Hillel House Tour Reports

Parents Forum
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<p>I've not seen a "Jewish Life at Various Schools" type thread in awhile, and figured I'd start another one based on a recent college trip which included visiting Hillels. I'd love to see people's comments on these schools and others. </p>

<p>Clark U:
Clark came up on our radar as a "Colleges that Change Lives" campus with a significant Jewish population. We visited during the first week of classes. There's no dedicated Hillel building, just an office in the Student Center. It was easy to find since a large banner was in the window facing out onto the main quad. D1 and I wandered up during lunchtime to find the director and a student working on a stack of mailings. The director was quite personable, and talked at length with us. Or talked AT length with us, since this was D1's first experience with touring a Hillel and she might have asked one question. He's been there 13 years. Hillel is the largest organization on campus, with about 6-7 events a week. There are about 15 students on board, and attendance at events ranges from 5 for a Shabbat afternoon torah study to 70+ for Shabbat dinners to 250 for a Thursday night midnight bagel brunch, where people line up for a bagel and cream cheese. There's something for all holidays, e.g. first night Rosh Hashana services (for other high holiday services students attend local synagogues), Yom Kippur break fast, kosher lunches and dinners for Passover. There are also social outings e.g. roller skating. On the academic side, there are a lot of Judaic offerings at Clark. The Holocaust Studies department? institute? makes the school a resource for e.g. filmmakers who are making films that connect to the subject, and one faculty member (Everett Fox) is well known for his recent translation of the torah. We later overheard a random student complaining or commenting that Professor Fox doesn't change his voice when delivering punch lines of jokes, from which I gather he has a rather dry and/or sardonic sense of humor. </p>

<p>The director will arrange home visits with Jewish families in the area for prospective students coming for overnight visits, along with meetings with Jewish Clarkies. He was also forthright about the major downside of Clark--Worcester is not a college town, and is rather gritty. But, he said, people are happy at Clark. </p>

<p>Walking around campus and into a dorm we saw flyers up announcing an upcoming Shabbat dinner. </p>

<p>Brandeis U:
We didn't check out the Hillel. As I said to D1, it would be like worrying about the cafeteria food at the Culinary Institute of America. I noted the parallel kosher food service in the main dining area, a number of more observant students (wearing kippot or long skirts with covered hair), and flyers announcing Shabbat dinners and study sessions. D1 thought it felt too Jewish. Go figure! Brandeis was something I'd added to the list, thinking it would be worthwhile for D1 to sample, but not to her taste. </p>

<p>Tufts:
The Hillel was closed when we visited (I didn't pay attention to my itinerary which gave the hours), but the building is striking, with a lovely waterfall outside the entrance. It's also located right on campus. The Clark Hillel director told us that the rabbi at Tufts is his role model for running a Hillel. We saw some students with kippot, long skirts, and a "Tufts" shirt in Hebrew. The Spouse says that the director (maybe former director) wrote the Big Book of Jewish Humor.</p>

<p>Muhlenberg:
D1 loved the feeling of this Hillel, which is in a comfy airy house just off campus. There are plans to expand to the house next door. There's a reform congregation across the street which surprised us, since the Clark Hillel director told us to expect that Allentown has a smaller jewish community than does Worcester. A brisk office manager took us around the building. A small group of students in the kitchen were getting ready for a tie-dye event on campus, which we'd seen flyers for on our tour. There are some casual hanging-out spaces with video games, movies, and laundry facilities which students are welcome to use. Students can get key (cards?) that allow them 24 hour access to the house. There are services on Friday nights, and so many people at the seder that Hillel uses the 'berg dining hall. The students at the house knew the two kids from our synagogue who attend Muhlenberg, though those kids aren't involved with the Jewish community. Cute fridge magnet shaped like a bagel. I also noted an option for Kosher chicken pot pie in the dining hall. </p>

<p>Bryn Mawr:
The Hillel is located at Haverford College, which we didn't visit. I didn't see any flyers about any Jewish events. </p>

<p>Swarthmore:
Hillel is located off the heart of the campus, and was closed. There were posters up throughout the campus advertising a Shabbat dinner with vegan kosher chinese food (that had to come from the restaurant we ate in the previous night, which really was tasty).</p>

