Safety, Respect, & Equity at Berkeley Hillel
Berkeley Hillel is committed to providing a safe, respectful, & equitable place for Jewish students to grow and thrive. We support survivors of assault and harassment and are taking an active role in building a preventative culture in our community and on campus. We believe that education is a vital piece of this mission.
Promoting Prevention
Staff Policies & Training
Berkeley Hillel recently revamped our policies and procedures for reporting sexual assault and harassment in our personnel handbook, including a lengthy addendum that aims to go beyond legal definitions and be proactive in creating a safe, respectful, and equitable workplace. These policies and procedures also apply to our student employees.
The Berkeley Hillel staff team will be doing two different staff workshops in supporting students encountering gendered violence, one with Hillel International and one with the Berkeley Path to Care Center. The staff has access and is knowledgeable about the different resources on campus that support survivors (and those who support them) and are able to confidentially share that information with students.
Training for Student Leaders
Our student leaders are the agents of change in our community. During the fall semester, we will work together with them in continuing to build a preventative culture. This may include:
- A workshop with Path to Care Center at the fall leadership summit
- Developing community expectations & guidelines to foster a space of respect
- Facilitating conversations about consent at orientations for immersive experiences
- Identifying students as community ambassadors
Crafting Consent Fellowship
The Crafting Consent Fellowship, created in 2015, is a year-long fellowship, in partnership with Shalom Bayit, in which a group of students learn about the different components of consent, healthy relationships, empowerment, and the overall strength of womxnhood. Fellows are charged to implement the skills they’ve gained during the fellowship in their campus communities. In the Spring of 2019, Crafting Consent fellows facilitated a workshop with the UC Berkeley chapter of the AEPi fraternity.
Learn more about this fellowship HERE, and if you are interested in having a conversation or workshop facilitated by Crafting Consent & Shalom Bayit, email Kalia at krodich@berkeley.edu.
Supporting Our Students
*Please note that this section is NOT intended for student employees sharing a job-related incident. In this case, please see the Personnel Handbook Addendum.
Note: It is always the victim’s/survivor’s decision to pursue any of the available resources or to report an incident to the police or the university. We are here to support their decisions and provide information.
If you choose to share with us an experience of sexual assault or harassment:
- We are NOT Mandated Reporters. Because Berkeley Hillel staff are not employees of UC Berkeley, we do not have an obligation to share information with the authorities. One exception to this rule could be if the harassment or assault happened at Berkeley Hillel or a Berkeley Hillel-related event (ie: Freshmen Retreat)
- We CAN provide a listening ear, compassion, and support. Please know that we are NOT trained social work or medical professionals, but we know how to connect you with those who are if that is what you are seeking
- We CAN connect you with on-campus resources, and in many cases, can be with you as you pursue these options (i.e.: we can help you navigate filing a Title IX complaint, a police report, walk with you to an appointment, etc.)
- We CANNOT adjudicate or enact disciplinary measures on other students without formal reports; however, we care about your comfort and safety within our building and community and can figure out ways to minimize interactions. We will work with Path to Care and the Title IX office to come up with possible solutions.
- We will comply with the Title IX office’s directives if a formal report is filed with the university.
If you have assaulted/harassed someone:
- As a student in our community, we care about you. There are resources that we encourage you to pursue, including counseling and educational resources. Please reach out to us so that we can help you navigate these important resources.
On-campus Resources and Information
UC Berkeley provides resources to support survivors, including medical care, emotional support, and help in filing a police report. You can see these resources here. Berkeley Hillel staff are aware of all of these resources and can help you navigate them.
We are continually striving to do better. If you have ideas, questions, or concerns, please reach out to Associate Director Lauren Schuchart at lschuchart@berkeleyhillel.org .