Elon Hillel was the sole recipient of the Great Place to Work Award, also recognized for Excellence in Breadth for student engagement
Elon Hillel received two prestigious awards from Hillel International during the organization’s annual Global Assembly in Atlanta: the Great Place to Work Award, which recognizes Elon Hillel’s exemplary team, and the award for Excellence in Breadth for student engagement.
The Great Place to Work Award honors a Hillel that invests in and retains talented professionals for their campus by supporting and nurturing their growth. Elon Hillel’s work as a collaborative, effective and supportive team helped it become the only Hillel recognized with the award among Hillels at more than 600 different campuses around the world.
“The Elon Hillel team is overjoyed to be the one and only Hillel honored with the ‘Great Place to Work’ award,” said Elon Hillel Director Betsy Polk. “This award is Hillel International’s recognition of outstanding teamwork and investment in talent, and it’s a great honor for our campus Jewish community to receive this recognition.”
Hillel International presented awards to its talented professionals and campuses at its sixth-annual Global Assembly held at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center. More than 1,100 professionals, stakeholders and partners attended the conference.
“The Hillel team knows what is needed for each individual student,” said Melissa Horowitz ’20. “They listen to students talk about everything from class to jobs to social lives, and they remember it the next time they see you and ask for an update. My family may be far away, but I know my second family is only a short walk across campus.”
This engagement with students is what led to Elon Hillel’s second recognition for Excellence in Breadth for student engagement. In the past year, Hillel staff successfully engaged 70 percent of Elon University’s Jewish undergraduate students on campus at least once using their relationship-based engagement strategy.
“When students come into the Sklut Hillel Center, whether they are looking for a mentor, an advisor, a confidant, a friend, a cheerleader, or just someone to be there for them, they can find it with one of our team members,” said Hillary Zaken, assistant director of Jewish life for development and strategic communications. “We all just love working with the Jewish students of the University, and it shows in our work. It’s an honor to be recognized for that.”