Active Hillels

[Devilsrule]

My best friend goes to Lafayette. Jewish community is very very small and fragmented. After all, the school is very small, so the number of Jewish students is low. A few people mentioned Muhleberg. My brother is applying to colleges now and that is one of his top choices. It has a very large Jewish community in relation to the size of the school, about 1/3 Jewish. This was a big plus for my brother, because he loves visiting me at BU and going to my Hillel events, but he doesn't want the whole city school environment.

[momoftwins]

You may be surprised but the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has a small, but tight Hillel. There is a Jewish Chapel (absolutely beautiful), the rabbi is Orthodox and a major in the U.S. Army. He is very inspirational and the cadets truly love him. My daughter has discovered her spirituality in this setting.

They have Shabbat services every Friday night, Kosher for Passover tables and meals during Passover, and holiday celebrations. There is a Sunday School for children of the Jewish families on post. Cadets help in the classrooms. The Jewish Choir sings at services for various synagogue events throughout the northeast. They were at NYU's Hillel this past Friday night and are well received at any campus Hillel they visit. West Point is very supportive in spite of what you may hear about other service academies or expect.

Here's a link to an article written by Rabbi Huerta. I hope you find it interesting.
http://www.nationalreview.com/commen...0511110822.asp

[mythmom]

I think Vanderbuilt should recruit on this thread! LOL.

[momof3sons]

momoftwins,
I have heard the USMA Jewish a cappella group sing in NYC at the Intercollegiate A Cappella Festival. It was a very large group and very well received!

[twinmom]

Other schools that have very active Hillels include Emory, Brown, Wash U., Harvard, Tufts, and Cornell. Vassar, though small, has a sizeable Jewish population and a small but active Bayit.

[boysx3]

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

My S#1 recently graduated from Emory, and my S#2 is at University of Denver, a school with a surprisingly large Jewish population (over 1000 of 4500 undergrads).

My S#3 is a high school junior who is interested in a lot of LACs--he wants something small, with a business or strong economics program, where he can possibly play soccer, and where there is a strong Jewish presence as he keeps kosher.

We are planning a trip in the spring to visit a lot of the LACs in Pennsylvania and are trying to get a handle on them. In addition to the schools I listed a few posts above, he is also thinking of checking out Union and Skidmore, and maybe Washington and Lee and Washington and Jefferson.

What I'm reading from these replies about Lafayette is really disappointing because, at least on paper, it seemed like a really good fit for him. We will probably still visit there but will have to have our eyes and ears wide open and will have to investigate carefully.

[2forcollege]

On our college visits we noticed strong Hillel presences at BU, Tufts, Duke, UF, FSU and I've heard from a friend's D that she loves the one at Cornell. We never noticed it when we visited, but very happily there is an active Hillel at NCF where my older D goes. She thought she would never attend a Hillel function at college, but is finding she really enjoys it. She even surprised us by taking Hebrew this year!!! Double mitzvahs!!!

[mythmom]

Jewish presence was very important to cousins. They did a lot of investigating. They went to Jewish centers, etc. every their S went to an info. session.

Beside the colleges already listed, their schools included Wesleyan, Bard and UNC. Their S now happily attends Bard. Bard has instituted a new program: a five year degree in which a student can pair business/economics with a more "liberal arts" degree. I am saying this for the benefit of those scratching their heads and going "Bard? Business?"

My D is at Barnard with a major at Columbia. She grew up in a fairly old Wasp-y community and we are completely non-observant so she never went to Hebrew school, youth group, anything.

She is amazed at how many Jewish people there are there! She's never been in a Jewish environment before. She has rather wavy hair and is a magnet for Orthodox types until she starts talking. Oy.

[abric1]

University of Michigan has a large and very active Hillel. Unfortunately, I have had no success in my efforts to have my D, a freshman at Mich, check it out.

[paying3tuitions]

Kids are always coming on to campus with parents who wish they'd check out the Hillel. I'm sure there are approaches for outreach from Hillel, including a new category of outreach people they hire on staff to attract people who might enjoy things if they'd only cross the threshold.

Can you write to the Hillel director and identify your daughter by dorm location, EC's and major. Perhaps there's someone on staff who lives near her or they'll know other active kids from that interest area. Sometimes they organize kids by these interest cells. If another student invited her to something, that would surely be more appealing than your urging. I appreciate that you've made your thoughts known, but maybe you can transfer that recruitment process over to the Hillel.

One mom I know went to introduce herself to the Hillel people at orientation. She let them know she supported their efforts, gave them a donation, and asked that they seek out her daughter. Years later now, her D directs the Hillel in a major urban university, her second posting.

Some kids are interested in trips overseas, so another thought is to mention to your D that the Hillel people know all about the Taglit-Birthright trips to Israel. Many of these are back-listed and very popular, so she might need to inquire many months before she'd actually go on the journey.

That said, I think it'd be better if Hillel came to her. Especially at a big university, they probably have outreach staff specialists. Contact them and do not hesitate to ask them to reach out to her. Then DON"T TELL HER you contacted them (kiss of death there). If I were in your position, I think I'd email the director of Hillel, with copies to the rabbi and student president of the organization, just to be sure somebody picks it up. After that, your urging won't induce your D to go, except the next time she says she's lonely, that's when to bring it up again.

[kathiep]

I will third the suggestion of Muhlenberg. I live close by and I have also heard that the Hillel chapter on campus is very active. I think there may also be as many kids (if not more) kids from NY and NJ that attend the school. Muhlenberg is part of the 6 school Lehigh Valley Consortium where one can take classes at the other schools. The other colleges include Lehigh and Lafayette. http://www.lvaic.org/

[Chedva]

Union also has an active Hillel; one of my d's friends is there and enjoys the activities a lot.

[huskem55]

I second that Union has a nice Hillel. Skidmore also seems to be very active.

[unbelievablem]

boysx3 - you mention that your son keeps kosher. one thing i want to mention -- we found that a large active hillel did not necessarily translate into kosher food being readily available (which we were sometimes surprised about) -- and even more annoying, sometimes school or hillel websites would refer to kosher food being available and it turned out to mean only a couple of meals a week or packaged or frozen food -- so be sure to ask about that to see if it will meet your s's needs. wanting a small lac makes finding kosher dining even harder. if vegetarian dining will meet his needs until he might be able to have his own kitchen, the options are greater.

goucher is a very small lac (under 2000) that has a full kosher dining plan and active jewish community -- not sure how they are in the programs your son wants though.

[monydad]

"I think Vanderbuilt should recruit on this thread! LOL."

Until recently this might perhaps have been considered humerous on its face, but in the last few years Vanderbilt has actually been making a big push to increase jewish enrollment. Perhaps one of the few spots these days for jewish affirmative action. We have a jewish family friend who is attending and is really enjoying it there. Because this enrollment campaign is so new, and they are really trying- and where they were starting from- they have put in new facilities and programs that are probably pretty darned good.