Editor's Note: The following article on Hillel at VCU was published in Washington Jewish Week on Aug. 26

By Zoe Bell

During her first semester at Virginia Commonwealth University, Allegra Arko didn’t go out much. Then, she got involved in Hillel at VCU at the start of this year.

“Coming into my [second] semester, my friend introduced me to Hillel, and that just brought [me] out, and I was more comfortable going out,” the sophomore said. “They helped me branch out. I joined two more clubs after that, and I just felt more like myself.”

Arko and fellow members of Hillel at VCU participate in regular social opportunities, including Shabbat dinners, (See photo at top) coffee conversations, movie nights and outings such as bowling and rock climbing. Below are photos from a Board Meeting and a Craft Night. 

Arko joined during a time of transition for Hillel at VCU. The organization was first housed at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center, then at the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond. A few years ago, Hillel at VCU achieved 501(c)(3) status, making it an officially recognized nonprofit organization.

“We’re very much in startup mode again,” Sheri Rodman, the director of Hillel at VCU, said. “We really just started last semester. Last January, we inaugurated our first student board and started engaging students [this past] semester.”

Hillel at VCU launched its new building on West Grace Street in Richmond in late January. Rodman joined the team a month later. She said the Hillel engaged about 100 students, with 20 regular members, in spring 2025: “We’re just trying to build and let people know that we’re here; we’re back.”

 

Although she doesn’t have a database of alumni and current students, Rodman said she noticed that about one-third of the Hillel at VCU community hails from the DMV region.

“I was a little surprised, but not much,” she said of her finding. “[Northern Virginia] is huge and a big Jewish community. … Ninety percent of VCU students are from the state [of Virginia], so it’s not surprising that a lot of them are coming from NoVa.”

Matan Ferguson, a first-year student at VCU, recently made the nearly two-hour move from his hometown of Arlington to Richmond. Before his classes began, Ferguson had already attended a meet-and-greet event with Hillel at VCU, hoping to form connections with his peers.

“If I join [Hillel at VCU], I could maybe help them grow a little bit bigger and make a friend in that organization,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson and his family are members of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church. He had been “very involved” with NFTY, the Reform Jewish Youth Movement, and worked as a camp counselor at the Union for Reform Judaism’s 6 Points Sports Academy for two years. So, he was searching for that same Jewish connection as a college student.

“They seem very, very welcom[ing],” Ferguson added of Hillel at VCU. “So that’s what I like, but because I’m new, I just have to do more of the events or activit[ies] and stuff.”

Kayla Seabolt, the Springboard Fellow for Hillel at VCU, also worked at a Jewish summer camp and found a similar connection through Hillel when she was a VCU student.

“I feel like a lot of people from the northern Virginia area end up in Richmond,” Seabolt, who graduated in 2021, said. “When you ask someone where they’re from, I feel like you have a pretty high chance of them saying NoVa. So it was kind of nice to feel like I was connected to the Jewish community here and there.”

The Fairfax native was able to meet fellow northern Virginians through Hillel at VCU.

“It’s always nice to have the common ground of where you’re from, and it’s one of those layers of getting to know someone that you already have a connection with,” Seabolt said. “It was always nice to meet people from northern Virginia.”

Arko, who is from Reston, said Hillel at VCU welcomed her with open arms.

“Even though I wasn’t traditionally Jewish when I first came into this, it’s taught me a lot, and I feel like Hillel included me in so many different things,” Arko said.

She was raised mainly Catholic and felt as if she “wasn’t exposed to all the Jewish parts” of her family. Arko’s grandfather was Jewish.

“Hillel brought me closer,” she said. “They’re a very welcoming community overall. … Hillel made me open my eyes to more of my Jewish side and made me think, ‘This is really interesting. I would love to get to know more.’”

Arko said she now affiliates herself with Judaism “a lot more” than she had in the past. She enjoys that Hillel at VCU offers a mix of social programming and Jewish educational opportunities.

These connections go back decades.

Samantha Jacobs, who graduated from VCU in 2010, grew up in a Reform Jewish household in Bethesda. She entered VCU knowing one person, and was excited to meet new friends.

“[Hillel] turned out to be a great way to connect with other folks, and some of the people I met became lifelong friends,” Jacobs said.