<p>I am Jewish and was wondering if there are any other Jews on campus.</p>
<p>Yes there are. I feel that every third American on campus is Jewish. That is probably an exaggeration but it would not be incorrect to say that there is a significant Jewish population on campus. However, I dare not comment on how actively the average member of this population practices his/her religion...</p>
<p>bumpity bump</p>
<p>There is a considerable Jewish population at Bates. Hillel has a lot of members and is a very active organization on campus.</p>
<p>There is a significant Jewish population at every Northeastern LAC. Asking if there are any other Jews on campus is like asking if there is air to breathe.</p>
<p>“significant” is in the eye of the beholder, and also may ve viewed as a relative matter. According to the Hillel,org website, there are northeast LACs with under 10% jewish population, and others with 30% jewish population. 10% of a small number may be deemed not all that “significant” by some standards. The number may be bolstered, or not, by numbers in the surrounding community.</p>
<p>Hillel shows 150 out of 1,700 for Bates, which is on the low side for colleges in the Northeast. Their numbers are considered old unreliable estimates though.</p>
<p>What is the Jewish population in the U.S.? To me significant is when the percentage of students of a particular demographic group exceeds that of the general population for the same group. My understanding is the Jewish pop. in the U.S. is 5% or less. Definitely under 10%. So 30% (Muhlenberg?) or 10%, either is significant in my book. Granted, significant doesn’t apply to every northeast LAC, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t apply to the elite northeast LACs, and some that are not elite. </p>
<p>And Hillel may not capture every Jewish student. Maybe it captures some who are not. Funny anecdote on this issue. Back in the 80s, the Cleveland Browns had a popular and pretty good quarterback named Bernie Kosar. Several national Jewish organizations invited him to speak at their functions, because, after all, how many Jewish quarterbacks are in the NFL? How many Jewish players at any position? Poor Bernie had to tell them that he wasn’t Jewish. After recovering from their shock, they told him, “Well, you look Jewish and your name sounds Jewish, so come and speak anyway.” :)</p>
<p>The Kosar story was good.</p>
<h2>“What is the Jewish population in the U.S.?”</h2>
<pre><code>Without looking, I think it was 3%. Jews are clearly over-represented at most quality schools.
</code></pre>
<p>“may ve viewed as a relative matter”</p>
<p>I’d be surprised if any quality eastern LAC has a Jewish stu-pop of under 10% with some notable Catholic schools as exceptions.</p>
<p>No Jews and Bates. Bates hates us.</p>