Thousands of students representing the future of American Jewry attend Jewish day schools nationwide at an annual cost of over $1 billion. Until now, despite this massive investment, many fundamental questions have remained unanswered:

• How many day school graduates attend secular university campuses?
• Which campuses are they attending?
• Who are these students?

It is shocking that no organized effort exists to maintain an ongoing connection with these students once they graduate from the day school system.

Research indicates that approximately one fifth of Jewish college students feel that religion plays less of an important role in their lives as their college years progress. Once on campus, their sense of belonging to the Jewish people declines, and many students redirect their personal interests and pursuits in ways which eventually lead to assimilation and estrangement from the tradition in which they were raised.

Several organizations have reacted to this issue by developing campus programs. However, the community as a whole has left these impressionable young men and women to fend for themselves. No proactive effort exists to reach out to these students and to coordinate the efforts of these various campus groups.

Kesharim is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997, whose mission is to maintain an ongoing Torah connection with day school graduates attending universities across the United States.

Kesharim has successfully developed a campus program which gives college students a framework for continuing their Jewish learning in a supportive environment, giving them the tools they need to become tomorrow's leaders of the Jewish community. Kesharim reaches hundreds of students weekly through innovative programming at campuses with sizeable Jewish populations. Our dedicated faculty lends a supportive hand to our students, educating and inspiring them while providing guidance in all areas of a Jewish student's life.