Lily Handwerger: Strengthening UMBC Jewish Life

Lily Handwerger, 21, grew up in a small Jewish community in Carroll County. She and her family attended Eldersburg Jewish Congregation where one of her uncles was president. The community-led synagogue mainly served an older crowd, but when Handwerger’s family moved in, leaders decided it was time for the congregation to host more family-friendly and kid-friendly services.

Growing up, Handwerger watched members of her family take on roles in leading services and running the congregation, so she always knew that being a leader and organizer ran through her veins.

Now serving her second term as Hillel president at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Handwerger is thinking about what’s next for her after she graduates this December with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.

Handwerger is also in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, an initiative at UMBC dedicated to increasing diversity in the science, technology, engineering and related fields.

Can you tell me a little bit about your role as UMBC Hillel president?

I would say it’s definitely a big responsibility because not only do I help oversee the rest of the board and make sure that we get planned events the community wants to see and help plan things around traditions and holidays and ritual, but we also do a lot of social events and collaboration within our UMBC community and other student organizations.

Once I got to UMBC, I immediately got involved with Hillel. I was quite hesitant at first, because I’m a part of a pretty rigorous scholars program and I [thought] ‘Oh, I’m going to be too busy for this.’ I’ve learned over the years that you can make the time for anything that you want. And I wanted, and always have wanted to be a part of Jewish leadership on campus, so I made the time to attend Hillel events, and before I knew it, I was on the Hillel board, helping create these events, create this Jewish community, and I think it has been really rewarding to be able to do this during a time of uncertainty for the Jewish people.

How did your upbringing lead you to wanting to become Hillel president?

I kind of grew up with that mindset that I would go with my family to synagogue, and I’m getting to see my family in this leadership role within our community-led synagogue.

Just growing up in that very much small but tight-knit Jewish community, I knew that I wanted to be a part of a Jewish community during college, so when I was doing my college search, I looked for schools that had a Hillel. Then I looked [at] how active is the Hillel? What’s their environment like? Do they do more ritual-based events, or do they do a mix of ritual based versus social events?

What led you to want to do cancer research?

My uncle had cancer when I was about 12 years old, [that was when] he was first diagnosed, and going through that with my family was pretty eye-opening, getting to see that firsthand. When I was around 16 my uncle relapsed, after he went into remission prior. And when he relapsed, it was during COVID, and I remember seeing all the effects, watching him go through chemotherapy again with all the same side effects.

When he relapsed, his cancer metastasized to his liver. And I remember saying to my parents, ‘It’s the liver. It’s an organ that regenerates itself. Maybe they can do something surgically or do something with stem cells.’ I remember my parents looking at me, and they [said], ‘We’re not doctors, we’re not scientists. We don’t know.’ And I think that’s kind of where I was like, ‘Well, I have more questions. This can be solved.’ So, I think I tapped into that curiosity from my uncle’s experience, and ever since then, once I got to UMBC, actually the summer after my freshman year, I started doing cancer research on campus. So, I’ve been doing cancer research for a little over two years now, and it has confirmed that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

How do you plan to stay in a leadership role within the Jewish community after you graduate?

That’s something I’ve been thinking about. I know I still want to be involved in the leadership in some way.

I have no idea where I’m going to end up for grad school, but [I know] that I will be able to seek out a Jewish community, and they will be very welcoming. … And also, using Hillel as a connection, if I end up in a different state or across the country, Hillel has so many connections that they can help connect me with a Jewish community wherever I’m going to end up.

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