<p>We are curious about any Jewish presence at Lawrence. Can anyone shed some light? Any Hillel or non-Hillel jewish activities or holiday observances?</p>
<p>We'd like to know the same thing.</p>
<p>D is a freshman at Lawrence. Our family celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays at home. D is not interested in organized religion so I can't comment from direct experience but there are certainly Jewish students at Lawrence -- D and friends had a celebration in December that combined traditions. One of the students who is an art major created red yalmulkas with a small white (santa) ball on top... I had to giggle when I saw it.</p>
<p>The organizational handbook on the LU website lists Hillel/Chavurah (Circle of Friends) as a currently active group on campus that organizes holiday celebrations open to all.</p>
<p>Wish I could be more help -- overall, I would say that religion is not central on the Lawrence campus. Many students do attend services at local congregations but it does not appear to be a central theme on campus.</p>
<p>D loves Lawrence and can't imagine being anywhere else. She is very happy with her choice. It's a great school -- best of luck to your children as they make their decisions.</p>
<p>Thank you Musicmomic- we'll check the website. Lawrence is neck-in-neck with Earlham at the moment, so we're looking seriously at the pros and cons. D loved the very friendly, unpretentious atmosphere at Lawrence combined with stimulating and intimate academics. Earlham has a much higher jewish population, and while it's not about religious observance for our D, the cultural identification is an important social piece for her. Anything you'd want to add from your D's perspective as a freshman would be helpful, thanks.</p>
<p>Our daughter is a freshman at Lawrence. There are plenty of Jewish students there but it is not too organized. I believe there will be a Seder and there were easy arrangements to attend services at both Reform and Conservative congregations last Fall. I believe that my daughter has had invitations to join in the activities at the local congregation. When she was considering LU, she contacted the admissions office and they had a Jewish student contact her. There is a Hillel and the young lady who is president told me that she is going to reaffiliate with the national organization which somehow got dropped along the way. It's just a matter of filling out the paperwork. A strong student leader could really motivate and organize the Jewish students.</p>
<p>Thank you- that's very helpful.</p>
<p>There's a student group called Hillel which meets at Downer once a week. I know some pretty cool jewish students but their numbers are not very large compared to northeastern liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>I did not see Lawrence listed in the nat'l hillel website. But the above posts indicate some jewish presence LU. Any comments? Are those posts above from a yr ago still true?</p>
<p>Lawrence does have a hillel, but apparently they don't pay their dues to the national organization so aren't listed. I think they refer to themselves as a chavura. There is a temple in Appleton, conservative, and a reform temple in Oshkosh. The rabbi of the Appleton congregation was at welcome week this year handing out apples and honey (it was Rosh Hashana) and seemed very welcoming. I don't know how many kids take advantage. The jewish population on campus is small but growing slightly, according to the rabbi.</p>
<p>fyi, Here is the 2007-08 handbook of student activities. There is a description of the jewish group in there.</p>