Rachel Marcus

I got involved with Berkeley Hillel very quickly.

During my first semester, I was mostly doing what freshmen do—showing up, getting to know people, figuring out where I fit.

By my second semester, I was already working as a DOFI at the front desk.

I was also a freshman engagement fellow, helping bring other freshmen into the community.

And from there, I kept saying yes.

I was a DOFI for most of college.

I served as vice president of the Jewish Student Union.

I did learning programs.

I helped in the kitchen.

I came to almost everything.

I loved being there.

But one of the things I'm proudest of was helping create Berkeley Hillel's student board.

At the time, there wasn't really a formal structure for student input.

There was the Jewish Student Union, but technically it wasn't the same thing as Hillel, even though so much of its activity happened there.

And Hillel staff were constantly turning to students anyway.

They wanted our opinions.

They wanted our involvement.

They wanted to know what we thought.

It seemed obvious to me that there should be a student board.

Every Hillel should have one.

So we created it.

I became the first president.

The timing couldn't have been more interesting, because Berkeley Hillel was also in the middle of constructing its new building.

Our first student board meeting was literally in the construction zone.

That feels symbolic now.

The organization was building a new physical home, and at the same time, we were building a new way for students to have a formal voice in what happened there.

The staff didn't treat the building as something they were creating for themselves.

It was very clear that they were building it for us.

They wanted to know what kinds of chairs students wanted.

They wanted to know how rooms might be used differently.

Could this space become something else depending on what students needed?

What wasn't Hillel doing yet that the new building could make possible?

Those might sound like small questions, but they sent a very big message.

Your opinion matters here.

This place belongs to you too.

That was consistent with the way I experienced Berkeley Hillel throughout college.

The staff didn't create a fully formed institution and then invite students to consume it.

They gave us structure and support, but then they asked:

What do you want to get out of this?

How do you want to connect with your peers?

What do you think the community needs?

And then they let us help create it.

That was incredibly special.

The student board made it possible to bring people from different parts of the Hillel community together in one place.

We could have representatives from different groups and different communities actually sit together and make decisions.

It wasn't just that staff wanted student feedback when they needed it.

Students had a seat at the table.

And for me, that became a real lesson in leadership.

Leadership wasn't just holding a title.

It was noticing when a structure didn't exist and thinking:

Maybe we should build one.

It was realizing that students could help shape an institution rather than simply participate in it.

It was understanding that community works best when the people it serves have a voice in how it grows.

Years later, I still think about that first board meeting in the middle of construction.

There were walls being built around us.

Rooms were taking shape.

People were imagining how students might gather in those spaces for years to come.

And we were being asked what we thought.

That's what Berkeley Hillel felt like to me.

It wasn't simply a building someone gave us.

It wasn't simply a program someone designed for us.

We helped create it.

It was our space, too.