U.S. News & World Report released its annual college rankings on Tuesday. Emory University is ranked as the top college in Georgia, and while it's No. 20 nationally among public and private schools, Emory is still No. 8 among private schools Jews choose, according to Reform Judaism magazine. It's No. 11 overall by percentage of Jews.

Russell Gotschalk (C'07), an Atlanta-born musician, filmmaker and producer, is taking the Atlanta Jewish cultural scene by storm. A Hillel-organized Birthright Israel trip in winter 2006-07 inspired Russell to get more involved in the Jewish community. During his senior year, he began to work for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and continued working there post-graduation. A die-hard music lover, Russell noticed a major cultural gap in Jewish Atlanta: where was the music?

In 2009, Russell established the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival (AJMF), which launched in June 2010 with a sold-out live show featuring four oustanding Jewish music groups at the Apache Cafe in downtown Atlanta.

During the development of AJMF, Emory Hillel director Michael Rabkin asked Russell to take on a special project that would bring fresh and hip Jewish music to our local college campuses and begin to raise visibility for AJMF in the community.

Thanks to a special grant from the Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and support from the Consulate General of Israel to Atlanta, Hillels of Georgia hosted an Israel hip-hop & raggae duo for a two-month residency this past spring. AXUM, the latest international musical sensation out of Israel, is the collaboration of two young Jewish Israelis: Tedross, an Ethiopian Israeli and Judah, a Yemenite-Moroccan Israeli. They have taken the Tel Aviv dancehall scene by storm and have even appeared in a recent promo for a popular Israeli TV show.

Russell served as AXUM's manager during their extended music residency booking them gigs at Emory and other campuses, local clubs, public schools, and parties. There was rarely a night they weren't working. And during the day, Russell had them in the studio collaborating with local musicians.

To cap it off, Russell, whose production company is called Rusky Productions, shot a video for AXUM's song, "War inna Babylon," and set it to visually stunning Atlanta backdrops. AXUM joined Athens-based raggae band DubConscious in the studio in Atlanta to record the track, remixed the vocals in Tel Aviv, and sent the final track to Russell to put to his emotionally charged video back in Atlanta for a truly global Jewish music experience.

Take a look at the final cut after the break, and learn more about the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival.

This evening, about 40 young Emory alumni gathered for a casual cookout at the Marcus Hillel Center to reunite with old friends and meet new people while checking out Hillel's new digs. Many alumni - some of whom met at Hillel as students and eventually married - brought their kids for an awesome evening of great food, fun, and reminiscing.

Thanks to event co-chairs Heidi Geller and Dan Karen for their leadership in making this such a successful event! Thanks also to all the host committee members for their efforts in recruiting friends and fellow alumni to attend.

Missed the event but interested in getting more involved with alumni activity? Leave a comment below, or click on "Get Connected" above to be in touch.

The Hillel.org website recently posted some terrific testimonials of the impact Hillel has had on their lives. Our very own Jaime Leiman ('12) was featured prominently and told about her recent experience traveling with Hillel on a recent Taglit-Birthright Israel trip.

Here's what she said:

“Hillel has given me many opportunities I otherwise would not have had—most memorably the opportunity to go on Birthright. This opportunity truly changed my life and my perception of Judaism, and I have to thank you for giving me this.”

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Sgt. Avichai Yaakov served with Major Roi Klein, who fell in the Second Lebanon War during the battle in Bint Jbeil on July 26, 2006 by covering a grenade with his body to save his troops. Sgt. Yaakov entered the battle scene several times, under heavy fire and great personal risk, and showed fierce leadership to rescue the wounded. He received the Medal of Valor in recognition of the heroism, leadership, initiative and combat spirit he exhibited during this battle.

Sgt. Yaakov visited Hillel at Emory on July 29, 2010 to talk about his new mission: to teach the youth of Israel how to be the finest leaders in Israel.