As the Jewish community at Penn celebrated Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish New Year -- this past weekend, Hillel President Katie Jorgensen had a more personal reason to rejoice.
Jorgensen was one of nine student leaders to receive Hillel's 2002 Student Exemplar of Excellence Award at last month's Schusterman International Student Leaders Assembly in Honesdale, Pa.
As the winners were announced, Jorgensen sat next to a fellow Penn student amidst a crowd of 500 Hillel leaders from around the world -- her name was the last to be called.
"I was in total shock," the College senior said. "I get so caught up in the day-to-day things involved in Hillel that I never think about the bigger parts of it."
Among the other eight recipients were the co-founder of the Hillel at a university in Russia and a cadet in the United States Military Academy, who was also one of the only other Jewish students at Jorgensen's Haddonfield, N.J., high school.
"To be one of those nine people was just mind-boggling," she said. "To know that everyone sitting in that room had done such great things was amazing."
Recipients are nominated for the award, the only honor Hillel bestows upon students, by their respective Hillel administrators based upon several criteria --their leadership abilities, their involvement in Jewish and secular activities on campus and their ability to inspire peers.
"I think her greatest achievement is her journey, her story," Penn Hillel Associate Director Rachel Saifer said. "Though it's not unique, I think that's what sets her apart. She wasn't a student who was a committed Jewish leader the day she walked in her freshman year. She needed to find an entry point, a comfortable space to enter into Jewish life at Penn."
In fact, Jorgensen did not have a formal Jewish upbringing before arriving at Penn, according to longtime friend and Engineering senior Marisa Kastner.
Her freshman year, Jorgensen began attending services with Kastner. And just last year, Jorgensen celebrated her bat mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage traditionally celebrated at the age of 12 or 13 for girls.
"The most phenomenal thing is she had her bat mitzvah last year -- I had mine when I was 13," Kastner explained. "She knows so many things about Judaism now, I would go to her if I had any questions."
Since she has become active in Hillel, Jorgensen has worked with many of the other students who coordinate Hillel programming.
"Katie's an exemplary leader because of the devotion and passion she has for Hillel and the Jewish community on campus. She relates really well to everyone because she's really open-minded and isn't coming in with an agenda but rather wants to forward all Jewish causes," said last year's Orthodox Community at Penn Social Committee Co-Chairman Eli Portnoy, a College senior.
A Kite and Key tour guide who is writing a history honors thesis about the politics and social fabric of Philadelphia in the 1790s, Jorgensen dedicates most of her time to Hillel because she enjoys being part of Penn's Jewish community.
"I've had a really amazing experience with Hillel personally and I feel strongly about giving that experience to other people," Jorgensen said. "I feel like I almost unwittingly walked into this incredible community, and I hope I can get other people into that same spot at whatever level they're interested."
From spending time in the Jewish Activities Center as a freshman to implementing Jewish programming in Hamilton College House as a Jewish Life Liaison, Jorgensen has found a niche for herself in Penn's Jewish community.
Over the past few years, Jorgensen has been working to make the Hillel community more cohesive and to make it more welcoming for students from different Jewish backgrounds.
"The stuff that I get excited about is programs that break down the boundaries between communities and make Hillel more inviting for everybody," Jorgensen said.
Saifer said Jorgensen has always valued acceptance and tolerance.
"I think that Katie gives each community respect and she sees that there are many voices, and they're all beautiful voices," she said.
Jorgensen has implemented several innovative programs at Hillel.
"She is not afraid to try something new, to think out of the box.... She does everything she can to create programs that many different people want to get involved in," said former Hillel Executive Vice President Nadine Spitalnick, a College senior.
Last year, in her capacity as Hillel's Jewish Life chairwoman, Jorgensen introduced a special monthly Friday night dinner at Irv's Place that would attract a larger, more diverse group to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath. During one such festive evening, a comedian performed.
Because of this program, many more people gathered at Irv's place those Friday nights.
"It was my favorite thing I did last year," Jorgensen said. "Partly because it was fun, but I liked the idea that I was creating something that made the entire Jewish community a little bit stronger and that everyone could connect to. It is something I hope to see continue once I graduate."
