By Jordan Seligmann – Chairperson: SAUJS Western Cape
SAUJS recently held its elections for the 2017 committee, and I have the honour of being the chairperson of a committee of highly talented and enthusiastic individuals. I am confident that SAUJS is in a position where we can expand the organisation and make a real impact for Jews on campuses across the province in what is a difficult time for Jewish students.
Before being elected as chairperson, I was the treasurer on the interim committee which existed from last year December to the end of April, and before that I was the secretary general for 2016.
Before introducing the committee and our goals for the year, I would like to acknowledge the accomplishments of the interim committee. In the short time that the interim committee existed, we hired our first ever director Nicole Lee, got the largest membership in recent memory with a 66.67% growth from last year, and held a free and fair election which was overseen by an IEC.
I would like to thank everyone on that committee for all the hard work and time that was put into ensuring the wellbeing of the organisation. A particular mention is given to Jason Halfon for all the additional work he has done over and above what would be expected of a person in his position.
The incoming committee are: Jordan Seligmann: Chairperson, Jesse Soicher: Vice Chairperson, Gaël Neuhaus: Treasurer, Nicole Lee: Director, Jemma Waksman: Outreach Officer, Tamir Schlaz: Political Officer, Joshua Berkman: Religious Officer, Yakov Schleider: Zionist Officer, Daniel Levenstein: Social Officer, Mitch Freedman: Brand Manager and Secretary
The new committee has a lot of potential. This year our overall goals are to improve organisational structures, hold more events for our members than we have in the past, and to extend our activities beyond UCT to other universities with a significant Jewish presence with a long-term outlook to establish branches at other universities.
If you would like to get involved or to provide assistance in any way to SAUJS to support the work we do for Jewish students on campus, send an email to chairperson.saujswc@gmail.com. We rely heavily on the generosity of the Jewish community in Cape Town to allow SAUJS to function, and any assistance is greatly appreciated.