Jewish student leaders launch UJS year in Parliament

Seventy Jewish student leaders gathered in Parliament on Thursday for the Union of Jewish Students’ annual year launch, hosted by the Minister of State Sarah Sackman MP.

The event brought together Jewish Society presidents from campuses across the UK and Ireland alongside recent graduates of the UJS Student Leadership Fellowship, showcasing what organisers called “the power of Jewish leadership” and previewing a year of activism and resilience on campus.

Opening the evening, UJS president Louis Danker said Jewish students were not just “leaders of tomorrow, but leaders of today, actively shaping life on campus and beyond.” He added: “We have an exciting year ahead filled with Jewish pride, strength, and resilience. We are so grateful to Sarah for hosting us and spending time so candidly answering Jewish student leaders’ questions, providing them with inspiration and guidance. At UJS we are now looking forward to freshers’ week, and the team and I are excited to get out onto campus and meet so many Jewish students across the UK and Ireland.”

During the evening, UJS unveiled its five key priorities for the year, which include telling the good news of Jewish student pride and resilience, developing new ways to get involved in Jewish campus life, getting on the front foot in tackling antisemitism, building leadership strength from crisis, and leading what it called a better conversation on Israel.

Sackman praised student leaders for their resilience in difficult times. “It was a pleasure to host the Union of Jewish Students in Parliament for the second year,” she said. “Amidst some of the toughest times Jewish students have faced on campus, UJS and JSoc presidents across the country are showing outstanding leadership and keeping Jewish life thriving at our universities. Our community is so lucky to have such a talented and dedicated next generation of leaders.”

York JSoc president Alfie Joseph described the event as “a great honour” and said: “I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from Sarah Sackman. It was exciting to see the direction and ambition of UJS for the year, and I can’t wait to continue to work with them to achieve our shared goals. As a graduate of the UJS Leadership Fellowship, I can’t wait to use everything I have learnt, for the benefit of Jewish students at York and beyond.”

Founded in 1919, UJS represents more than 10,000 Jewish students across the UK and Ireland, supporting over 80 Jewish societies run by more than 500 volunteers.