At last! The new academic year begins, and at UJS we are raring to go. An amazing new team accompanying me, the new President (exciting I know). The UJS office may have changed, but our commitment to Jewish life on campus has stayed exactly the same.

As we prepare for the UK’s 8,500 Jewish students to head to university in the coming weeks, I wanted to take this opportunity as your UJS President to share some thoughts about the exciting upcoming year on campus.

Freshers, you have your results, you’ve gotten your place, and now you’re ready start the most exhilarating journey of your lives. Once you get to university, get involved! Check out the amazing events your J-Soc will be running this term, and get stuck in. UJS is here to help you every step of the way, whether it's finding kosher accommodation and food on campus, or helping to build homes away from home through supporting events like Friday Night Dinners, lunch and learns, J-Soc Balls and everything in between. Not sure where to go to get involved in your J-Soc? Just ask us!

These years define you as a person entering the adult world (scary stuff), so I can’t stress enough how important it is to take every opportunity that comes your way. At J-Soc you'll form incredible friendships, find a sense of home away from home, and maybe even have a few too many at J-Soc pre-drinks… Jewish life on campus is flourishing, and whether you're headed to Exeter, Edinburgh or somewhere in between, we will work tirelessly for you.  

Returners, you know the drill. We have another year fully loaded with national UJS programmes and local J-Soc activity. On campus this year, we encourage you to make the most of the interesting and diverse opportunities UJS is offering – get involved in our campaigns to change the world around you, go on one of our fantastic trips to broaden your horizons and join one of our new career networks (launching soon) to meet, mingle and network with professionals in your future vocation.

Fresher or returner, this year on campus is going to be truly incredible and it’s all about you. UJS is your union, and you can shape it. Whether that’s running to be on your J-Soc committee or submitting policy to UJS Conference, please talk to us about what we can do for you.

Jewish student leadership is front and centre of everything we do; we are the voice of Jewish students and we are loud and proud about it. When it comes to tackling antisemitism or creating space for constructive dialogue on Israel, UJS works tireless to improve the environment on campus and we’ve been incredibly successful. But being a Jewish student is about so much more than fighting to express our identity. We want to tailor the UJS experience to you, delivering the programmes you want us to.

This year is about empowerment and giving Jewish students a voice, fighting to create a space for this when we can, and building on the successes we have worked so hard to achieve. Thanks to the incredible work of last year’s team, we stand in a position of strength. Universities are now much better at understanding the needs of Jewish students than they have been in the past, and we have a National Union of Students leadership that is willing to work with Jewish students and UJS; something that was unthinkable a year ago. We may face challenges, but we’re ready to conquer them. This year, UJS and Jewish students are set to go from strength to strength.

Jewish life on campus is thriving, and we could not be prouder to be at the forefront of this.

From all of us at UJS, good luck for the year ahead, and we look forward to seeing you on campus soon!