When nudging their children to apply to colleges with an active Jewish community, many parents head to Hillel’s website or the Union for Reform Judaism’s annual list of the top 60 “schools Jews choose.”
But often when students who are not religiously observant are asked if it’s important to them if there is a Hillel on campus, they are hesitant. They’re not sure exactly what Hillel offers, and maybe are a bit intimidated about connecting with an organization that they perceive as offering only High Holy Day services and a kosher kitchen, especially if they come from secular or non-observant homes.
Of course Hillel offers a variety of programs for Jewish students of all backgrounds, but there are lesser-known signs of Jewish college life that parents and students shouldn’t overlook.
Jewish sororities and fraternities are active across North America, and allow Jewish students to make friends, practice Jewish traditions in informal ways and engage in philanthropic events. They have been around since the early 1900s, when the Greek system didn’t welcome Jewish students.
Alpha Epilson Pi (AEPi) and Alpha Epsilon Phi (AEPhi) are probably the most well-known Jewish fraternity and sorority, respectively. AEPhi has 100 chapters and has initiated more than 80,000 college women throughout its long history. AEPi has 8,500 active members across North America, and has a lot of famous alumni, including Art Garfunkel and Mark Zuckerberg, who was treasurer of his AEPi chapter at Harvard. Some chapters have houses where Jewish students live together. Others use Hillel for meeting space. Locally, there are Jewish fraternal groups at U.C. Davis, U.C. Santa Cruz, Sonoma State and Stanford.
Renee Prosen, the mother of U.C. Davis sophomore and AEPi “brother” Kyle Prosen, explained that her son “received several bids but chose AEPi because he felt he ‘fit’ there … They have the highest GPA of all fraternities on campus; he liked the girls at their sister sorority and they had great intramural teams with lots of participation.”
Shayna Lesovoy of San Mateo, a recent U.C. Davis graduate and alumna of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi sorority, noted another perk of Panhellenic life: the extensive alumni network. “I can’t really imagine college without Sigma,” she said. “It was a great way to make friends who shared similar values.”
When scrolling through a college website looking for signs of Jewish life, parents and students should check for academic offerings in Jewish studies, Hebrew or Jewish history. In most cases, that would mean that there are enough Jews on campus to both teach and participate in courses. In 2009, Keene State in New Hampshire, a small public liberal arts college, became the only American college to offer a major in the Holocaust and genocide. Their Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide has its own library and study center, and a speakers series.
Catholic schools, seemingly an unlikely source of Jewish life, can have very active Jewish communities. University of San Francisco has a minor in Jewish studies and social justice and offers on-campus Hebrew classes, as well as numerous courses in Judaic studies, which are open to all USF students. At Boston College, students can attend regular Shabbat dinners and join in many social activities both at BC and at other small New England campuses through the New England Hillel network.
Even states with minuscule Jewish populations, such as Montana, have Chabad houses that provide kosher food and activities for both observant and non-observant college students.
Rabbi Chaim Bruk, and his wife Chavie, run the Montana Chabad program. Ninety-nine percent of the students they see are from secular backgrounds, but come to Chabad for Shabbat dinners, Purim parties, social activities and personal counseling. Parents reach out too, Bruk said, and call Chabad even before their children arrive at school to make sure there is someone local for them to connect with. Chabad has an online directory of the campuses they serve.
And students shouldn’t overlook the South in favor of the familiar Northeast colleges well-known for their large Jewish student bodies.
The Hillel at College of Charleston in South Carolina, which has around 600 Jewish students, recently hosted a prospective student “welcome weekend” for high school juniors and seniors. Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., unveiled a multi-million dollar Hillel house earlier this year, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is becoming a hotbed for Jewish life, with a Jewish population of 15 percent.
Finding the perfect college for a Jewish student can be a seemingly overwhelming task, but whether or not a student chooses to connect with other Jews, there are plenty of choices and opportunities for engagement.
Elizabeth Stone is an educational consultant and freelance writer in San Francisco.