Engagement (not) vs. Empowerment
In JCSC land, we are taught to think of Jewish students in 2 categories; empowerment and engagement. According to this lingo, an empowerment student is one who walks into the Hillel building on their own, ready to get involved in and lead Jewish activities on campus. Engagement students, on the other hand, shy away from the Hillel building, and from Jewish activity in general. So, it is the job of the JCSC fellow to get out and meet these students in their own environments (dorms, dining halls, etc.) and to connect them in some way with Jewish life.
In my experience, at Stanford, these categories are much more fluid and overlapping than the previous description allows. They are not verses each other at all. While is this probably true on many campuses, it is especially the case at Stanford because 1) there is no Hillel building, 2) the community is in a process of transition, entering the second year of having a student board and therefore, the "in" crowd is just forming, and 3) the California and ultra-academic environment here lead there to a high percentage of "closet" Jews. At this point, the majority of Jews on campus still must be engaged and therefore the focus of the JCSC fellow is to make connections with as many of these students in as many ways as possible.
Engagement is the act of connecting with students on a personal level. It is not doing outreach to lure them into formal Jewish life.
I have primarily used two techniques in my engagement work; 1) one-on-one conversations with students (who I meet at programs or through their friends), and 2) target group programming that expands the scope of Jewish activities on campus and reaches new populations of students.
This year, I have had the opportunity to speak with a lot of students who have felt brushed aside by the Jewish community (at Stanford and in general) because they are not “religious enough” or “pro-Israel enough.” Talking about their frustrations generally helps students to identify their own concerns. It shows them that there is an open mind, and ear for them in the Jewish community. In addition, it allows me to think about ways to adjust our comm unties activities according, and/or change the way that we convey our messages so people know what we do here. During these conversations, I try to convey to students that this community exists precisely because of our diversity, and not in spite of it.
Here are some places where the lines get fuzzy. Empowerment students are great at engaging other students. Student board members can and should do tabling, dorm programs, and hold one-on-one coffee dates. On the other side, engagement students become most engaged when they are empowered. It is useful to get engagement students to work on programming and create opportunities for their friends to enter into Jewish life.
Doing engagement work is a lot of fun. By being comfortable with yourself and your role on campus, and an excellent reflective listener, you will be the best engagement professional that you can be.