University of Pennsylvania Jewish Campus Service Corps (JCSC)
Working with Freshmen

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Freshmen are one of your biggest target groups
and they are a fabulous group to work with - scroll down to see some tips and hints for freshmen programming .

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The Freshmen Quad

  Life in the Quad

 

It is estimated that about 90% of all Jewish Freshmen live in the Quad.  The Quad is essentially a huge castle with tight security, and it is where the majority of freshmen eat, sleep, do their homework, and hang out.  The Quad is undergoing renovations this summer, and this year was composed of four college houses, but by the time students come back in August, it will be consolidated into three houses.  The College Houses are smaller living communities that also sponsor activities and House Councils.  The College House staff is often eager to co-sponsor programs with the JAC.

            One of my greatest challenges this year was the move of the JAC from the quad to High Rise East (HRE). While some students lamented on the Quads loss of the JAC, the JAC has begun to re-establish itself in HRE. However, doing programs and holding meetings in the Quad is still sometimes the best place it is truly meeting students where they are at. You just need to work with students to reserve a lounge or McClelland for the meeting/program.

 

 First Year Activities Council (FYAC)

 

The First Year Activities Council has existed for the past five years as a group of freshmen who are interested in becoming leaders at the JAC and coordinating programs for Jewish freshmen.  It really is a training ground for future leadership in all types of campus activities, mostly the Jewish Community.  This year it was an informal council that met occasionally.  No one took on any official leadership position but several freshmen took the initiative to plan programs with meincluding the very successful Freshman Shabbat and the Hanukkah Party . I found that the First Year Activities Council was a much stronger presence in the fall, and I think other past Penn JCSCs would agree it tends to play a greater role in the fall, since a lot of freshmen devote a significant portion of time for spring rush.

 

New Student Orientation (NSO) Activities

 

Being present at CUPID, the JAC for Open Houses during move-in, the Hillel NSO Bagel Brunch and the Hillel NSO Barbeque was extremely helpful.  That is where I met first year students and had them sign up for my email list and programs as well as get to know several sophomores and juniors who had gotten involved in Jewish Life at Penn through the JAC their freshmen year.  There are some great, wonderful, terrific students working on what promises to be a great NSO!  You will probably have the opportunity to meet some of them very early on and they will be of great help to you!

 

New Student Week

 

This is a great opportunity to meet and greet many freshmen! Make sure you are out tabling and walking around the Quad and campus a lot that week. Always carry a pen and paper with you so you can start remembering people. Dont feel badly that you wont remember everyone it is impossible! Plus, freshmen will be just as confused as you are, because Penn is so new to you and to them.

 

Here are some ideas you could do during Orientation:

·          Mezuzah Making, buy glass eye droppers and sculpy clay to construct mezuzahs.

·          Ice Cream Social; This would definitely be a less religious program and you could do a few of these, in the Quad, in Hill and in the JAC.

Below are some freshmen programs I did this year, just some ideas to help get you started!

 

·          Freshmen Retreat

This was a huge success and the brainchild of seven sophomores two years ago. We took forty freshmen to a camp in the Poconos in the beginning of the year for two days of fun and bonding. This year, some great sophomores are planning it. I met so many wonderful students on this trip and so many students told me throughout the year that the freshmen retreat really helped shape and define their freshmen experience! This is a great chance to start connecting with freshmen.

 

·          Rosh Hashanah 101

I originally planned to do a Rosh HaShahanah general event, until I learned that the Hillel education chair was also planning to do the same thing. Sowe collaborated efforts and did it together. There are some leftover books from Rachel Z-K (the JCSC before me),  entitled, A Survival Guide for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

 

This is a perfect example of how big Penn Hillel is --- and while it  was nice that we joined together to do a Rosh Hashanah event together, you should always keep in mind who your target  population is. (i.e. A Rosh HaShanah 101 event could be geared to the non-observant student and be less religious if you held the event in the Quad or the JAC and perhaps did a cooking project to spice it up, while if you held it in High Rise North, it might take on more of a religious connotation. You will understand all of this when you get to Penn!)

·          Yom Kippur Break Fast

Offering free food right after 25 hours of fasting is always bound to be a success. The Break Fast was INSANE! Over 150 freshmen came and horded bagels, cream cheese, Entemans and dessert.  I did meet a few students, but frankly, I felt like it was a bit overwhelming! If you do a break fast, plan for a large turnout I held this in Houston Hall and many freshmen came right after they finished services.

 

·          Fondue in the Hut

This was one of my favorite events. We made chocolate fondue in the sukkah in the Quad. It was a great event because it was a very chill atmosphere but students came and stayed for awhile. I cut up a lot of fruit and we used a fondue set and sterno to melt the chocolate. Over seventy students dropped by over the course of the 9-11 pm program.

 

·          Make Israel Out of Ice Cream

A camp favorite we bought big tubs of ice cream, candy, red licorice and did the event late at night, it was a perfect study break! We divided the students into teams, and assigned colors to the various flavors of ice cream and candy and had students use the ice cream and candy into maps of Israel! It was a lot of fun and a great de-stresser. Then it turned into a giant ice cream party!