<p>Pitt:
The Hillel house serves both Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, a total of (per Hillel) 3000 Jewish students, grad and undergrad. The modern 3 story building seemed small to accomodate that many. Security was tight, which I suppose isn't suprising since the building is located on a busy main street right near the Carnegie Institute museums. We talked briefly to the office manager, and then a student worker gave us a tour. There's lots of hangout space, with a movie-theater-type popcorn machine, video games, movies, etc. There are reform, conservative, and orthodox services held simultaneously on Friday night. The bulletin boards were full of flyers advertising different Jewish-themed events of all types. I'd want to see what the building is like as the academic year progesses, because it seemed rather quiet when we visited during lunch. They've recently redone the kitchen, which was full of clearly labelled (milk/meat) appliances and workspace. Borat-themed fridge magnet. </p>

<p>Brown:
Hillel House is made up of two homes that were hollowed out on the inside and combined into one enormous and lovely space. D1 was most impressed by this facility. The young, personable rabbi came out and gave us a tour and chatted with D1. It was quiet--school hadn't started, and very few students were on campus. Still, saw flyers up on campus advertising events.</p>

<p>Reed:
(Different trip, I wasn't on this one) D1 commented that there wasn't much Jewishly--no Hillel, just Chabad, which she wouldn't be happy with. Worth noting since Reform Judism Magazine tags Reed as a school with a high percentage of Jewish students.</p>

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<p>I’ll add that we visited the Hillel at Tufts about four years ago. It happened that we were there on Passover and the Rabbi invited us to attend one of their seders that evening. I believe there were three going on simultaneously for different denominations. The one we attended (either Reform or Reconstructionist, I don’t recall) was lovely. It was a warm, friendly, inviting place. It should be noted that the Tufts Hillel opened its doors to students from all Boston Colleges. We sat with a girl from Lesley University as there was no seder there.</p>

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<p>This gave me a chuckle and I’ll tell you why. We are not Jewish and I did wonder what my S would make of the religious culture at Brandeis when he toured it. Well, he loved it and felt right at home.</p>

<p>Isn’t it funny how different kids respond so differently?</p>

<p>When we toured Princeton our tour guide had on a t-shirt with Princeton written in Hebrew on it. He mentioned his t-shirt when telling us about Hillel, saying he is not Jewish but he eats there with his Jewish friends sometimes, said it was a cool place with good food and that he loved the t-shirt they gave him.</p>

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<p>D just started at the University of Michigan, which has a large and thriving Hillel/Jewish community. There are Shabbat dinners, a kosher meal plan, and many Jewish-themed activities. One I loved (and that D has joined) is the “Jewish Penicillin Club.” This is a group that delivers Matzoh Ball soup to sick students! You just email the “I want chicken soup” email address, and it’s delivered to your door. I was worried about her being exposed to flu, but she forwarded me an email they sent saying that for students with flu-like symptoms, the deliverers will contact the recipients by cell phone to tell them when they’ve arrived and will leave the soup by the door rather than brining it in to them. Hillel will even provide Purell to the volunteers!</p>

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<p>My S thought the same thing!</p>

<p>I love the idea of the Penicillin Club at Michigan! We could all use that!!</p>

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<p>D. attends every Friday service at Hillel, although it is a little different from what she is used to, since all denominations are combined (conservative and others). She is also at sorority that started out as Jewish, but now accepts everybody. It has good number of Jewish girls. She went to National convention and was very happy with her experience. I would say that she is participating much more than at home.</p>

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<p>Good thread. I have almost given up on finding Jewish resources at some of the schools D looked at. Bryn Mawr has a large number of Jewish girls, but apparently little Jewish involvement; Smith shares its Hillel with Amherst (and I did not get a sense that it is particularly active). Goucher has an apparently active Hillel (office in the student union) and we were told it is the biggest organization on campus (Kosher food plan available). Since we visited in the summer, we really did not get to speak to anyone from the Hillels.</p>

<p>I did get a nice, glossy brochure from Washington & Lee about their new Hillel building and that looked really nice. Too bad D is completely uninterested in the school.</p>

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<p>MiamiDAP, what school is your D at?</p>

