Coffee House - The Jewish Experience on College Campuses Today: Challenges, Realities, and Responses

Cindy Hughey
Speaker
University of Michigan Hillel

Cindy Hughey is the former Executive Director of the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University and the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan. She began her Jewish communal career in 1990, serving as a lobbyist for the Detroit Federation as the Director of the Michigan Jewish Conference. She held this role for 10 years before becoming the Executive Director of MSU Hillel in August of 2000.

Among her many accomplishments, Cindy ran two capital campaigns overseeing the construction of today’s Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center. In 2006, she created the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan (HCAM), expanding her portfolio of Hillel’s to include 10 additional campuses around the state: Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Northern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, Kalamazoo, Albion and Alma Colleges and Saginaw Valley State University.

After 24 years of Cindy’s tenure, she retired in December 2023, leaving MSU Hillel and the HCAM campuses with thousands of active students, robust student leadership opportunities and hundreds of programs to participate in.

As of July 1, 2026, Cindy has come out of retirement to accept the Interim Executive Director position at the University of Michigan Hillel while a national search is underway for a new Executive Director. She was honored to be asked to serve and is looking forward to helping Wolverines with their Jewish journeys while away at university this fall.

Cindy resides in East Lansing, Michigan with her husband Steven. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, traveling the world, reading, and catching up on her favorite shows.

Robyn Hughey
Speaker
Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University

Robyn Hughey is the Executive Director at the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center at Michigan State University and the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan. A 2008 graduate of Michigan State University, Robyn received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with honors. She has worked at Hillel for seventeen years engaging students, empowering student leaders, mentoring staff, advancing Hillel’s mission, and building community for Jewish students on 11 campuses statewide.

Robyn has been honored as part of the Detroit Jewish News’ 36 under 36 and is a graduate of the East Lansing Emerging Leaders program and the Debra S. and Joseph S. Weinberg ACCELERATE Executive Training Program. Additionally, Robyn’s contributions to the organization have been acknowledged with the prestigious Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel International.

Robyn resides in East Lansing, Michigan with her husband Eric and her children Cooper and Rosie.