Eliav visited the campuses of SUNYs Binghamton, Syracuse, and Albany; meeting with students and Hillel professionals to plan activities for the upcoming academic year. In Ithaca, NY, the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee (CIPAC) hosted Eliav for "Israel Update" - a positive perspective of Israeli news and current events, showcasing numerous resources for Israel education on campus. Eliav met with the leadership of Ithaca College''''s Student Alliance For Israel (SAFI), Binghamton''''s ''''Bearcats for Israel'''' and Binghamton University Zionist Organization (BUZO).

The kickoff to the tour was the event "Shir Madness - Israeli Music 101" at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Students attending "Shir Madness" at Union College delved into Israeli and Jewish Identity through the lens of popular Israeli music from the past few years. "I had no idea I could learn so much about the relationship between Judaism and Israel from HipHop", remarked one of the students.

Also at Union, Eliav represented the World Zionist Organization at a special event marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Theodor Herzl, founder of the Zionist Movement. Over 40 students, faculty and staff attended a lecture by Professor Steven Berk on the origins of the Zionist Movement and issues facing the Jewish State today and viewed original documents relating to Zionist history that were recently donated to the college library.

The hard work and passionate effort that student leadership throughout New York State has exhibited is significant and highly impressive. Hagshama is proud to offer an increased level of support to Upstate NY campuses, along with campuses across North America, through its recently expanded network of Regional Directors. To find out more about Hagshama and how your campus can get involved and receive support, please visit our website http://www.hagshama.org, contact our national office (usd@hagshama.org) or your regional Hagshama Director.