A recent study indicates that 80% of American Jews between the ages of 20 and 29 spend some period of time on a college campus. This fact presents a unique opportunity to engage young people around their Jewish identity and their relationship to Israel. The College Campus Initiative (CCI), now in its fourth year of funding through a seven-year grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, has become a model student "engagement" program. From weekly shabbat celebrations to discussion and training in Israel advocacy, from ecumenical gatherings with non-Jewish students to outdoor leadership-building activities, from environmental awareness training to Jewish political action workshops, CCI's programming has activated and transformed Jewish student life on area campuses.

CCI is a program of the Los Angeles Hillel Council, the Jewish Federation's Jewish Community Relations Committee, and the Shalom Nature Center.

"Affiliation in the Jewish community is lower on the West Coast than the East Coast, and this is especially evident on college campuses. So it's our mission to engage, excite, and empower the next generation of Jews and Jewish leadership here in southern California. The College Campus Initiative is now fully implemented on six campuses around the region, helping thousands of young people create their own Jewish journey. And if it wasn't for The Foundation, this project wouldn't exist. Students are a population that can't pay for services, so if the community doesn't support these services, they simply don't happen, and we miss a vital opportunity for Jewish engagement."

-David Levy