Student Leaders Meet in NY

Close to 1,000 students from over 100 university campuses across North America will arrive in the Crown Heights neighborhood Friday for the annual Chabad on Campus International Shabbaton.

Thursday, 24 hours before the beginning of the Shabbaton, the “National Leadership Conference” opened in Midtown Manhattan.

The forum, held for the fourth consecutive year, is comprised of select leaders of Chabad student boards across North America and is dedicated to idea sharing and developing innovative network programming.

“During the year, the student members take part in dozens of discussion forums (via e-mail group) about various topics, while they share ideas and experiences with each other, in order to increase the success of the branches of Chabad on campus wherever they are,” says Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, Director of the Chabad Center at the University of Illinois and chair of the conference. “This conference brings a select group of these leaders under one roof, and gives them the opportunity through workshops and classes to leverage their operations.”

The conference, which began Thursday night, is being held at Chabad of Plaza District in midtown Manhattan. Attendees will participate in lectures, classes and workshops on a variety of topics. A panel on philanthropy was led by the Chairman Mr. George Rohr who the students also got to meet, together with Ben Federman. They will be addressed by many leaders, including Mr. Laurence A. Bolotin – Executive Director of ZBT, Mr. Richard Allen, and a special workshop on social networking will be presented by Ronn Torossian – CEO 5WPR.

“In a few short hours I’m already blown away by how much inspiration and knowledge I was surrounded by,” says Jessica Krotin, from California State University. “I feel so empowered by the tools I’ve been given and really can’t wait to go back home to put them to use. More than ever, I feel like I can make a change in this world; I can make a change in my community.”

“Those student members are actually mini – emissaries, through which branches of Chabad on campus can develop success on a variety of levels,” says Rabbi Yossy Gordon, vice president of Chabad on campus. “The establishment of the Forum was necessary and important in order to build the future of the Chabad on Campus, and the success speaks for itself.”