<p>pugmadkate and inthebiz, the thing that fascinates me is that my D’s attend public school. There are lots of Jewish kids, but very few who observe at the level we try to (e.g. taking off for the holidays, keeping kosher). Since we’ve not had them in a private Jewish day school, I thought D1 might find the feel of Brandeis somewhat liberating compared with her usual public school life. </p>

<p>Queen’s Mom, interesting to know about W&L. I’m not sure if the school culture as a whole will be of interest to D1, but I’ll do some investigating.</p>

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<p>W&L seems completely “southern” and D is turned off by that. I just wonder how they knew we were Jewish to send us that mailing. We never visited there nor did D show any significant interest.</p>

<p>BTW, my kids are also in public schools and we are more observant than most of the other Jewish kids. My D, however, really, really wants a heavily Jewish environment at college.</p>

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<p>My D is at public school in our state, so you will not be interested. She is very happy there. She has chosen that school because she was accepted to very selective program with only 10 spots available to freshman, which has been cancelled since than, so she is even more happy now that she was given a chance. I am surprised how much she participates, because she did not want to do so at home during high school and now she has surronded herself with jewish friends and being very active (on sorority board). My only advice is do not exclude publics, opportunities in all aspects are awesome for very high caliber students. D (college junior) graduated #1 from her private HS and I am very happy with her college choice also.</p>

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<p>QM: That’s a bummer about Smith, although they do seem to have some student led things on campus.</p>

<p>[Smith</a> College Hillel](<a href=“http://sophia.smith.edu/hillel/]Smith”>http://sophia.smith.edu/hillel/)</p>

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<p>Queen’s Mom, yes, W&L would be wrong for D1 also. Too Greek, among other things. </p>

<p>MiamiDAP, D1’s first choice is within our in-state public. We are already intimately familiar with the Jewish communities at UC San Diego, UCLA, Berkeley and Davis, though I’ve not recently been on a tour of the Hillels there. The UCLA Hillel in particular is extraordinarily strong. We need to do a road trip to Santa Cruz sometime this year.</p>

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<p>Regarding Brandeis, when we visited it as part of our college tour, my D (Jewish) was sure she wouldn’t like it for being “too Jewish.” She did not find that to be the case, and wound up applying and attending! Still, she had some lingering concerns that it would prove “too Jewish” once she got there. Now there, she has obviously encountered many Jewish students and a strong Jewish flavor, but also students from many other backgrounds. She is loving it!</p>

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<p>re brandeis – by visiting the sherman dining hall (the all you can eat traditional dining hall) that has the kosher line, you may have inadvertently presented a more “frum” picture of brandeis than your d might otherwise have seen. there is a good sized observant community at brandeis, but it is still a minority of the school – but by visiting the dining hall with the kosher line, it may have highlighted that aspect of the school. the Jewish community at brandeis is extremely diverse – with people identifying with every denomination and with no denomination. our student went there looking for a community where it would be easier to be actively religiously Jewish than had been the case in public school and found it. a relative’s child went concerned about not being overwhelmed by “too much” Judaism – also found what they were looking for. </p>

<p>re clark – loved the hillel. not just from talking to the director who we thought was great, but also (and in my mind even more importantly) from talking with the kids in the hillel office – they were also great and really made my kids feel like this was a place they’d feel comfortable. clark prides itself on diversity in general – student population there in general just felt more “real” than at some other schools.</p>

<p>goucher – great jewish community – at the time we looked (a couple of years ago) they did a lot of programming with other campuses in the greater Baltimore area --which was nice in that it meant the chance to meet kids at other schools, but it also meant leaving campus sometimes for holidays and other events.</p>

<p>u of maryland – great hillel – size of school was the turn off for my kid. same problem with umass amherst.</p>

<p>boston university – great new hillel building, active hillel.</p>

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<p>Interesting. Friend’s son (who’s Jewish) won’t apply to Brandeis coz it’s ‘too jewish’! My D visited Brandeis and liked it a lot - I didn’t hear anything about it being too jewish …</p>

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<p>re brandeis being “too jewish” –</p>

