Undergraduate First Year Experience

Join Brandeis Hillel student leaders and staff for the Hillel First Year Retreat from Thursday, August 21 to Saturday, August 23 (through the end of Shabbat) at Brandeis University during Pre-Orientation.

The First Year Retreat is a great opportunity to connect with new friends and to learn about Jewish life at Brandeis while enjoying a beautiful Shabbat together. The program includes fun activities and games (including a pre-Shabbat off-campus excursion!), spirited services, delicious kosher meals, and more.

Note that the Shabbaton portion of the program will be completely Shabbat-friendly and will include Shabbat-friendly versions of the general New Student Orientation, which begins on Saturday afternoon, around our schedule for Shabbat services, meals, and learning.

The retreat is welcome to all students. If you have questions about the retreat, please email hillel@brandeis.edu

Were you involved in community service in high school? Are you hoping to grow as a leader? Do you want to engage in the Brandeis and Waltham communities? Join other actively engaged peers in discovering how service can become part of your identity at Brandeis, while gaining the tools you need to become a leader in your new community.

Participants will engage in community service, discover and reflect on the diverse populations, perspectives, and roles that exist in the Waltham and greater Boston communities; develop leadership skills; and become part of a community committed to personal growth through service and reflection.

Students will explore service through the lens of community engagement, social justice, and local activism, while building relationships with prominent Brandeis community members and community partners who are actively engaged in this work. Participants will leave the program with the connections, skills, and knowledge to jump into service at Brandeis and have a positive impact on their new community.

Queer Academics and Activism (QAA) will offer first-year and incoming transfer students a thought-provoking examination of the many dimensions of queer lives and experiences in the United States: the history of struggles around LGBTQIA+ rights, the development of queer activism, the intersections of queerness with questions of race, class, gender, and other vectors of oppression, and how scholars have theorized these realities.

Students will have the opportunity to learn from renowned faculty members in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis as well as to hear about queer life and resources on campus. Through lectures, workshops, panel discussions, and seminar-style discussions, students will be introduced to an intersectional approach to queer theory and queer studies, and the relationship between queer studies and queer activism. In the process, students will learn about opportunities to contribute to queer community progress and forge memorable, lasting friendships in a safe space for personal growth through a well-rounded understanding of their place in history.

This social justice pre-orientation program is a comprehensive experience designed for first year and incoming transfer students to develop a deeper understanding of the relevance of social justice movements in society. Through this program, students will explore historical and contemporary issues related to social justice. The course will combine theoretical and practical knowledge to enhance students' awareness of the role they play in creating a more equitable and inclusive community, both on-campus and in their future careers.

Throughout the program, students will engage in open and honest discussions around topics such as cultural intelligence, bystander intervention, and having difficult conversations across differences. The program will equip students with the skills to address and challenge injustice and empower them to advocate for social change and inclusion, creating a safer and more welcoming space for everyone. Participants will also examine the Civil Rights Movement and learn best practices for creating and sustaining healthy, inclusive communities. Social Justice and Society aims to expose students to diverse perspectives and foster a greater appreciation for the value of equity and inclusion in building a more just society.

There will be an opportunity for ongoing engagement and equity advocacy during the academic year for those students interested.