Alumni Spotlights are Q&A's with former Brandeis student-athletes, across a myriad of disciplines, as they reflect on their Brandeis experience and how it has shaped their lives today. Read more spotlight features here.
Name: Isabel de Koninck '04
Job Title: Executive Director and Campus Rabbi for Hillel
Organization: Drexel University
Rabbi Isabel de Koninck played volleyball for four years for the Judges as a libero, serving as a captain as a senior.
A native of Montclair, New Jersey, she received her rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where she additionally completed a graduate certificate in Jewish Gender and Women’s Studies in a joint program with Temple University.
Since 2010, Rabbi de Koninck has served as Executive Director and Campus Rabbi for Hillel at Drexel University. Complementing her role as Hillel’s Executive Director she regularly serves as an adjunct University instructor teaching Civic Engagement 101 and her much acclaimed Great Works: Harry Potter as a Sacred Text Honors College Seminar.
Describe your overall experience as a student-athlete. What does it mean to you now/what did it mean to you while you were an undergraduate?
I played four years of volleyball at libero and was a co-captain my senior year. I was a walk-on my freshman season and knew I'd have to hustle every day and even then might not see that much playing time - but I loved the game, my teammates and my coaches and couldn't have imagined giving it up. My persistence paid off and it was great to get to be a part of leading the team my senior year (and especially great when we made it to the ECAC final).
How did your time as a student and student-athlete at Brandeis prepare you for your career and life after college?
I came to Brandeis in part because I wanted to be able to study with some of the preeminent Jewish studies faculty in the world. The opportunity to study and work with people like Jonathan Sarna and Sylvia Fishman was transformational for me and for the kinds of opportunities and access it offered me as I pursued graduate work and began building my career.
I think it's expected in some ways that many NEJS majors go on to become rabbis, but what's less expected is that I attribute most of my success as a rabbi to my experience as a Brandeis athlete, and not just to my experience in NEJS. I've said many times that 90% of what I learned about being a successful campus chaplain I learned from my coach (Sheryl Sousa '90). My father (Paul de Koninck '77) passed away just after my junior season and it was my coach's leadership and the support of my teammates that helped me through the season when he was sick and the first year after his death. They modeled what it means to show up even when you don't have the words, and they modeled an ethos of team that meant going above and beyond for your teammates on and off the court - every time without hesitation. My professional work is focused on being with students through the joys and challenges of college life - I work every day to help them find balance, find structure, find purpose, and to surprise themselves with just how much they can do and just how much their contributions matter. My time playing volleyball at Brandeis helped me learn how to do that work and how much traits like integrity, hustle, humility and vulnerability matter in success on and off the court.
Do you have any advice for current or future Brandeis Student-Athletes?
There are lessons you can learn in class and there are lessons you can really only learn on the court – or in the pool, on the field, wherever you play. Make sure you're all-in for the learning in the classroom and make sure you're all-in for the learning on the court. Show up for your teammates in the way you prepare and push yourself athletically, and show up for your teammates as a person for whatever they might need from you beyond the court.
Academically - when you can, go the extra mile. Build relationships with your faculty members, say yes to serving as a research assistant, choose the more interesting work - even when it's harder. The more you geek out the more you get back. Building an ethic of being deeply prepared for and deeply present to every moment will serve you well long after your college years are over.
What was your favorite memory of being a student-athlete?
Beyond the great volleyball, one of my favorite things about playing in the UAA was that when we were on the road we were sometimes able to make time to see some of the local attractions - we went up the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, went to Niagara Falls when we were in Rochester etc. One year, we were in Cleveland at Case Western for a UAA Round Robin and our coaches made time for us to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We were taking a team picture in front of these giant guitars they had displayed outside and a professional photographer came up and asked to take our photo. Turns out the photographer worked for the Cleveland Plain Dealer (the big newspaper in Cleveland) and the next morning, our team was on the front page!
Do you still keep in touch with any of your former Brandeis teammates?
Yes! Even 15 years later, some of my teammates are still among my closest friends, they're still the people in my life who I'd drop anything for if they needed me and they're still the people I call after a rough day at work or to share a ridiculous story from the crazy world of parenting. I had the opportunity to lead the Jewish welcoming ceremonies for both of my teammate Marni Friedman's '04 children, which was a real honor and privilege.
What personal or professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of since you graduated?
Right after college I started rabbinical school and I did a little bit of club volleyball coaching on the side and played in the 17th Maccabiah Games in Israel. I was ordained as a rabbi in 2010 and have since spent the last 10 years growing Hillel at Drexel University - we built a beautiful new facility dedicated to Jewish life on campus, have piloted some amazing interfaith work, and met thousands of students where they are to help them become who they need to be in the world. My role also lets me occasionally serve as an adjunct university instructor where, among other things, I get to teach Harry Potter as a Sacred Text.
While the professional achievements have been great, the thing that brings the most joy and blessing to my life is my family - while in rabbinical school I was lucky enough to find an unbelievably awesome woman to spend my life with (Roni Handler, MA '05). We've been married ten years and are raising two fantastic kids in Philadelphia.