<p>i’m not sure of the current stats – i think brandeis is about 50% Jewish. i think i’ve heard its starting to dip below 50%, but since they always rely on self-reporting from students, who knows how accurate those numbers are.</p>

<p>but it has a much higher percentage of Jewish students than you’ll find at a private, non-sectarian school. though originally founded by the American Jewish community, Brandeis is not a “Jewish” school – there is no formal religious affiliation. but because of its history and its campus culture it has always attracted a high percentage of Jewish students.</p>

<p>ok – now stop and think – how many non-sectarian schools have your kids looked at where the student population was more than 50% Protestant. How many times at those schools did people leave tours saying – “nice school, but way too Protestant”? because we’re used to this being the dominate culture in our society. </p>

<p>the culture at Brandeis is different than what we’re normally used to. the school is not only closed on the high holidays, but on other Jewish holidays (not all, but more than at other schools). its spring break coincides with Passover. the regular dining hall has both a non-kosher and kosher line – even on the non-kosher line, pork products aren’t served.</p>

<p>the Jewish population is extremely diverse – observant students are attracted there (and i do not equate Orthodox and observant – there are observant students in other denominations as well) because there is more than a critical mass of like minded students which makes it easy to follow that life style. but that does not in any way define the Jewish population at Brandeis – there are students who cover the entire spectrum of the Jewish community – some very observant, some who observe some but not all traditions, some for whom cultural aspects of Judaism are important but for whom the religious aspects are less important, some who are just glad to not be the only ones who don’t observe Christmas, some for whom Judaism is merely a historic family identification. Jewish life at Brandeis is what any given student makes of it - however much or however little.</p>

<p>the other approx 50% of students are a pretty diverse group too – a fair number of internationals, students active in other religions, students inactive in other religions too! :wink: brandeis has always been known for its tolerance of diversity – its three chapels (Catholic, Protestant and Jewish) – were built so that none are ever in the shadows of the others – a very symbolic representation of the tolerance that characterizes the campus. why would this school be considered “too Jewish” when another school that has only a Protestant chapel isn’t declared “too Protestant”!!</p>

<p>so if you go to sherman dining hall you will see far more people wearing kippot and dressed conservatively than you are likely to find in most other college dining halls. it can hit you because you’re not used to it. and there will be many more posters advertising Hillel related events than you are likely to see on about any other campus (there are MANY subgroups withing Hillel representing a huge range of interests, not just religious ones). but why this should make anyone feel that the school is “too Jewish” i never understand. are people just so used to living in a world where Jews are in the minority, that an environment where this is not the case becomes uncomfortable? if so, i don’t think the reason has anything to do with what is or isn’t in fact at Brandeis – but rather with someone’s own perceptions and why this might make them uncomfortable.</p>

<p>Brandeis certainly isn’t for everyone – and I would hope it continues to attract those students for whom its unique environment (which goes well beyond its Jewish influence) is the right fit. but it just bothers me when people fall back onto the “too Jewish” claim to explain why its not for them.</p>

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<p>brandeismom, there were many schools that D did not put on her list be cause they we “too protestant” or “too catholic”. </p>

<p>But, overall, I agree with your post.</p>

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<p>QM – were they schools where the Protestant or Catholic component was only around 50%? were they formally affiliated with a church? was the problem really a 50% Protestant or Catholic community, or the lack of an adequate Jewish community?</p>

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<p>We also got the Washington and Lee Hillel mailing. My son (being 17) is barely even interested in being Jewish right now, so I know he didn’t check off any boxes anywhere indicating his religion. I also can’t help wondering how they got our name. He is not interested in that school either.</p>

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<p>There were other reasons why D1 didn’t like Brandeis, but that’s outside the purview of this thread. I’d have been delighted if she’d liked the school, especially as it would make her life easier in some ways, but you can’t hurry love :). Teenagers can change their (at times totally illogical and random) minds, so for all I know she may later decide that she wants to consider the school. Since she visited, she gets the brownie point for demonstrated interest if she later decides to apply. </p>

<p>Visiting Sherman Hall was on the tour, and pointing out the kosher line was also one of the tour guide’s talking points. The dining hall wasn’t open when we toured, since it was just before lunchtime. </p>

<p>Thanks for the tips about Goucher–off to investigate.</p>