Four New Campuses Join Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus Network
Source: Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus
In its largest expansion to date, the Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (popularly known as JLIC) has expanded to four new universities: Columbia, Binghamton (New York), Wisconsin and Drexel (Philadelphia). JLIC, a program of the Orthodox Union in partnership with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, places an Orthodox couple on a secular college campus. Once there, the couples provide programming for Orthodox students as well as encourages close-knit relationships with students who otherwise could be lost in the predominantly secular environment.
Now on twenty one campuses in North America, the JLIC educators strive to enhance the learning opportunities available to students, and also to bolster an infrastructure for Orthodox life to flourish. The educators offer weekly Shiurim and classes, bring guest speakers and events to campus, and make key Orthodox necessities, such as Kashrut, Chagim and Shabbat, easier to observe and more meaningful.However, instead of taking only a generalized approach, JLIC families strive also for a more individualized touch. Students grace their Shabbat tables as regular guests, interact with them in informal settings, such as the cafeteria, and learn with them B’Chavruta. The regular ongoing availability of the families creates a comfort level that enables students to confide in them and seek advice for their more serious issues, whether of a Halachic, personal, or intellectual nature.
Educators are considered full members of the Hillel staff, and they interact with a large number of students both Orthodox and non-Orthodox. Hillels are often thankful for the presence of JLIC, not in the least because it enables them to better serve the Orthodox populations on campus, but also because it bolsters their ability to offer educational/spiritual services to all of the Jewish students.
For more information on JLIC, see their website.