Across College Hillels, Mental Health and Wellness Professionals are Making a Difference
As antisemitism skyrocketed on campus this past academic year, campus professionals heard loud and clear that their students needed more support than ever in making sure that they have access to resources for their mental health and wellness. In fact, in the months since October 7, Jewish students have reported increased levels of fear and anxiety at school – with our most recent survey results showing 40% have felt the need to hide their Jewish identity from others on campus, and 61% saying there has been antisemitic, threatening or derogatory language toward Jewish people during protests at their school.
While the 2023-2024 school year was unique in the sudden escalation of these issues, particularly for Jewish students on campus, mental health needs among college students have been increasing steadily over the past several years, exacerbated by the pandemic and a resulting loss of social and community connections. According to a 2022-2023 Healthy Minds Survey, 57% of college students identified needing help for emotional or mental health challenges in the previous 12 months, while 61% of college students reported feeling isolated from others. That was prior to October 7 — and for Jewish students on campus, the need for connection and support has only grown.
Hillel International and campus professionals have responded to this challenge, integrating mental health and wellness initiatives into Hillel programming and Jewish life, as well as referring students to campus and community resources. Thanks to generous support from the Zalik Foundation, Hillel International has expanded its efforts by offering mental health and wellness talent grants. These multi-year grants are increasing access to support through the addition of a clinical mental health or wellness promotion professional to an existing Hillel team. Launched in January 2023, many campus Hillels were able to put these roles into place prior to October 7, which meant professionals were well-positioned to provide support to students and staff as they navigated immense challenges this year.
This Mental Health Awareness Month, Hillel International caught up with two Hillel wellness professionals to hear about how they’re supporting their students.
Michelle Dembo, Hillel Therapist (University of Pennsylvania)
Michelle describes her journey to her current position as a therapist at Penn Hillel as “nonlinear.” Studying creative writing as an undergraduate, she started her post-college career working in public relations and marketing, then got a master’s degree in education and spent two years working as a high school English teacher. After a few years abroad, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in social work, and realized she finally found the perfect fit.
“Finding this job at Penn was almost too good to be true,” she said. “I get to support young people and help them through their own journey and personal growth. I love it.”
As a therapist embedded within Hillel, Michelle spends most of her time with individual clients, all of whom are Penn students. She also develops wellness programs for Hillel staff, and part of her job involves meeting with them to provide informal support.
“It’s really cool to work within my own community,” she said. “There’s something very comforting and familiar about working with other Jewish people.”
During this challenging year, Michelle underscored the importance of having a clinician at Hillel to reach students in need. “For a lot of my clients, they’ve expressed that they wouldn’t go to therapy if I wasn’t here at Hillel,” she said.
At the same time, she said, it’s important that therapists working with Jewish college students not assume that everything comes back to Jewish identity.
“The truth is that not all of my clients are talking about antisemitism or Israel — they just want to talk about their own relationships, or their own trauma,” she said. “Especially when you work within your own community, it’s crucial to check your own assumptions and remain curious!”
For Michelle, the ability to provide a safe space for students is the most valuable part of her job.
“This age is so exciting and vulnerable because there’s so much transition and change happening,” she said. “I feel excited to work with them and watch them grow. I’m honored to be their person.”
Em Riveles, Senior Director of Wellness and Innovation (Queens College)
Em serves as the Senior Director of Wellness and Innovation for Queens Hillel, where she works with college students to promote their overall well-being through meaningful Jewish experiences, access to support resources, and even career opportunities. Rather than working with students in a traditional therapeutic relationship, she engages with them one-on-one as well as with other campus organizations and community partners.
“My role is not to be a psychotherapist, but to be someone who still understands what it’s like to be a college student,” she said.
Em works with students to connect them to community resources, from mental health services to Kosher food pantries, as well as supporting their career growth, Jewish community engagement, and helping them with in-the-moment coping skills when they need them.
“I never saw myself as a Jewish professional, but this felt like a really full-circle moment,” Em said.
She attended Queens College as a student and interned with Hillel, though never envisioned herself working there. After getting her master’s in social work, she worked in psychiatric care, yet kept in touch with Jenna Citron Schwab, Queens Hillel’s executive director.
“Those two worlds had never collided for me before,” she said, recalling the moment she saw the posting for the director of wellness role. “But I was so curious to work with college students on holistic student engagement, meeting them where they’re at, and helping them deepen their Jewish identity through mental health.”
Working on campus this year, something that stood out most to Em was how much her students came together to show up for one another.
“We really saw so many students wanting to support other students — whether their friends were struggling with their mental health and they wanted skills to support them, or students were struggling with wanting to be in a safe Jewish space and their peers came to staff to cultivate that through different events or activities and speakers,” she said. “They’ve been so creative and so energized. It’s been amazing to see.”
While this school year has come to an end, Em — like other wellness professionals on campus — is already starting to plan for the fall semester. After months of rising antisemitism and hard conversations, she’s glad to report that the request she’s hearing most often from her students is for more programming centering on Jewish joy.
“We hear so much about antisemitism, about the war, about the hostages, and it’s really difficult and heavy for them,” she said. “And what our students want to combat that antisemitism, that heaviness, is to be able to take joy in their Judaism. I’m excited to be able to help them do that.”
Curious about which campus Hillels are still hiring for a mental health or wellness professional for next school year? Check out Student Wellbeing roles on Hillel International’s job board as we aim to have 33 Hillel mental health and wellness professionals at 31 Hillels, which serve more than 33,000 students each year.