Editorial : Hillel anniversary celebration, donation bring campus together

The immediate sellout of the DJ Diplo concert vindicates Hillel at Syracuse University after the student organization fought through semesters to get the funding to pull off the upcoming 60th anniversary celebration.

With mash-up, dubstep and techno DJs gaining popularity, Hillel chose an artist with broad student appeal. Hillel’s successful event shows special-interest student groups — whether religious, ethnic or political — can rally student participation through music.

Rather than celebrating its anniversary by bringing in a prominent Jewish speaker or holding a dinner for Hillel members, both of which would have been great ways to honor a long history at SU, the organization will bring SU students from all backgrounds together to celebrate. Music and comedy performances, such as the one Hillel will hold and many others student groups put on each semester, consistently prove to be the few tools that unite the student body for various causes and celebrations.

With that, Hillel also demonstrated a laudable dedication to strengthening the campus outside its organization by donating half the proceeds from the concert to Hendricks Chapel. Housed in Hendricks for decades before moving to its own site, Hillel members said they wished to give back to the chapel. Their donation will fund Hendricks’ interfaith dialogue initiative, an incredibly relevant and essential cause on a religiously diverse campus like SU.

The communal effort — through funds from Hillel’s donors and the chancellor, as well as the help of University Union — to see Hillel’s 60th anniversary concert to fruition is likewise commendable, as it proved to be an endeavor that truly benefits more than one slice of campus.