In 2021-22 academic year we broke all-time engagement records in all categories:
- Engagement last year: 280
Engagements this year: 409
- Students who engaged 6+ times last year: 45
Students who engaged 6+ times this year: 93
- Students who participated in high impact activities (leadership, birthright, fellowships, internships) last year: 35
Students who participated in high impact activities this year: 56
- Number of weekly programs last year: 3
Number of weekly programs this year: 6
- Students signed up for Birthright last year: 5
Students signed up for Birthright this year: 15
Hillel of Colorado uses breadth and depth measurements to calculate how many and how often we are impacting students. Using the measuring excellence tool HEART, developed by our colleagues at Hillel International, we work closely with their “measurement” experts to capture and evaluate data on the students we engage as well as how often we engage them. We know that students who attend one Hillel event each year of college are much more likely to be involved in Jewish community as adults (see below on what greater engagement means). Though it is imperative to engage as many people as possible to ensure a Jewish future for our People, so, too, has it been demonstrated that a student engaged 6+ time/year in Hillel throughout their time in college is more than twice as likely to live a Jewish life during and after college as one who does not.
This year, we can clearly see a trend: when we are able to engage a student for one program – which often takes many hours of staff time – the likelihood of that student quickly transitioning into the 6+ category is significantly improved over previous years (see the numbers above). Thanks to all of these factors, the high increase in student engagement metrics we cite will help improve our community’s Jewish future, as students highly impacted by Hillel are more likely to have strong Jewish identities in their adult lives.