Jewish communities at Ivies, little Ivies, NESCAC schools

[bluefleece]

Can anyone describe what the Jewish community is like at any Ivy League and SLACS like Swarthmore, the NESCAC colleges, etc. that you have recent first hand knowledge of where you have a student or very recently graduated student of one of these schools. Less curious about the current situation in the Middle East right now and more interested in whether one’s Jewish kid has been able to find others who have Jewishness in common and general vibe before Oct 7 (and if political landscape was a big deal before then please describe). If it’s a smaller Jewish population that’s ok too just looking for details. TIA for any first hand observations.

[circuitrider]

I’m not Jewish, but I frequent the Wesleyan University campus quite often and among the visible signs of a strong Jewish community is the annual design/build of a tent during Sukkot:

[movingtothebeach]

This is perhaps too general a question to answer - you’re talking about dozens of schools, many with very different levels of politicization, recent histories with Jewish communities and activism, etc., plus you’re probably just going to get different anecdotes, plus the old saying “two Jews, three opinions” :). Even pre-10/7 you would have gotten very different answers at Penn v Dartmouth, Swarthmore v Hamilton, etc. All of these campuses have some Jewish life, but it differs in the details quite a bit.

I think if you have specific questions about specific campuses, you could direct that way?

[bluefleece]

Thanks. My point on asking in this way is for anyone who has experience with maybe one or two of these sorts of schools to describe their observations or experience. It could be for any Ivy or NESCAC for example that they have experience with.

[Shibboletha]

Columbia has a large, vibrant, and active Jewish community. And the Kraft Center has a million resources. According to my kid, it is very easy to find Jewish friends of all levels of observance. And she’s even been able to study Yiddish.

[tsbna44]

Swat lost affiliation with Hillel so it’d be interesting to see. Not sure the why but you can google.

Each school wil have a Hillel or other. You might reach out. Most will have an ambassador and be very honest.

Hillel has a guide where you can see populations and % of total population as Jewish. I wouldn’t trust it but it’s likely directionally ok.

Part of the issue is - many may be Jewish but don’t engage in the community etc.

[bluefleece]

Sure, great points. And even if there are students who don’t formally engage in the community, that is fine too and would love to hear about any of those experiences or their observations on being Jewish at their school.

[bxgirl]

Brandeis did a study that came out this week about antisemitism on campus. They published this “antisemitic hostility index” that groups schools by level of hostility - which I think is interesting. Some of the schools you are interested are represented here.

Here is the full study: https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outputs/report/9924312184701921#file-0

[gardenstategal]

Tufts has a pretty vibrant Jewish community. Agree about Wes.