OU’s JLIC Photo Contest on 15 Campuses Offers Students Opportunity to Demonstrate Their Creativity

01 Apr 2008

OU’S JLIC PHOTO CONTEST ON 15 CAMPUSES OFFERS STUDENTS OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR CREATIVITY AND TO WIN GREAT PRIZES

Attention all students! Tired of studying and cramming for exams? Here is your chance to take a break and to show your creativity. The Orthodox Union’s Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) program today announced a photo contest, in which students on the 15 JLIC campuses across the country will have an opportunity to submit their best pictures depicting Jewish life at their school and to win great prizes.

The grand prize for the best series of photographs is an iPod Touch; the second prize for the best overall photograph is a BOSE headphone set; and the third prize for the second best overall photograph is a $75 gift card to amazon.com.

Deadline submission for the photo contest is May 15.

JLIC, which is now in its eighth year, is currently on 15 campuses. Participating schools include: Brandeis, University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Boston University, Yale, NYU, Brooklyn College, Cornell, Princeton, Rutgers, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, University of Florida, University of Illinois, and UCLA.

“We are very excited to make this contest available to students, “declared Rabbi Ilan Haber, Director of JLIC. “ It is a fun and exciting way for students to express their creativity. We are looking forward to their take on Jewish life on campus.”

Emphasizing that photos cannot be taken on Shabbat or the Yom Tov days of Passover, Rabbi Haber said that students should look for examples of Jewish life in the study hall, dining hall, weekday minyanim (prayer services), in Jewish programs on campus, in one-on-one sessions with the JLIC Torah educators and at Hillel activities.

JLIC includes the presence of a young rabbinical couple on campus and features intensive study of Jewish texts, Sabbath and holiday observance, daily synagogue services, as well as mentoring and good companionship. It is dedicated to the enhancement of Orthodox communities (kehilot) on campus by promoting positive growth and identity among Jewish students, therefore serving as one of the incubators of the future of Orthodoxy.

JLIC operates in coordination with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Student Life and the Torah Mitzion organization to support and tend to the spiritual needs of the students. Although targeted to the Orthodox, JLIC is open to all Jewish students, regardless of level of observance. It is based at Hillel, with the couple being part of the Hillel staff as well as the OU staff.

For more information and to submit photographs contact gellers@ou.org.