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In a year when Rutgers University Hillel finalized the design of its new building and organized a spirited protest of a hate group's appearance on campus, Hillel had plenty reason to celebrate its accomplishments and anticipate the future at its March 23 gala.

Hillel honored philanthropists Arthur and Betty Roswell, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, alums Dr. Richard and Ellen Gertler, former Gov. Jon Corzine, and five student "rising stars" at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston.

The Roswells, members of Temple Beth-El in Hillsborough and activists in the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties, both stressed that Hillel is well on its way to better servicing all three Jewish denominations on campus. Their donation to Hillel will assist the community in, among other things, hiring a full-time Reform rabbi and sending students to the Union for Reform Judaism biennial conference.

Finding a Reform rabbi "is a process that is a very active search right now," Arthur Roswell told The Jewish State. Hillel's new 37,000-square-foot building at George Street and Bishop Place in New Brunswick, he said, means that when students want programs that are "unique for them," they will have the room.

"The important thing is that we will add to what [Hillel is] already doing wonderfully in the way of getting all Jewish students together," Arthur said.

Students and staff reflected on Hillel's organization of a protest of last October's College Avenue campus visit from the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas-based group that speaks out against gays, Jews, and other minorities. Rather than taking the approach of some other Westboro target sites who "lay low" so they don't draw attention to the hate group, Hillel took a proactive approach and drew 1,200 students "from every walk of life at the university" to a rally it called "Rutgers United Against Hate," Hillel Executive Director Andrew Getraer said.

Sophomore Sam Weiner of Paramus, one of the student rising stars, was among the primary organizers for the Westboro rally. That was a large-scale event, but Hillel has actually helped Weiner by scaling down his college experience.

"It's my community, and it's my social network, and it's the place that has made Rutgers smaller for me," he told The Jewish State.

Last November, community members ceremoniously smashed sledgehammers against the side of the gutted former fraternity house at the site of Hillel's new building, commencing the demolition of the fraternity house. Before a video simulation of the new building, Getraer asked the crowd to "imagine what the future of tens of thousands of Jewish students will be for decades to come." Hillel needs its staff and student leaders, but "we also need a home, we also need a facility," he said.

"I can't think of anything more important in this world than affecting the lives of young Jewish students, so that they will become young Jewish leaders," Getraer said.

Hilary Neher, Hillel student president, said Hillel got record numbers of students to attend Shabbat dinners this year -- making the 400-seat dining hall of the new building all the more necessary -- and acquired a "very active" group of first-year students. The Westboro protest, Neher said, showed "that in a troubling time, different members of the community can come together and support a cause they believe in."

"Everyone really felt like it was a special day," Neher told The Jewish State.

Rising star honoree Mitchell Leff, a senior from Short Hills, served as Hillel's Reform chair and began his involvement with Hillel as a co-chair for the "Days Without Hate" event in the fall of 2008, to raise awareness about diversity on campus.

"You see so many kids in college just weren't raised with a particular set of values and I just learned so much about myself [by being involved with Hillel]," Leff told The Jewish State.

After accepting her rising star award, junior Rachel Hodes of Highland Park reflected on her recent alternative spring break trip with Hillel to New Orleans.

"As Jews, I think we all felt a kinship to these people's plights," she said of Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Other rising stars included senior Julia Selznick of Haddonfield and senior Lauren Glassman of Springfield.

The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, established in 1983 by New Brunswick philanthropist Irving Laurie, has provided $52 million in grants primarily in New Jersey over the last 16 years, focusing on the arts, education, health care, and social services. The Gertlers, who live in Teaneck, helped organize Hillel theater productions as Rutgers students and have continued to be involved in Jewish community service ever since.

Corzine, who according to Hillel was honored for being "an outspoken friend to the Jewish community and a strong supporter of Israel since he entered public life 10 years ago," was not able to attend the gala.

Rabbi Bennett Miller, leader of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, opened the awards ceremony with a "modern Rutgers Hillel version" of the Passover song "Dayeinu," which means "it would have been enough for us." The crowd responded "Dayeinu" to traditional verses like God taking the Jewish people out of Egypt, but also ones like God giving Hillel land on George Street for its new building.

Presenting the Roswells' award, Rabbi Arnie Gluck of Temple Beth-El of Hillsborough said that "God calls, and some feel addressed." The Roswells, specifically, heard a call to create a stronger Reform Jewish presence at Rutgers Hillel, Gluck said.

Hodes said that like many students, she entered college indifferent to Jewish involvement on campus, but on a spring break trip to Honduras, she rediscovered her Jewish identity and started inching back to religion starting with Hillel Shabbat dinners.

"Without these types of efforts and programs [by Hillel], countless students like myself would still be wandering around campus without a Jewish community," Hodes said.