Rachel Reichner, a junior majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, passed away on Saturday morning at her home in New York after a lengthy battle with cancer. Reichner was active within Hopkins Hillel and served as a Research Program Assistant for the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center.
Although Reichner was diagnosed with cancer in her freshman year, she remained a full-time student at Hopkins until the start of this semester. Sophomore Danielle Blustein, service and philanthropy director for the Jewish Student Association (JSA), reflected on Reichner’s life.
“It blows my mind every time to think about it. In the last few weeks of her life, Rachel devoted her life to establishing [a Hopkins chapter of] Knock Knock Give A Sock; it’s a national program that collects socks for the homeless,“ Blustein said. “In 10 days, she managed to collect over 2,000 socks, which is amazing.”
Blustein expressed her appreciation of the support that Reichner’s friends have received from the Hopkins community.
“The response from the Hopkins student body has been amazing. People in different organizations, both student ones and in the Baltimore community, reached out to me to ask if they can help in any way,” Blustein said. “The more I learn about her through this, the more awestruck I am by how amazing she was as a person. I think the Hopkins student body really feels that, and that’s why the response is so amazing.”
In memory of Reichner, the JSA decided to continue the Knock Knock Give a Sock initiative.
“We decided to help pick it up and really bring it to campus and now we have a box outside [the Hillel building] and we have a box in the library on Q level,” JSA President Jonathan Weinreich said.
Weinreich emphasized the importance of Reichner’s initiative.
“It was originally Rachel’s idea, and it really speaks to how great she was. In her last weeks, she started these different community service projects,” Weinreich said.
“Socks: It’s the least-given item in clothing drives and actually the most needed. A lot of people do have shirts and pants, but nobody really has socks. She decided to start a JHU chapter of ‘Knock Knock Give A Sock’ — just a fantastic program,” he added.
Reichner also participated in a half-marathon in New York City in an effort to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Rabbi Darren Levin, the Jewish Learning Initiative on-campus educator, participated in the marathon with Reichner.
“We wanted to do something for her going back months ago, and we were thinking of trying a marathon because Rachel is a doer, not a talker. Actions speak louder than words: That’s Rachel,” Levin said. “We raised almost $7,000 for the American Cancer Society.”
Levin remembers his first impression of Reichner.
“From the first day we met her on campus, it was clear that she had so much excitement, passion. I became very close to her very quickly. She would come to my classes and ask great questions. She was very knowledgeable and just said it like it was,” Levin said.
“I remember her in our kitchen. She knew how to make salad dressing. She said that her family makes salad dressings without sugar. ‘That’s the way you do it. You don’t make sweet salad dressing.’ When she had an opinion and she wasn’t afraid to share it. If she gave you a compliment, she meant it. She was real.”
Executive Director of Hillel Rabbi Debbie Pine reflected on Reichner’s activity at Hillel.
“Rachel was an active leader in the Hillel community. She was a student who really was in the Smokler Center almost on a daily basis. [She] worked as the mashgiach, which is somebody who supervises the rules for keeping Kosher. She was an active leader and participant in Jewish life in every way,” Pine said. “She was incredibly thoughtful.”
Pine added that Reichner met her academic challenges with an optimistic attitude.
“A lot of people complain about Hopkins. We all know, Hopkins is not easy. Rachel, from the minute she got to Hopkins, she loved Hopkins. She loved everything about it. She loved her classes, she loved her professors, and she loved Hillel. And I was always just so impressed. I think Rachel deeply appreciated being at Hopkins and making the friends that she did,” Pine said. “I will always remember that about Rachel.”
Levin also emphasized that Reichner was outgoing and friendly with others.
“She was known for her hugs. She loved giving people hugs. She was warm in that way, personable, and very unique,” Levin said.
Annie Davis, a close friend of Reichner’s, also praised her positivity and enthusiasm.
“She was a very genuine person. She would say exactly what was on her mind. You could say when she was telling the truth. She was inspiring,” she said. “She was very much ‘can-do.’ She loved learning about everything. She was involved in Sea Scouts, and after she was diagnosed with cancer, she was still involved in sea scouts.”
The funeral was held on Monday at Cedar Park Cemetery in New Jersey.
It was Rachel’s desire that any donations in her memory be directed to either the 37 Foundation, which supports Scouting in Rockland County, or the Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, both of which are located near her home in New York.
Correction: Blustein was not a close friend of Reichner's, as previously stated, but knew her through work at Hillel and in JSA.
