by UAlbany President Havidan Rodriguez
at Shabbos House Chabad Shabbat Dinner, October 2025
Glad to here again to celebrate a wonderful Shabbat dinner with you as a campus community here at Shabbos House. I’m happy to be here with my wife and daughter and senior members of my team: my Chief of Staff Claudia, VP for Student Affairs & Enrollment Mike Christakis, Shiela the VP of Govt Relations and Sam Caldwell VP for Inclusive Excellence.
It so happens that we’re coming to this Shabbat dinner from a great game of UAlbany Volleyball. It was a lively game, fun to watch, especially because we won. But the most beautiful thing about watching sports is seeing the sense of teamwork, the closeness of the players, how they respect and value one another, and cheer each other on, especially when a player needs that supportive boost most. And the fans! The energy from the fans uplifts the team, helps with momentum, makes the team stronger, and the experience better for everyone present.
Campus community is like that, too, or ought to be like that. Each of us is here to pursue our own individual academic goals, personal growth and career paths. But we’re not here alone. We each have friends, classmates, roommates, all types of circles of students, where we can be a positive influence and helpful support to another, or get needed support and assistance from someone else. We all benefit in rich measure when we look out for one another, when we reach out, when we care.
This sense of togetherness, of responsibility for another, in the great overlapping of student circles on a campus like this – transcends all types of boundaries. You can reach out to help or be helped by someone of different political persuasion, of a different major, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity, and wherever you are from around the state or even around the world.
This Shabbat dinner and the atmosphere you feel here around the tables is a reminder that you are not here alone. It embraces us as a community, it shows us the beauty of celebrating with others, those we are already close with, and those we may be meeting for the first time, with friends, with friends of friends.
And we campus administration are also with you on this. Our job is to support and enrich the student experience. If there is any way we can help or something to fix or improve, please reach out. We are here with you.