CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Students at the University of Virginia report that Hillel’s Zoom events just aren’t quite doing it for them anymore. Despite the student board’s ongoing attempts at creating engaging activities and services, members of the community feel it just isn’t quite right.
“I don’t really feel like I have the time to log on to the weekly coffee chats,” said junior Rebecca Faigen, who used to stop by Hillel to get coffee about three times a day when she was on campus.
“It’s not that I don’t like Zoom Shabbat services. I just prefer praying alone,” said sophomore Zack Wachsbaum, a regular at Hillel services on campus, who has not opened a siddur since March 6th.
“I appreciate what they’re trying to do, keeping us all engaged in the community is definitely a good thing,” said senior Rose Langer. “And it was really great back in March and April. But I just don’t think the student board understands what we want out of this year.” Langer has not opened any one of the six Google Forms the board has sent out asking students what they want out of this year.
“I wish I was more excited to go when they bring in guest lecturers on Wednesday nights, but once I’m done with Zoom classes, I just can’t stand to look at a screen anymore,” said sophomore Noah Barel, a competitive gamer who has watched 15 TV shows since March.
Of the seven members of Hillel’s student board, only one regularly attends events. He is a freshman and has never stepped foot inside of the Hillel building or met any of the other students.
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