Luiza Bailey ’26 has fully embraced the Bryant experience: Her roles on campus have included IDEA mentor, resident assistant, Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority board member, Archway Investment Fund securities analyst, and president of the Bryant chapter of the national Jewish collegiate community organization Hillel. 

She credits the latter for setting the stage for a long-overdue celebration: getting bat mitzvahed, with her Bryant community in attendance.  

Bailey grew up with Jewish and Christian parents. She observed a few major Jewish holidays with her mother but generally had a casual relationship with her faith.  

“When I was 13, I had surgery, and my bat mitzvah just never happened,” she says of the traditional Jewish coming-of-age celebration. “Being at Hillel at Bryant has given me that opportunity; I’m doing it next year.” 

Bailey heard about Hillel as a first-year student but was initially reluctant to get involved, but received a warm welcome as a newcomer. 

“It was a great community, so I kept going,” she says.  

As a sophomore, Bailey joined Hillel’s board as a meeting planner, organizing a trip to explore New York’s Jewish heritage and landmarks. A year later, she was elected chapter president.  

“Luiza's leadership in Hillel has been responsible for successful growth, creative programming, and significant progress,” says Rabbi Steven Jablow, director of Campus Ministry and Jewish chaplain at Bryant as well as the director of the Bryant Hillel chapter. 

“Luiza's leadership in Hillel has been responsible for successful growth, creative programming, and significant progress."

Hillel is focused on education, Bailey explains: “You don't have to be Jewish. You don't have to know anything about your Jewish faith.” 

Growing up, pork was banned from the dinner table, and Bailey would celebrate holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but her engagement in religion revolved mostly around having a moral code, she says. Her faith relationship has evolved greatly since she enrolled at Bryant. 

“Just by learning more about Judaism, I feel more connected to my family,” she says. “Now, when my mom says prayers, I know what she's saying, which is big.”  

“Just by learning more about Judaism, I feel more connected to my family. Now, when my mom says prayers, I know what she's saying, which is big.”  

Hillel is based in the Ronald K. and Kati C. Machtley Interfaith Center and welcomes all comers, Bailey says.  "The president of the Catholic Student Association is one of my close friends,” she says. “We watched The Prince of Egypt [an animated Disney retelling of the story of Moses] together last semester; they've invited us for Bible study. There's a good amount of crossover.” 

About a dozen Hillel members meet every Friday during the academic year to celebrate Shabbat, the weekly Sabbath; free food helps attract curious (and hungry) students to the service. The group also hosts an annual Hanukkah party; builds a traditional sukkah hut for Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival; holds a Seder on Passover (something Bailey had never done at home); and sponsors speakers like Pastor Chris Edmonds, who related the story of how his father saved Jewish soldiers during World War II.  

Related: Faith guided an officer to defy Nazis, face death, and save Jewish-American soldiers  

“Even if you just want to learn about Judaism a little bit, you're welcome to come in,” says Bailey. 

Of all the hats she wears on campus, the Hillel presidency is the most fulfilling, she says. 

“I'm more knowledgeable than I've ever been about my Jewish faith,” says Bailey. Involvement in Hillel prompted her to take History and Legal Studies Professor Michael Bryant, Ph.D.’s “History, Law, and the Holocaust” course, which resonates with her family history: Bailey’s great-grandfather escaped a Nazi concentration camp. 

Bailey and Hillel have worked to facilitate productive discussions around the Israel-Palestinian conflict to educate Bryant community members while also providing a safe and welcoming college experience for Jewish students. 

“Last year we were talking to Hillel students at Brown and told them if you don't feel safe going to a Seder over there, you can come to ours,” recalls Bailey.   

Additionally, the group had a Palestinian speaker talk to them on Zoom about his experience living in the West Bank, his interactions with Israelis, and the ongoing conflict. 

“Again, it's just education, listening to both sides,” Bailey says.