On Oct. 2, the Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU welcomed over 30 alumni, parents, faculty, and friends to its historic Greenwich Village brownstone for a fall meeting of the Bronfman Center Advisory Board. Among the Board members in attendance were the Center's namesake and co-founder, Edgar M. Bronfman, along with fellow co-founder and current executive director of the George H. Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at NYU, Naomi Levine. Bronfman and Levine established the Bronfman Center 17 years ago, and co-chaired its advisory board until this year.
At the meeting, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, university chaplain and Skirball executive director of the center, introduced the institution's new leadership: Trustee Steven M. Cohen ’85 and Dorothy Tananbaum. The center's former executive directors—Rabbi Andy Bachman, Sue Dickman, Cindy Greenberg, and David Rittberg—also pledged to establish the Naomi Levine Prize for Student Philanthropy at the Bronfman Center. In recognition of Levine's work in the philanthropic sector and her contributions to Jewish student life at NYU, this annual prize will support a student involved at the Bronfman Center who exemplifies leadership in the area of philanthropy.
Levine is a philanthropic legend, having helped raise over $2 billion for NYU during her 22 year tenure as senior vice president for external affairs. The Bronfman Center is committed to Social Justice as a key Jewish moral and ethic, providing many opportunities for students to immerse themselves in service locally, domestically, and globally. In fact, students at the Center raised over $100,000 for charitable organizations of their choosing during the 2012-13 academic year.
The inaugural Naomi Levine Prize for Student Philanthropy will be awarded at the Bronfman Center's year-end ceremonies on May 8, 2014.
For more information about the Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, please contact Jenni Peterson, development associate, at 212-998-4117 or jenni.peterson@nyu.edu