<p>“I think this is why many of our kids disagree with us when we suggest Jewish population at a school is relevant. This is probably also a contributing factor to the high rate of intermarriage”</p>
<p>I agree. My DD has lots of non-jewish friends she clicks with very well. She has been interested in a Jewish presence on campus mainly because there are substantive Jewish things she wants to participate in - services, holiday celebrations, jewish music, israel activism, etc. I dont want to criticize anyones lifestyle, but I don’t see that much future for a Jewish identity based solely on ethnic background without religious or at least cultural content. Though I must say, from the number of people concerned about Jewish presence, intermarriage, etc on threads like this who claim to be not religious (and presumably are not folks who spend huge amounts of time on secular Jewish cultural activities) I guess the phenomena has lasted a generation longer than I would have expected, so maybe I am totally off.</p>
<p>Strad, you seem to be getting your $'s worth!</p>
<p>Brooklyn, I think the generation that grew up after the Yom Kippur War, and which faced less overt anti-semitism here, has lacked a rallying point for Jewish identity, notwithstanding the menace of Iran.</p>
<p>And today’s kids, loaded up from birth with so many after-school activities, are more likely to resent Sunday school.</p>
<p>Relying on sunday school to instill a love for judaism, is, IMHO, a questionable strategy.</p>
<p>We, the parents, made it clear that Judaism was important to US - by shabbat dinners, by building a sukkah, by reading books on jewish religion or history or culture, by talking about jewish issues at dinner, by taking courses ourselves (my wife had an adult Bat mitzvah), etc, etc. </p>
<p>I don’t know about others on this thread, but this hasn’t applied in my family for generations. I suppose it might have been an issue for my parents and grandparents, but that was also due to anti-semitic feeling on the other side. Very much not an issue today, thank heavens.</p>
<p>Like Brooklynborndad’s D, the issue for my D1 isn’t friendship but access to Jewish communal resources.</p>
<p>“I decided that, even in a very small school, our kids can find others they click with, in significant part because I think most of this generation does not treat religious affinity as relevant to friendship.”</p>
<p>If you live anywhere without a significant Jewish population, this statement is true for almost all of us, regardless of generation. My parents, who grew up in Jewish New Jersey neighborhoods, left in the '50s. None of my sisters, parents or kids would consider “religious affinity” in seeking out friendships. You can retain your Jewish identity and spituality even if most everyone around you is of different religions, as long as they respect you (and if they can’t respect your religion, why have them as a friend?) In fact, being in the minority can force you to claim your Jewishness more strongly because you have to make a conscience choice. </p>
<p>I’m happy that my s’s college has a strong Hillel and Judaic Studies program but it would be shortsighted of me to suggest that having lots of Jewish students on campus would necessiarily change much about his experience. “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” The water is there, he has been thirsty before. He’ll have to figure out for himself what to do.</p>
<p>I was not thinking of Jewish kids using religion as a reason for friendship, but rather of the fears that kids who had not met Jews before (not uncommon in most of the US) conciously or subconciously finding it a barrier to friendship.</p>
<p>I gree that being in a minority often enhances Jewish identity, although I knew many people who, in corporate settings, would hide their identity.</p>
<p>Tackling two things at once (enhancing our students’ identity and enhancing the quality of religious school programming as a bridge to the next generation):
We can encourage our students to teach Hebrew or religious school while in college!
My oldest daughter did this while she was at…you guessed it…Penn State! She was well compensated and found that it was a very rewarding experience, and the kids actually enjoyed the classes. Just about the whole school is taught by Penn State students, and the kids come from far and wide. Many of them are the only Jewish kids in their public school classes in rural areas, and they really enjoy coming together to meet other Jewish kids. The philosophy of the school seems to be to make it fun, to really work on the “affective piece” as educators call it. During her first year, she was a substitute teacher, and then started as a regular teacher her second year, keeping the job for the duration. The only disadvantage was that it was on Sundays, which limited the weekends that she could come home or go away. However, the religious school followed the Penn State calendar, even breaking for “Thon”. Some college towns might have religious schools that meet during weekday late afternoon or evenings, which would be ideal.
My daughter also tutored for B’nai Mitzvot AND she taught for Chabad. She was paid well for all of these activities. It also got her into the local community.
I have also heard of college students who serve as chaperones for BBYO or other youth group trips and activities. I know of one who is a youth director - but this is a very time consuming job.</p>
<p>“I have also heard of college students who serve as chaperones for BBYO or other youth group trips and activities”…
wouldn’t that be a nice community service idea for a Hillel organization…great idea!!</p>
<p>montegut: my daughter has a close friend who participated in maccabee as a sophomore in college (track) so yes, it is available for college students…</p>
<p>While we’re on the topic, I would like to throw kudos to lmyers, who posted earlier on this thread. She works for Pittsburgh Jewish University Center/Hillel and she does a fantastic job of connecting students to the local Jewish community. For example, she has a program that arranges for mentors that can provide career advice and connections, she has a program to connect Jewish students to local families, she is just one of those “connectors”, along with the other staff. She and the other staff also connect students to our sister city/region in Israel, a relationship that our local community takes very seriously. Of course, the (wonderful, I should add) local Jewish community provides financial and operational support to JUC in a big way. I hope that Hillel staff elsewhere does this kind of connecting!
And, we can have a role in this too! We can call a local Hillel and see if we can reach out to a student in some way.</p>
<p>Just wanted to put some updated info fron Naviance on the thread since the 2010 numbers are now available - our large public hs had 94 applications to Towson in 2010 - 60 were accepted and 17 will attend in the fall.</p>
<p>Everyone with at least a 3.6 wgpa was accepted - even with low test scores.</p>
<p>Between a 3.0 wgpa and a 3.6 wgpa - if you had at least a 1000/1600 on the SAT - you generally were accepted.</p>
<p>If you had at least a 3.3 wgpa and a 23 - 24 ACT - generally accepted.</p>
<p>The rejections were pretty much for those with wGPAs below 3.0.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom,
Thanks for the data. I wish our school had naviance. Every year a lot of kids seem to get accepted to VT. Like Penn State, it appears to be easier than getting into UMCP for fall admission. Do you have any numbers for Boston University? </p>
<p>I saw your report on your visit to JMU. By older daughter visited a friend there and had a similar reaction to yours. If your son wants sports excitment, are you going to consider College Park? I know it’s bigger than you want. Most of the kids we know who attend really love it. It seems like a place where different types of kids can find their niche.</p>
<p>To update everyone: Went on the GW tour yesterday. It was a very pleasant tour. The Business studies building is beautiful. Tour guide emphasized the availability of internships.
Dorm room shown was ok, modern, window faced a brick wall. My son likes GW but is not applying. GW does not have what he is looking for academically. I really want a school with a variety of Business related options, including Actuary Science. Now down to applying to Salisbury (has what we want except location, few Jewish kids), Towson (says is too big), and the local com. college business business program (really small and hard to get into because of diversity, etc.). My son also wants to apply to UT Dallas. I can’t seem to find anything else. SUNY Binghamton fits the bill, but my son thinks the town will be too small. Any other ideas? The smaller colleges mentioned on this thread do not appear to have enough Business options.</p>