You have the agency to define your own Jewish student experience. My entire team and I are here to help you write a story of pride, vibrancy and growth, whatever that looks like for you
September 29, 2025 15:40
Dear new Jewish students,
Welcome to university life. For every “fresher”, these first weeks are full of excitement and trepidation. A new home. New friends. A new course. For you, there may well be something else causing anxiety: your Jewishness.
I can hardly blame you. If you come from a strong Jewish community, or a Jewish secondary school, the prospect of being the first Jew someone’s ever met can be daunting – particularly now. Jewish students haven’t had it easy these past two years. Campus has been challenging to navigate, a politically-charged hotbed of strong opinions and stronger protests. The rise in antisemitism across society has been magnified on campus, with a series of headline-grabbing examples: hostile encampments, Holocaust inversion, Hamas-endorsing lecturers. I know that you know all this – in the social media age, it can feel difficult to escape.
There will be plenty who tell you that campus is no place for a Jew. Indeed, members of our community have said those very words to me. But I have a different take. I think that Jewish life on campus is great. In fact, I know that it’s great, and I am absolutely committed to ensuring it is not defined by those who spew hatred. I want you to write your Jewish student story.
Why am I so confident? Well, as President of the Union of Jewish Students, I see our team of nearly twenty spending their days working to build a Jewish student experience that is proud, vibrant, and resilient in the face of hostility. We support over 80 Jewish Societies, from Aberdeen to York, to deliver Jewish life. If you haven’t yet, head to your “JSoc” for a Friday night dinner, a pub quiz or a speaker talk. Join the football or netball team. Organise an interfaith event. Join thousands engaging in Jewish campus life – more than ever before.
JSoc-sponsored chicken soup can be the start of a deeply rewarding Jewish campus journey. At UJS, we support every JSoc with funding, guidance and ideas for their local campuses, but we also deliver exciting national events. You can come to our national Convention in November. Our Booze 4 Jews club night in Leeds. Our Student Awards night where we celebrate brilliant Jewish leaders. Want to take up a leadership role at JSoc? Our fellowship programme will equip you with the skills and experience you need, along with two special overseas trips. We are delivering more programming than ever, to match the growing enthusiasm for Jewish campus life.
I’m not naïve – I know things are hard. We spend hours each day advocating on your behalf, to universities, student unions and government. We want to make sure your voice is heard, and keep Jewish student experiences at the centre of the agenda. We will always fight against the glorification of terror, the normalisation of antisemitism, and the polarisation of campus discourse. Ministers of State, Vice Chancellors and Student Union Presidents will hear this message loud and clear, all year long. You can get involved in this work, too – reach out to UJS.
The bottom line is this: read the headlines, and you may think campus is no place to be Jewish. But all the busy freshers’ fair stalls and overspilling student Friday nights suggest the very opposite. Jewish students are choosing to make their campus communities thrive like nowhere else.
You have the agency to define your own Jewish student experience. My entire team and I are here to help you write a story of pride, vibrancy and growth, whatever that looks like for you.
It’s easy to help us build a year of Jewish student strength and success. The first step is to show up. Go and have a brilliant time on campus. We’ve got your back.
Louis Danker is the president of the Union of Jewish Students
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