Rabbi David Pardo and his wife Ariel Pardo will be joining Brandeis as co-directors of the Orthodox Union's Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus this August, according to an email announcement from Executive Director of Hillel at Brandeis Larry Sternberg to members of the Hillel community.

According to its website, JLIC aims to provide advising and counsel to Orthodox Jewish students attending secular universities by placing Rabbinic couples on campuses to serve as mentors. Currently, JLIC serves 15 colleges and universities, including Brandeis. The Pardos, who both attended the University of California at Los Angeles as undergraduates, were student leaders at the JLIC program there, they said in an interview with the Justice.

David said he felt "excited" and "really fortunate" to come to Brandeis.

According to Sternberg's announcement, David received his semikhah, or rabbinical ordination, from Yeshiva University and was also educated at the Isralight Institute and Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future. He has done community work in several cities, most recently in Toronto, where he is the director of education and community engagement at The House, a center which provides "inspiring and relevant Jewish education" according to its website.

After UCLA, Ariel attended the Nishmat's Alisa Flatow program, which "offers a unique opportunity" for women to "study Jewish texts in a warm and intellectually stimulating environment," and later received a certificate from Machon Puah's Women's Health Training.

According to Sternberg in an interview with the Justice, the process of selecting a rabbinic couple began when the Orthodox Union suggested rabbinic couples, whom he then interviewed. Later four of the couples were brought to campus to meet with more members of the Jewish community.

"It was a long two days. We interviewed almost everybody on campus, and their mother," joked David when he was asked about the interview process.

When asked why the Pardos were selected, Sternberg answered that the couple exhibited strong interpersonal skills and an ability to relate to the Brandeis community and individuals. In addition, he said that they will be able to relate to all students, not just Orthodox Jewish students.

"One of the beauties of having a couple who are different from one another a bit ... with different background and exposures is that they will invariably have a greater impact than just on Orthodox community," said Sternberg.

As co-directors of JLIC, David said that he and Ariel would want to help the community "foster an incredible Jewish experience" during their time at Brandeis.

"That includes learning and social events and everything in between," said Ariel. She went on to explain they will have to become more familiar with the Brandeis community before they make any specific plans, but would like to try ideas that were successful at UCLA.

The couple will be succeeding Rabbi Eliot and Toby Kaplowitz, who announced last December that they would be leaving Brandeis at the end of this academic year to pursue other opportunities.