<p>Looking for an unusual combination in a school:</p>
<ul>
<li>smaller, Liberal Arts school (academically rigorous); </li>
<li>politically, socially liberal</li>
<li>active Jewish life on campus/in community</li>
<li>services held regularly, kosher food available (at least sometimes - willing to be a vegetarian if kosher food not available.)</li>
</ul>
<p>My d.s school has all of these (Smith). It has a combined kosher/hallal kitchen/dining hall under joint supervision open seven days a week (it is open to all students - Jewish, Muslim, or not). It also has a Shabbat kitchen where students cook for themselves (my d. cooks every Friday afternoon - including matzoh balls for vegans, now that's a challenge!), with dinner and zmirot that go to 11 p.m. or beyond every Friday (last time I was there, there were 40 students or so.) Passover brought in 200 - open to the entire campus. The rabbi splits his time between Amherst and Smith, though the active Jewish community at Smith is roughly 3x the size of Amherst's. </p>
<p>There is also a long Jewish history to Northampton:</p>
<p>Lots of well-known Jewish alums, from Betty Friedan to Laura Lazin. There is a strong Jewish studies department, and the National Yiddish Book Center is close by (at Hampshire.)</p>
<p>princeton has a great center for jewish life which hosts weekly services (reform, conservative and orthodox) and I think saturday services... atleast orthodox. There is an active chabad chapter on campus and a pretty large percentage of jews. There is also an active reform group. The center for jewish life is open to everyone with a meal plan, which means that lots of non-jewish people eat there, especially for lunch as it's convienient to class buildings. All the regular dining halls have vegetarian and vegan options as well. There are shabbat dinners every friday, and lots of activities, including a jewish a capella group. The center for jewish life provides free shabbat dinners and holiday dinners to upperclassmen who aren't on the meal plan (although you can be). Also, many of the professors are active in the center, leading lectures and talks and such.</p>
<p>I am glad to see this thread up again. My daughter is looking for a school in the South, which has a substantial Jewish population. As I have stated earlier my son is at Duke and is very happy. So far, my daughter likes College of Charleston and U. of Richmond. We still need to do our college visits. She is a junior, but we are already looking. Any Duke questions I will be happy to answer.</p>
<p>candace--Emory is rumored to be a "Northern college in the South" and has an active Jewish population. They started a Jewish studies major about 5 years ago.</p>
<p>thanks mommusic, actually my son looked at Emory and liked it very much. But he really wanted Duke and was accepted ED, so he never even applied anywhere else. My daughter has never been there. She didn't want to go on any college visits when she was in middle school. She has just become involved with it now. She knows she wants to leave Florida, so no UF. Most of her friends will go there, but she wants to venture out of Florida. I have been to see College of Charleston and loved what I saw. I actually met the president of their Hillel, by chance, when I ate lunch at a local restaurant. He was so nice and loves C of C, so that was great. She likes what she has read about the school, except the over 60% female.</p>
<p>I will second College of Charleston. The school is terrific, the town is great, and there is a very lively Jewish presence there, including a Judiaic Studies program (with a nice newer building and a great lecture series) and a Jewish Sorority also which is an active group. Tell your D that almost every LAC in the country has that 60% female/40% male ratio....that is the way it is.</p>
<p>My son will be a senior at Emory this fall-- a large Jewish community was one of his criteria when looking at colleges four years ago. Emory is about 1/3 Jewish, and all kinds of Jews feel comfortable there--from secular to Orthodox. There is an active Hillel and there are also other active Jewish groups on campus if that is something your student wants, but there are a lot of jewish students on campus who also choose not to take part in structured Jewish activites.</p>
<p>By the way, the Jewis Studies department is excellent with wonderful faculty.</p>
<p>Tulane is a good option in the South. Large Jewish population. Temples nearby. Like Emory, "in the South, but not <em>of</em> the South." Some would say less "Southern" than Emory; reputation for being less prepp-y.</p>
<p>You said: Looking for an unusual combination in a school:
- smaller, Liberal Arts school (academically rigorous)
- politically, socially liberal
- active Jewish life on campus/in community
- services held regularly, kosher food available (at least sometimes - willing to be a vegetarian if kosher food not available.)</p>
<p>Two midwest schools jump out: U chicago -- a no brainer, and Grinnell College (in the 1990's it had the highest percentage of Jewish students of the Midwest Conference schools -- which includes U Chicago). Someone else mentioned Macalester -- I know there is a strong jewish suburb of St. Paul -- Al Franken mentions it all the time. </p>
<p>Other people have given the numerous east coast colleges that come to mind: Swarthmore, Tufts, Brandeis, Bard . . .</p>
<p>Lastly, two more surprises or maybe not as these two schools are receiving my friends' kids by the bundle: Union College (maybe others knew this) and one southern school which is not as small (as you may want) but which has a growing Jewish gathering and which many will not believe is becoming multicultural is a rising star of Tennessee: Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I just saw this thread and wanted to respond. I have been through this process twice, needed kosher food (esp for Passover), active Hillel where students willingly go, Shabbat services, etc. One child went to Washington University in St. Louis and the other went to University of Michigan. Both have great Hillels, tons of Jews, kosher food, all different kinds of services, etc. I think that Michigan probably is the better school Jewishly, since Wash U is more dependent on the student body. The Orthodox community in Ann Arbor uses Hillel for all their services, so anyone who is Modern Orthodox is assured of a service on campus. When we were at Hillel last year there were five different services on Friday night. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I feel your pain, but I think most colleges have wonderful groups for active Jewish students, particularly in the Northeast. We are looking for a Buddhist
group for our daughter, not Zen but Soka Gakki, out in the middle of PA when our daughter attends college at Bucknell next year. It's hard, but I bet we find
one.</p>
<p>candace, i went to smith and my sister goes to rice and my whole family was surprised at how many more jews there were at rice! houston has a decent-sized and diverse jewish population and rice is a great school.</p>
<p>Thanks Stacy, we actually know a student there and he is very happy. But my daughter wants to go to school in the Southern states. Houston is very far, to far to drive in a day.</p>
<p>Candace, I think the suggestions you got above with regard to Emory and Tulane are good ones if they are attractive to your daughter. </p>
<p>To the poster who wants Buddhist....one option would be to find a good fit school that is in or near a population center where there are nearby Buddhist options...so if you want PA, look at schools in Philly or Pittsburgh, unless you find schools with active Buddhist organizations.</p>