for the students and have informal gatherings. It’s a location for Jewish students to study or to just hang out and be Jewish together.”

Now there’s more than enough space for Jewish students to congregate during regular programs like Friday night Shabbat services and dinners or Hump Day Nosh on Wednesdays. The gatherings are perfect places to discuss the next Birthright Israel trip or an upcoming social event or program.

“It’s the importance of having Jewish students in the same space at the same time doing things they’re passionate about,” says Hunter, who was active in Hillel as an undergrad at UF and earned an MBA at UCF in 1997. “That’s something that can change them and get them to develop their love for Judaism. They’ve been doing that for the past 20 years here at Central Florida Hillel. Things transformed dramatically when the new building opened, and now it’s just growing from there. It’s an amazing organization.”