When Robyn Markowitz Lawler began working at the University of Pittsburgh as an academic advisor and teacher in the School of Social Work, she saw students experiencing antisemitism, and she made a promise to herself that if she ever saw a job open to help Jewish students, she would apply.

In 2013, the Bucks County native began working at the Pitt Hillel. She was promoted to assistant director after just 10 months and served there until 2019. Lawler was at Pitt during a turbulent time — in 2018, Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue was the victim of a deadly terrorist attack.

“I was really happy that I was able to help our students,” Lawler said. “It was really a surreal experience. It was parents’ weekend.”

Now, she is taking all that she has learned from a lifetime of Judaism and a professional career in helping Jewish students to perhaps her most important position yet: executive director of the Hillel at Penn State University. Lawler has worked at Penn State Hillel since 2019.

“I knew Penn State Hillel was on the precipice of a big expansion, and I really wanted to be a part of a Hillel that was going to be growing,” Lawler said of her move to the university back in 2019. “I called the old executive director, and he convinced me to come out to State College.”

The PSU Hillel serves many of the school’s roughly 5,000 Jewish students. Lawler loved Pittsburgh, but she loves Happy Valley, too.

“There was so much opportunity here. And the students were amazing. What sealed my decision was I did a swap with the assistant director at Penn State Hillel at the time. I was so impressed with the students. They were smart; they were articulate; they were so driven. I was so impressed by the energy of our students,” she said.

Lawler said that one of the biggest reasons she does this work is the same reason that she got into it to begin with. Now, more than ever, support for Jewish students is necessary, she said.

“In a post-Oct. 7 world, Hillels are more important than ever before. No matter what the climate is, I think Hillels have proven that they are the place for the joy and for the ‘oy,’” Lawler said. “Hillel has to be on campus. We tell students how to handle antisemitic friends, how to handle antisemitic professors. If it were not for Hillel, our students would not be as prepared to deal with all these things.”

In the time that Lawler has been at Penn State Hillel, the organization has grown. When Lawler started, Hillel saw maybe 500 Jewish students per semester. In the first two weeks of the second semester this year, it has already engaged with 1,400 Jewish students.

“We are doing better every year,” she said.

Lawler is proud to be Jewish and proud that she helps create a more welcoming environment for young Jews as part of her everyday life. When she was deciding on a college, she underrated the importance of Jewish community.

“I always felt immense pride in being Jewish. At Ohev Shalom [of Bucks County], everyone was Jewish. At Council Rock [High School], I felt like everyone was Jewish. That was my friend group. When I was looking at colleges, my dad said, ‘Robyn, you should look for colleges that have Hillel.’ I said dad, ‘It’s not a big deal,’” she said.

Not long after arriving as an undergraduate at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lawler heard students saying, ‘Don’t Jew me down’ and ‘You don’t look Jewish, where are your horns?’” She wanted to come home. Her father recommended she start her own Jewish community, and she created a small Jewish student group. Now, she is glad to be a part of Hillel.

“I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself,” Lawler said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com