Kayla Schneider-Smith joined DePaul University as Jewish Life Chaplain in August 2024. (Photo by Aubreeona Chamberlain/DePaul University)At DePaul, the Office of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care team works to support the diverse needs of the DePaul community by offering pastoral care, study opportunities, student groups and more. The staff is made up of full-time Jewish, Muslim and Protestant chaplains who hold events for the DePaul community and are available to meet with students.
Kayla Schneider-Smith joined the office in August as the Jewish Life Chaplain and assistant director of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care. In the position, she focuses on Jewish life and interfaith dialogue.
In this Q&A, Schneider-Smith takes us through how she got involved in her field, what brought her to DePaul and why students inspire her work.
What drew you to DePaul?
During my interview, I felt an immediate sense of camaraderie and connection with DePaul's Mission and Ministry and Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care teams. I was drawn to DePaul's Vincentian values of putting faith into action and advocating for marginalized communities as well as Mission and Ministry's affinity for collaboration, inclusiveness and multifaith engagement. I feel that DePaul strives to use its faith affiliation not as a shaming or constrictive measure, but rather as a conduit for education, justice and peacebuilding on campus and throughout the world.
Tell us about your role and what it entails.
I serve as the chaplain for all Jewish students, faculty and staff at DePaul, which means I offer emotional and spiritual support during the academic and personal journey that is college. I also supervise a team of amazing Jewish Faith-in-Action Scholars, and, with the students' help, plan a variety of worship services, events and activities to enhance the pluralistic Jewish community on campus. In addition, I help supervise a team of student Interfaith Scholars with the goal of bringing richer interreligious dialogue, empathy and understanding to campus.
What inspired you to pursue a career in Jewish life and community work, particularly in a university setting?
My mother is the daughter of a Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivor and comes from an ultra-orthodox, Haredi, Jewish background. Against her family's will, she left her community, went to college and married a non-practicing Presbyterian, but eventually came back to Judaism through a more progressive lens, raising both my sister and me in the Reform Jewish community. I owe most of my life's spiritual and cultural richness to Reform Judaism, which provided me from a young age with a deep connection to God, a strong sense of community, a flair for social justice and tikkun olam (repairing the world) and a love for music, language and creative liturgy.
For all I've been blessed with, I have a lot to give back to the Jewish community and a desire to make Judaism more accessible to those who may have also arrived via untraditional routes. I'm a teacher and educator at heart, and I enjoy working in a university setting because of its intellectual stimulation, diversity of thought and viewpoints and the opportunity for relationship-building with people from all different walks of life during a critical time in students' lives.
What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your role?
The students inspire me daily. They bring so much energy and perspective to everything they do, whether it's brainstorming about the next event or creating catchy slogans for a DePaul marketing video. I have also enjoyed the privilege of listening to and dialoguing with students, faculty and staff who trust me with such a rich variety of viewpoints.
How do you engage with students and faculty to foster religious diversity on campus?
When I was in college, I remember finding it difficult to discuss topics like faith, spirituality or belief in a higher power within the highly academic classroom setting. Because of this, I gravitated to interfaith extracurricular activities, where groups of students from a variety of backgrounds grappled with these questions and conversations across faith lines. At DePaul, I hope students, faculty and staff will feel welcome to express themselves and get the guidance and support they need, no matter where they may be in their religious/spiritual journeys or political convictions. I also hope that my work with the Interfaith Scholars will create more opportunities to connect across faith and nonfaith lines and build a greater sense of empathy between communities.
How do you see yourself approaching the DePaul community through this role? Do you have initiatives or events planned?
DePaul Jewish Life had a lovely, musical Welcome Shabbat dinner to kick off the start of the quarter, and the Office of Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care held an interfaith evening of dance performance, art and storytelling, "In To Light," on Sept. 23 to explore different interpretations of the interplay between light and darkness in our faith communities. We are also hoping to continue building DePaul's first pluralistic, progressive, on-campus Jewish community, Kehilla (which means "community" in Hebrew), with a variety of opportunities for holiday observance and creative engagement with Judaism. We will also hold A Day of Commemoration of & Reflection in the Jewish Life Center on Oct. 7th, with multiple commemoration services and art and writing workshops, as well as an Interfaith Circle of Mourning later in the week.
What do you hope to accomplish in this role?
My goals are to help DePaul Jewish students from multiple theological, cultural and political orientations discover and connect to their Jewish heritage, practice and spirituality, to offer pastoral care to the Jewish and interfaith campus communities and to foster greater interreligious, interdenominational and interconvictional empathy on campus.
How do you balance serving and supporting the Jewish community with the diverse needs and interests of the university’s student body?
People within a single faith tradition such as Judaism can have a wide variety of divergent needs, viewpoints and opinions – as much as people across faith lines. I think the most important thing for our student body to keep in mind is to treat one another with care and respect, to practice active listening and empathy, to affirm and validate each other in our feelings and to treat our neighbors as we would wish to be treated.
The first century Jewish sage & scholar Hillel the Elder once said, "That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary. Go forth and study." Viewpoints, opinions and convictions may or may not shift and evolve over time. At the end of the day, relationship building and caring for one another's wellbeing is the most essential part of supporting the diverse needs and interests of our student body.
What personal interests or activities do you enjoy outside of work?
I'm a poet! In addition to my experiences as both a hospital and campus chaplain, I also have my Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and love to write – poetry, articles, essays and more. I also enjoy visiting art galleries and museums, spending time in nature and playing piano and guitar.
Schneider-Smith, along with other Mission and Ministry staff, will be hosting “A Day of Commemoration and Reflection” in the Jewish Life Center on Oct 7. Prayer and memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Food, music, reflection, writing and art will also be part of the event and take place throughout the day. You can register here.
If you are interested in getting involved with Jewish Life at DePaul, you can check out the Jewish Life Event Calendar here, and learn more about the office here. You can also follow DePaul Jewish Life on Instagram.