After a Long Journey, Claremont Hillel to Open House for Jewish Life

"The original plan was that it would be me by myself for at least a year, maybe two years... after October 7, everything changed," - Bethany Slater, Claremont Hillel Executive Director.

When Dr. Bethany Slater became the director of Claremont Hillel two years ago, a dedicated Hillel House seemed like a distant dream. Now, it’s becoming a reality. When she arrived as the inaugural executive director and sole employee of the organization, which had just become independent of the Claremont Colleges Chaplaincy, she had a plan to gradually expand its operations. The events of Oct. 7, 2023 changed everything. Jewish students needed a community to turn to. Slater rushed to grow the young organization, adding staff, building frameworks, and forming connections. This has culminated in the forthcoming acquisition of a permanent Hillel house in Claremont. The Kaplan Family House for Jewish Life is set to open its doors this spring. 

Claremont Hillel didn’t begin as an independent organization. Starting in 1973, Hillel at the Claremont Colleges operated under the Jewish chaplaincy at the McAlister Center with oversight from a faculty board. Financial support came from the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and the colleges. But in 2015, the Jewish Federation halted funding for Hillels that were on the periphery of LA. On its own, Claremont Hillel could only pay the chaplain’s salary for one to two months, while the colleges covered the rest. Left with a funding shortfall and a dependence on the consortium, donors and faculty began to envision an independent Hillel.

While examining Hillels at other colleges, they “realized that ours was falling way behind in terms of what it was able to offer (due to funding)," Slater told the Independent. 

Donors and faculty wanted to rebuild and grow Hillel, but not under the auspices of the chaplaincy. “We can't have the Jewish chaplain managing a bunch of staff while the other chaplains don’t. It just wouldn't be fair," Slater said. Claremont Hillel separated from the colleges in March 2023. 

Hired later that year, Slater was tasked with rebuilding an organization from the ground up. It wasn’t easy. The original plan for the new Claremont Hillel was to expand slowly over the course of five years. For the first year, Slater was supposed to be the sole employee, focused on relationship building.

“I just wanted to get to know everyone who was already connected with Hillel, and understand their vision for the organization. Then, to network with students who didn't feel connected to Hillel,” Slater told the Independent. “When I first arrived, the student board members were all a part of the same friend group. We immediately restructured the leadership so that we had an internship rather than a board… allowing us to recruit student interns with different social networks." 

But on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel, Slater’s five-year plan was suddenly upended just two months into her tenure. The attacks and the resulting Israeli offensive in Gaza put Jewish students in the thick of campus politics. Nationwide, Jewish students and organizations grappled with antisemitism on their campuses. At the Claremont Colleges, pro-Palestinian protests became a regular campus occurrence, and according to Jewish civil rights groups, so did acts of antisemitism. Civil rights complaints against Pomona and Scripps were filed, and the Anti-Defamation League assigned multiple Claremont Colleges failing grades in its antisemitism report card.

These circumstances meant Jewish students had an increased need for a community. However, Slater noticed that “many students and faculty who were Jews didn't have the kind of support they needed to feel confident in who they were”.

The five-year plan was scrapped. Hillel’s expansion was thrown into overdrive, hiring, building, and organizing. 

As demands on the organization grew, it became clear Slater couldn’t do it alone. “I worked too hard, and I made myself sick. I was trying to be present as much as possible for as many people as possible. It was very hard. Very, very hard," she reflected.

While Slater suffered from burnout, "There were also a lot of questions from [5C administrators]," Jill Stark, Director of Community Relations for Claremont Hillel, told the Independent. “Who is Hillel? Why did they go independent? Are they less friendly now? There were questions around the issue of Israel, Palestine, and Zionism, and a lack of clarity on who we were, what our purpose was.”

So what is Hillel’s purpose? “It's about joy. It's about openness - the foundation of a good life. Being welcoming to everyone, Jewish or not. That’s why our slogan is all kinds of Jewish," said Stark.

To address questions around the organization’s mission and to support Slater, Claremont Hillel added three new staff members. The organization obtained a grant from Hillel International to significantly expand its scale. Off-campus office space was rented in 2024 to house the growing team. 

Soon, the staff began to notice an increasing number of Jewish students visiting the off-campus Hillel office. There were no events planned, nor were there any invitations. The students came looking for each other. 

The idea for a Hillel House grew organically from the students’ desire for one another’s company. “The same question that kept on coming up: Why don't we have our own space? Hillels around the country have their own houses,” Slater told the Independent. “That got me thinking. Why don’t we?”

Previously, Hillel’s connection to the colleges – and the free use of the McAlister Center – meant it didn’t need its own space, and couldn't afford one regardless. Now, with generous gifts from donors, the idea is becoming a reality. 

Students didn’t just inspire the Hillel House—they also played a role in its selection. Stark recalled that "Members of our board asked, ‘Why can't we have something on Indian Hill?’ The students were like, ‘absolutely not.’ Basically, if it's beyond Harvard [Ave], we're not gonna go to it." Now, the home that students hoped for is almost ready, with the location to be announced soon.

Claremont Hillel hopes to open the doors of its new house next semester. It’ll be a place for Shabbat dinners and study spaces. For Slater, the house represents the culmination of two chaotic years that looked far different than her original plan. But for the Jewish students who wanted their own space, it’s simpler than that. As Stark put it, “It's really valuable in a college setting for students to have a place where they don't have to justify what it means to be Jewish. They can just be.”