The Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning is not a Jewish organization. In fact, it’s housed smack-dab in the middle of the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution with a Catholic priest serving as the university’s president.
It’s funny then, that such an organization should encompass so much of what Judaism is all about.
“It’s about Jewish values, the Jewish value of education. It’s about the Jewish value of giving to the community, providing resources to the community that it otherwise might not have,” said Sam Lauter, a Fromm board member.
“I would argue that it’s a Jewish value to give our seniors opportunities to thrive and be respected.”
While many programs exist to clothe and feed indigent elders, the Fromm Institute strives to keep seniors 55 and older intellectually stimulated with university-level classes in a wide range of subjects ranging from calculus to world history to religious studies to literature.
The institute — founded by German Holocaust refugees Albert and Hannah Fromm — has been housed on the USF campus for 30 years in various open classrooms and lecture halls, and currently boasts 1,015 students and more than 65 faculty members. But its three decades in the corridors came to an end on Monday, Sept. 11 with the dedication of Fromm Hall, a sleek new permanent home.
“USF happily and in good partnership offered classroom space to our program. After 30 years, we thought we should give something back,” said Robert Fordham, Fromm’s executive director.
The “Frommies” raised $3.5 million for the heavy renovation of Xavier Hall, the precursor of Fromm Hall. What’s more, they ponied up an additional $6.5 million for USF’s general fund; the $10 million gift was the largest ever given to the university.
“The most Jewish thing about Fromm is that Jews don’t own tzedakah. A lot of us accept that we need to help our elders and keep their minds active and give them a real community,” said Ron Berman, a Fromm student and board member (he’s taking a class on American musicals from the 1960s to 1980s).
Berman and Lauter are Jewish, which is hardly an anomaly on the Fromm board. Jews were heavily involved in the capital campaign for Fromm Hall as well.
Fromm’s new home even comes equipped with roommates — USF’s fine arts program, a graduate dormitory and day care center are also on the site. But that’s par for the course at Fromm, which often opens its classes to USF students, who sit alongside fellow students who are well into their 90s.
Berman, in fact, took a class on baseball and the history of America while rubbing elbows with USF undergraduates. “One of them said it was the greatest course he ever took. He was sitting next to someone who actually saw Babe Ruth play baseball.”