About Us
Davidson College is one of a dozen target campuses under the umbrella of North Carolina Hillel, which seeks to provide Jewish students with meaningful Jewish experiences and foster within them an enduring connection to Jewish life. Through its Statewide program, NC Hillel is committed to supporting these local Hillels in two ways:
NC Hillel builds infrastructure by allocating program funds, investing in student leaders, providing marketing materials, training and supporting faculty advisors, strengthening relationships with the local Jewish community and communicating with campus administrations. Additionally, NC Hillel staff, led by Ari Shapiro, Statewide Coordinator, visits each campus to work directly with local student leadership and the faculty advisor.
NC Hillel generates centralized Statewide programming open to students from any North Carolina campus, including a leadership retreat, Taglit-Birthright Israel, and Alternative Winter and/or Spring Breaks (in March 2012, students will rebuild homes in New Orleans).
At Davidson College, Hillel is growing each year. The Class of 2013 has 30 Jewish students, more than double any other class in Davidson’s history. Hillel celebrates the major Jewish holidays with events such as “Salsa and the Sukkah” and “Pizza in the Hut,” and has regular monthly events for the 75 Jewish students on campus. In addition, there is a monthly Hillel Shabbat service on campus. Davidson College has shown a commitment to supporting Jewish life by hiring Rabbi Michael Shields, of the local Reform congregation, as the adjunct Jewish College Chaplain.
Faculty Advisors
Rabbi Michael Shields can be reached at rabbishields@lakenormanjc.org.
Neil Lerner (nelerner@davidson.edu), Associate Professor of Musicology, is Davidson Hillel's faculty advisor.