Professional Volunteer, Activist and Hillel Supporter
By: Jaxie Pidgeon
Published on: TexasHillel.org
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”
UT alum Lecia Sud has spent her life answering that question. Originally from Wichita, Kansas, Lecia came to UT in 1970 and graduated in 1974 with BBA in Marketing and Finance. But, it’s what she did during her four years in Austin that set her on her course of volunteerism and community activism. At UT, in addition to her academic curriculum, she was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority as well as a very active participant at Hillel, which she says, was a rare combination. Back then, she explained, “you were either Greek, nothing, or Hillel.” But, Lecia found it equally rewarding to be involved in her faith, philanthropic causes and supporting Israel through here affiliation with AEPhi and Hillel, and that commitment has remained steadfast ever since.
Coming from a home town with a small Jewish population where her only connection to Jewish kids was through her affiliation with BBYO, the years spent with Hillel offered her a ‘go to’ spot to connect and engage in Jewish life. It was a place that she felt comfortable with her Jewish identity and it allowed her to meet students who were also strong Zionists with a passion for Israel. Here, she says, she also learned leadership skills that she still uses to this day. She ran her first Federation JFNA campaign in 1971, and her enthusiasm never waned.
At Hillel, she says, “being Jewish is more than just socializing with other Jews and more than going to synagogue, it is also living an active, engaging, Jewish life.”
After graduation, she moved to Houston where she met and married her husband, Jim Sud, (Texas Hillel’s immediate past president) and they had three children, twins, Adam and Bobby and daughter, Jewel, all now adults and taking up their mom’s philanthropic journey. The family moved back to Austin 22 years ago. While in Houston, she served on multiple boards including the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and national women’s philanthropy board for the Jewish Federation of North America, among others. In Austin, she continues to serve on many local and national boards. Currently, she is a campaign chair for Shalom Austin Federation Campaign, an annual campaign where she helps raise funds to support all of the programs for Shalom Austin JCC Campus and also to support their partnership with Hillel. “I am constantly involved in giving as much I can, but also engaging and trying to bring together as many people as I can into the Shalom Austin community,” she said.
Volunteering has given Lecia the opportunity to travel throughout the world for the betterment of the Jewish people. Among her favorite ‘mensch moments’ she included traveling to Ethiopia with the Olim program, being on the tarmac of Ben Gurion Airport when refusenik Jews from Russia were arriving, bringing food to the elderly in the former Soviet Union, and participating in the March of the Living.
In recognition for her nearly 50 years of commitment to the Jewish community through leadership and philanthropic giving, she has received numerous awards. In 2009, she was given the Woman of Valor award from the Women’s Division at Shalom Austin, and just recently, she received a national award, the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award at the National Lion of Judah Conference for her commitment to the Jewish community through leadership and philanthropic giving.
Texas Hillel and Hillel worldwide has made her feel more confident about the next generation of youth. She believes Hillel plays a vital role, especially with the growth of Antisemitism and anti-Israel feelings on campuses, as a place for Jewish students to feel secure and to have support in navigating current-day strife.
Today, some of her favorite activities at Texas Hillel include Shabbat services shared among students and the Israel Block Party that engage the non-Jewish community as well as foreign students. She is thrilled with the growth and success of Hillel over the past five decades and says that they are reaching ‘a whole new level’ of students than when she was as a UT student.
Lecia emphasized the significant role that Texas Hillel plays and that we need to continue supporting our Jewish community at UT and at college campuses all around the world. “It is important that we have Hillel along with the Jewish sororities and fraternities so that students can stay connected,” she said. She further explained that when parents send their children off to college, it is because of Hillel that parents can have comfort knowing that there is a place to find as their Jewish home away from home.
“My wish is that every student looking for their place will give Hillel a chance when they come to UT or any campus they go to and allow themselves to learn the value of a life of giving, of engagement, and proactiveness that leads to a life well lived.”
Indeed, Lecia is a stellar role model for those aspirations.
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