  • Vagina Monologues

The First Year Activities Council co-chaired with the Social and Cultural Arts Committees in Hillel. We took a group of seventy-five students to see the Vagina Monologues, playing on campus and then organized a discussion and dessert reception after the play, led by Professor Rena Potok. The discussion was a great way to discuss  the play and its relevance to Judaism and brought together a great mix of people.

 

·          Freshmen Shabbat

This was one of the best events I worked on all semester! I worked with a committee of about 10 students from the First Year Activities Council (FYAC) and they created a program, decorations, table tents, icebreakersit was great! Two freshmen chaired the event Shaina Garland and Emily Ruda and they also did a lot of publicity. We sent out personal invitations, tabled in the Quad, and used the JLLs to help flier. The dinner was held in McClelland with food from Irvs. We had 150 freshmen! We had so many people that we had to order more tables and chairs at the last minute from a party rental organization. We also bought fresh flowers for each table --- flowers can go a long way to decorating! Be sure to select a date early in the semester (maybe mid to late October).

         We also invited Counterparts, a Penn acapella group they were great. Penn has over twenty acaeplla groups, and they are very popular and a great way to bring Penn entertainment to your programs. 

         

·          Hanukkah Bash

This was the last event of the semester and was a lot of fun. We held the party in McClelland on a Sunday night and about 100 freshmen stopped by. In addition to serving latkes, candy, and gelt, we had several art stations, including candle making, holiday card making, and we had fun music playing. (Ask Rachel W for her Hanukkah CD it is HILIRIOUS. It was a wonderful way to end the year!)

 

·          Midnight Breakfasts

The First Year Activities Council really was into this at the beginning of the year. It is a great way to meet a lot of students. But if you do a midnight breakfast be forewarned, students will flock to the food, grab it like vulchers and will be off before you know it. I bought over 150 bagels and they were gone, in no joke, less than 15 minutes! We did a few of them first semester, but did not continue in the spring because I felt like they were programs completely devoid of content and freshmen can get very aggressive at midnight when you run out of food!

 

·          FUP (Freshmen Upcoming Programs Newsletter)

I wanted to keep the freshmen informed of upcoming events and programs that were specifically targeted for them. I originally only sent it to the students I had met, but once Joan got her lists organized, I added all the Jewish freshmen to my distribution list. I tried to make the emails fun and informative, and I also limited the programs on my list serve to some of the more engagement ones. I sent out the newsletter once a week, because you dont want to bombard the freshmen with too many emails! 

 

Finals and Closure

I seemed to run out of time at the end of the year.  I think this happens to everyonethings just get so hectic! So I concentrated on doing a lot of general closure. I had a dinner at my house with 15 of my closest freshmen. It was a fun bonding experience! I also had many individual coffee dates and sent out cards to specific students.

Where to Begin Working with Freshmen?

 

I suggest you acquaint yourself with the College Houses and places on campus I listed above.  You can also touch base with Emily and Mat, the NSO co-chairs and Naomi, Moshe and Rachel, the Freshmen Retreat co-chairs, just to introduce yourself and find out about NSO.  Rachel will also fill you in on the NSO stuff.  Plan some things that you want to do with freshmen in the first few months of school.  Dont feel pressured to plan everything in the first few weeks (you can use NSO to get to know students and Penn) or feel locked in to only doing NSO programs.

 

 Goals for the Future

 

Obviously, you get to decide this because there is not a freshmen leadership group already in place.  You do have the chance to work with the NSO committee, Jewish Life Liaisons and current leaders who can all help you and provide you with great opportunities to meet freshmen.  Freshmen are a lot of fun to work with and respond really well to fun and creative programming. I have found my experience with freshmen to be the most rewarding. They are still young enough to want your help and they are not yet cynical enough to hinder them from experiencing true excitement. Theyre the best! Just have fun!

  

 

What happens to Freshmen when they become Sophomores

 

One of the questions that is faced every year when connecting with this group of freshman who were doing Jewish in unique ways, was what would happen to them when they became sophomores?  Were they going to start going to Hillel?  Would they want programming at the JAC?  Would their experiences at the JAC be beneficial to them as they became active in their fraternities and sororities or leaders in other campus organizations?  While I think we will always struggle with this issue, many of the freshmen I have worked with have gotten involved in other Jewish communities.  Several of them are involved in the Reform Jewish Community, many of them have become Tzedek Hillel fellows, and others have been selected as Jewish Renaissance Fellows.  For some, their time spent at the JAC will be their Jewish experience at Penn.  There are some who will not find that Hillel meets their needs, yet are still looking for a place where they are comfortable Jewishly.  The best solution to this is to get to know some of these sophomores, help them find new avenues of Jewish expression, inform them of upcoming programs all over campus that might interest them, and let them know they can come to you if they need some help finding a comfortable Jewish community.