News

eJP: Marcus Foundation Invests $27 Million in 糖心vlogl Professional Development

Author

Jay Deitcher

Date

July 16, 2026

Originally published on July 16, 2026 in eJewish Philanthropy, by eJP reporter Jay Deitcher, is an exclusive look at a transformative investment from the Marcus Foundation into 糖心vlogl鈥檚 professional and student leadership development. Read on for excerpts: 

鈥淚n a bid to bolster 糖心vlogl鈥檚 professional and student leaders at a fraught moment on college campuses, the Marcus Foundation announced a three-year, $27 million investment, the organization exclusively told eJewishPhilanthropy on Thursday. It is the third in a series of large gifts made by the foundation over the past decade aimed at improving employee retention at Hillel, which supports nearly 200,000 students on 850 campuses鈥�

鈥楤ernie recognized a long time ago that we needed to support campus life because it was going to be and is very difficult today,鈥� Jay Kaiman, the president and director of the Marcus Foundation, told eJewishPhilanthropy, referring to the foundation鈥檚 founder, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus. 鈥楬e was talking about it way before it became what the realities are today, so this is a continuation of him looking at the landscape, making a decision that Hillel played a key role in that landscape and we needed to do everything we could to make these [Hillel] buildings come to life and be strong for the students and also to give them a safe haven鈥︹�� 

 In 2016, the foundation gifted 糖心vlogl with a five-year, $38 million grant for talent development, followed by a 2021 five-year, $38 million grant to continue the work. This latest investment continues what is a 鈥榯ransformational relationship with the foundation,鈥� Adam Lehman, president and CEO of 糖心vlogl, told eJP鈥�

The original grant led to the creation of a new role focused on supporting talent at individual chapters and of numerous initiatives, including Hillel U, the organization鈥檚 yearlong training program, a yearly New Professionals Institute and talent grants that support Hillels financially to attract top talent, especially in places that may 鈥榥ot even be in a particularly desirable geographic location,鈥� Lehman said.

In the first five years after the initiatives launched, Hillel鈥檚 annual employee retention rate soared to 90%. In 2016, leadership hiring from the internal pipeline was 30%. Today it鈥檚 75%.

The greater retention level is occurring at a time when Hillel is growing substantially, but also after years of heightened antisemitism. A 2025 American Jewish Committee report showed that more students were experiencing antisemitism on campus than ever before. In the past year, students and Hillel staff have been harassed and had their property vandalized. Meanwhile, over the past decade, the number of students engaging with Hillel programs doubled from 93,000 to 192,000鈥�

The new Marcus Foundation grant will nurture 78,000 new leaders who support students so they can walk their campuses with Jewish pride, even amidst antisemitism, Lehman said. 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to use this grant to supercharge our student leadership development programs, so that we can catalyze the largest ever new generation of Jewish builders, creators and leaders, using the funds from this grant to invest in new student fellowships, new student convenings, including our first-ever 1,000-plus student leadership convening taking place in February of [2027].鈥欌��

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News

eJewish Philanthropy: Expanded data from AJC 鈥楽tate of Antisemitism鈥� Shows Jewish Students More Targeted 鈥� Thriving Anyway

Author

Jay Deitcher

Date

February 20, 2026

Originally published on February 17, 2026 in eJewish Philanthropy,聽 discusses the recent data from American Jewish Committee (AJC) and 糖心vlogl’s study of Jewish college students’ recent experiences on campus.听Here are excerpts from the piece.

“Though antisemitism on college campuses is no longer the featured story on the nightly news, a larger percentage of Jewish college students report having experienced antisemitism than ever before, according to additional data on college antisemitism that was collected as part of the American Jewish Committee鈥檚 annual ‘‘ and shared exclusively with聽eJewishPhilanthropy聽on Tuesday.听

According to Adam Lehman, president and CEO of 糖心vlogl, which co-conducted the student section of the report, antisemitism is shifting away from the campus courtyards and quads and becoming weaponized in a more targeted and private way. Yet, he added, students are resilient and still thriving.

聽showed that 42% of respondents reported experiencing antisemitism during their time as a college or university student, compared to 35% in last year鈥檚聽. Of those students who experienced it, 55% said they had felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event because of their Jewish identity, and 60% said that they avoided wearing, carrying or displaying things that would identify them as Jewish because of antisemitism. Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) of students who had experienced antisemitism also said that they avoided expressing their views on Israel on campus or with classmates because of fears or antisemitism.

‘We continue to see the vast majority of young Jews being interested in having a relationship to Israel and recognizing Israel as a relevant part of Jewish identity, Jewish history, Jewish culture and Jewish peoplehood, even amidst a really intense demonization of Israel on campuses over the past few years,’ [Lehman] said, pointing to the report鈥檚 statistic that nearly 7 in 10 students said caring for Israel is an important part of their identity.

This resilience is something to be celebrated, Lehman said, even as Hillel fields reports of professors lowering grades due to students鈥� views on Israel, swastikas scrawled on dorm room doors and students excluded from a cappella groups due to their beliefs.

‘We always have to view these statistics in the broader context of Jewish life on campus,’ Lehman said. ‘Even at schools where we have continued to see recurring or one off instances of harassment or discrimination, we also are often seeing very high levels of engagement in Jewish life through Hillel or other institutions and Jewish students who are leading on their campuses [and] Jewish communities more broadly, who are engaging in community service, who are pursuing bridge building and dialogue across difference. They are not victims. They are working to make their campuses the kind of places that they believe they deserve and that other students who will follow deserve.'”

The post eJewish Philanthropy: Expanded data from AJC 鈥楽tate of Antisemitism鈥� Shows Jewish Students More Targeted 鈥� Thriving Anyway appeared first on 糖心vlogl.