<p>Yes, I can see how Sewanee would not (currently) be for someone who is looking for a strong Jewish presence on campus. However, my question was more geared towards “can a Jewish kid belong at Sewanee”?</p>
<p>We live in a small southern town that has 4 Jewish families, so we’re accustomed with being different. My children are the only Jews at their high school. We have to drive 2 hours to attend services, so we have to work harder for our Jewish experience (thank goodness for Skype or else they would never have learned their Torah portions or have gotten Confirmed). My concern is that my daughter feel welcomed by other students, faculty, and administration. I do know that there are Jewish students on campus - but I don’t know how many. I’m not sure that even matters to my daughter. She has a couple of friends who currently attend Sewanee who are just great, all-around kids - and they are telling us that it really doesn’t matter what your religion is at Sewanee. I had friends growing up who attended who were some of the friendliest and most interesting people I knew. I suspect that Sewanee does not attract many students who come from a Christian Evangelical background, because Episcopalians just aren’t evangelical (and, at least where I live, the Baptists don’t even consider Episcopalians as Christian - hilarious). Episcopalians also have a very healthy respect for Judaism. </p>
<p>We’ve also got some schools on our radar that do have a strong Jewish presence. I’ll be curious to see what my daughter thinks. She has three cousins who chose colleges, in part, due to the Jewish life on the campuses - all terrific top-tier schools. Interestingly, none of them has gotten involved with Hillel and they all say that most of their friends aren’t Jewish. This has made me think that maybe lack of Jewish life shouldn’t be a deal breaker.</p>