Leaving a Legacy in Jewish Tidewater
TIDEWATER JEWISH FOUNDATION
TJF Community Impact Grant helps new Jewish students at UVA adjust to college life Thomas Mills
T
ransitioning to college life as a firstyear student can be challenging. For undergraduates entering the University of Virginia over the past two years, that transition has, at times, been overwhelming. In addition to figuring out what supplies to stock up on and how to find their dorm room, students had to cope with a global pandemic that shut down in-person classes, events, and traditional orientation programs. One might wonder, how are new students supposed to make valuable connections and friendships as they start their collegiate journey? Enter the Brody Jewish Center’s Chutzpals Mentorship Experience, a student mentor-mentee program to help new Jewish UVA undergrads adjust to college life.
Fostering this type of innovative engagement, especially with young adults and students in college, will teach lifelong skills that they can take with them to integrate with any Jewish community as they launch their professional careers.
“The Chutzpals mentorship experience was designed in 2020 with the goal of connecting incoming Jewish students to older students who could serve as mentors throughout their first year of college,” says Annie Weinberg, Springboard
Innovation Fellow at the Brody Jewish Center. The program is simple: first- and second-year students complete interest forms with information about themselves and what they seek in the mentoring experience. Brody Jewish Center staff then match these students based on Brody Jewish Center members gather for a academic interests, Chutzpals program on UVA’s campus. personal interests, hometowns, and more. Once matched, adults and students in college, will teach students are provided with opportunities lifelong skills that they can take with to meet one-on-one and in small and them to integrate with any Jewish comlarge group settings before the start of the munity as they launch their professional semester and throughout the year. careers.” “Chutzpals has been a wonderful proSo far this year, the Chutzpals gram for me!” says Hannah Mikowski, Mentorship Experience has matched 40 a current mentor and former mentee of mentees and mentors. The program’s popthe program. “Having an older Chutzpal ularity, forged in the desire to build was a great way to help integrate me meaningful connections at college, can be into Jewish life in college. My younger traced to the fact that it started during the Chutzpals have allowed me to provide all pandemic. the knowledge that my mentor showed “We believe the popularity can be me. Hopefully, it will help them navigate attributed, in some part, to the desire through their first year.” first-year students had to connect meanTidewater Jewish Foundation’s ingfully with UVA and know a friendly Community Impact Grant of $3,750 face before coming to Grounds,” says helped the program run a variety of Weinberg. “Many of these students who functions, from one-on-one coffee dates were coming to UVA in August 2020 between mentors and mentees to an hadn’t even visited the campus before on-campus scavenger hunt. The grant also attending the university. The same could allowed the program to be flexible. be said for many of our students in “This grant has allowed us to respond August 2021, who didn’t have an in-perto student needs and embrace the iterason orientation.” tive process of trying new ideas out and With its success, Weinberg hopes seeing what works and what doesn’t,” says to keep the Chutzpals Mentorship Weinberg. Experience growing for years to come. “TJF is honored to provide ‘seed “Chutzpals is still adapting and growmoney’ for start-up costs of new or innoing,” says Weinberg. “We’re fine-tuning vative projects,” says Naomi Limor Sedek, the program’s processes and event and Tidewater Jewish Foundation president initiative planning aspects. We’re so and CEO. “Fostering this type of innovagrateful to TJF for supporting this crutive engagement, especially with young cial work.”
Helen and I believe in philanthropy. It’s a good feeling to be able to give to charitable organizations, and then observe the ripple effect when those organizations help the people they serve. There’s no reason why someone shouldn’t consider what organizations they care about and arrange to help them even after they are gone – hopefully many of our Jewish organizations are on their lists. - Helen & Warren Aleck
Legacies are built during your lifetime. Define your legacy with a gift to endow the Jewish community so future generations have the opportunity to embrace our shared heritage and the values you hold dear.
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jewishnewsva.org | February 28, 2022 | JEWISH NEWS | 11
