Sam Friedman as Hillel director

DELAND-Sam Friedman has been selected to be Stetson University's first Hillel director. In this position, Friedman will help shape Hillel as the center of Jewish student life on campus and engage students in Jewish life, learning and Israel.

"We are thrilled to have Sam join us at Stetson University," said Joel Bauman, vice president of Enrollment Management and Interim Hillel adviser. "He is a nationally recognized leader at Hillel International and in the wider Jewish community in Florida. Having helped grow the national stature of Central Florida Hillel, Sam will be well positioned to support the development of Stetson's aspirations to be among the highest quality Hillel programs in the country."

The Hillel director is responsible for ensuring the strategy and execution of engagement and program development, and helping the Office of Spiritual Life in creating meaningful and diverse opportunities for Jewish expression, cultivating student leaders and consistently promoting a welcoming and lively pluralistic Jewish community.

"I am honored to have been selected for this position and excited to start working at Stetson," said Friedman. "I look forward to working with Stetson students, staff and faculty to nurture and build Jewish engagement and community on campus, and to turn Stetson into the premier private school for Jewish life in the south.

Prior to coming to Stetson, Friedman worked as director of Community Relations and then as assistant director for Central Florida Hillel. In that position he oversaw all marketing and branding for the organization, which increased student engagement by 20 percent. Prior to that he worked for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County as Israel and global initiatives associate. While there he designed a new branding strategy for the Federation and increased the visibility of Palm Beach's global impact through large-scale, innovative programs, delegations to Israel and Russia, and Zionist education and advocacy.

Friedman is expected to begin his duties at Stetson on April 30.