Can anyone speak to a Jewish kid’s experience at Alabama? With college antisemitism on the rise, I’m instinctively reluctant to send my kid into the deep south, though I know colleges are often bubbles that don’t reflect the local prejudices (and that many anti-semitic incidents happen in places with higher concentrations of Jews). And I’m sure I’m showing my ignorance about Alabama here too (sorry!)
Well if you are convinced that criticism of Israel and anger at its treatment of the occupied Palestinians equals anti Semitism, then you will be very happy with UA, for contrary to your prejudice against the South, Southerners are by and large philo-Semitic (Jewish Semitic that is, not so much Arab Semitic) and extremely pro-Israel. I am one of the few Southerns not enamored by Israel, but it has nothing to do with religion for me. I would be happy to see more Jewish students at UA, despite my feelings about the state of Israel.
I am not trying to give you a hard time, but the anti Southern prejudice gets old. Jews have had a place at UA for years now. There is at UA a strong Jewish frat and a strong sorority traditionally aligned with Jewish women. There is a Hillel house. Once again, Southerners tend to be extremely pro Israel and pro Jewish due to their Christian upbringing.
Not really concerned as much with people’s like or not for Israel.
Regardless, I think your child will feel at home among fellow Jews and Gentiles at UA!
Maybe @LucieTheLakie can chime in. She has a Jewish son at UA. I know there is an active Hillel at UA.
Are you concerned about the ethnic analogy to so-called “locker room” talk?
Personally, I would apply but wait and see whether there is any healing to the nation’s growing intolerance.
I think this thread is informative.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18945317#Comment_18945317
To be clear, my family is not religious, and my son has had no interest in the attending any Hillel events to date, but it was important to me that UA had one. Furthermore, I would never send him anywhere I thought had problems with pervasive anti-Semitism. While it’s not like a school in the northeast in terms of numbers, the Hillel is active, and from what I can tell, the observant families with kids at Bama have been happy. Some go Greek; others do not.
Because the South is more outwardly Christian than many other regions of the country, I suppose you might observe lots of “philo-Semitism” as @Atlanta68 refers to it, but love for Israel due to its place in Biblical prophecy does not always translate into love for actual Jews–especially liberal ones, in my personal experience. They might love the “Jewish people” but they also for the most part believe they should all “come to Christ” as well. I pay that kind of thing no attention, personally. Now, if you’re uncomfortable with your child being invited to church, you might have reason to give UA pause, but it’s not meant as an offense in any way even though some might find it insensitive. We recognize it as an extension of “Southern hospitality” and leave it at that. All that to say that I wouldn’t be overly concerned with life for a Jewish student at UA unless your child is Orthodox or trying to keep glatt kosher because that could be trying just because the numbers are few.
There is a long history of Jews in the South, so you’ll find synagogues in all the big cities. You’re not likely to find them in more rural areas, but that’s true in the Northeast as well.
I have no idea what @ClassicRockerDad is referring to in his comment in #5. Perhaps he will clarify.
I really wouldn’t worry about it if I were you, @mathmomvt. Go visit and check out the Hillel. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. And if and when you’re interested in joining some of the parent FB groups, I can put you in touch with lots of Jewish families.
Thanks for the long reply @LucieTheLakie and for the pointer to the other thread @NoVADad99, and to everyone else for your replies so far.
We’re not Orthodox, but we are practicing liberal Jews (Reconstructionist, actually). Whether or not he would attend Hillel events, I don’t know.
Getting invited to church would be weird at first, but not a big problem unless it was part of a persistent attempt to save his soul by converting him.
Pretty much every school has a Hillel, so that alone isn’t an indicator that everything is fine, but from what I’ve read here, things do seem to be comfortable for Jewish students.
I suspect @ClassicRockerDad is referring to a growing wave of intolerance in the United States, in part due to the federal election nastiness. Incidents of racist, anti-LGBT, and anti-semitic violence are up all over the nation. It’s sometimes frightening to think about sending a child out into that world, no matter how well-prepared we think said child is.
Clearly this stuff is happening everywhere (and the most anti-semitic stuff often happens in regions where there are lots of Jews), and this post isn’t because I think it would be more prevalent in the South. It’s just wondering how much more “other” a liberal Jew is likely to feel at a school in the Bible Belt than they would in, say, the Northeast.
@mathmomvt, I think it depends on the school in the northeast. Compared to UVM, yes, I think it will feel more conservative, but frankly so would Penn State.
I found the atmosphere at Bama so warm and friendly when we visited, it was a breath of fresh air. I think the fact that 60 percent of the student body is from other states gives the school a pretty moderate feel. It’s more traditional in many ways than your average northeast school, but for a student who embraces all that goes with that (the large campus and the passion and pageantry of game days), it’s quite an experience. And I personally wanted my son to experience life in another part of the country and get out of the safe, liberal bubble we’d raised him in. He has friends from all over the country from a wide range of backgrounds and he’s been very happy there.
As far as the ugliness of the current campaign season, unfortunately, it’s surfaced al over the US. It’s hardly limited to the South. Tuscaloosa is a blue county in a very red state, and the campus has plenty of diversity.
Compared to UVM, just about everywhere will seem more conservative 
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Getting invited to church would be weird at first, but not a big problem unless it was part of a persistent attempt to save his soul by converting him.
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No, that’s not what southern students do. Southern church-going students consider church as much a social thing as religious. They believe it’s polite to invite friends to attend for the social aspect (not conversion). By the same token, if your child had no place to go for Thanksgiving, a southern friend would invite them home for the weekend.
My Catholic kids would get invited to “go with” their Protestant friends’ to their churches, and my kids would simply politely decline. No biggie.
Kids often meet after at a local restaurant for lunch/brunch/whatever.
That said, many of the campus area churchs have many social activities and they really don’t care what religion you are or aren’t.
College kids, even the more religious ones, really don’t care what your faith is or isn’t.
I should add…Tuscaloosa has had a Jewish community for over 130 years. Jewish people are not considered “rare or unusual” in Ttown!
The Jewish temple is ON CAMPUS…yes, ON campus property. The Hillel is popular and growing. http://hillel.ua.edu. The Hillel has been on campus since the 1930’s.
The Q&A mentions over 700 Jewish students at Bama, but that answer has NOT been updated in years.
I don’t doubt that there are from time to time racist or hateful incidents on college campuses, but a closer examination often reveals false flag hate crimes, in which a member of a minority group writes an offensive word somewhere on campus or draws a poop swastika, and people assume it is a real act of anti minority hate speech by a White guy.
Jewish students have been caught leaving swastikas. Black students have been caught writing the N word. Much of the hoopla at Mizzou last year was based on proven lies. Google it if you doubt me.
I raised Israel in my response simply because the evidence for an increase in anti Semitism seems to rest solely in discomfort among some Jews with increased anti Zionist college activism across the nation.
But many of the strongest anti Zionists on college campuses are in fact Jewish. And many of the most prominent anti Zionist academics, like the amazingly courageous Norman Finkelstein, are Jews. So we should be careful about ascribing anti Semitic intentions to opposition to Israel on campus. However, to the extent that Jews are being attacked for being Jewish, it is horrible and should be addressed for sure.
FYI, one of my elementary school teachers was Jewish and an alum of UA. She was born into a prominent Montgomery Jewish family. She loved UA very much, and would talk proudly of her time at UA.
Regarding m2ck’s comment above, I can second that being invited to church is very much a social activity and not something that should be viewed with suspicion. During our freshman year, my friends and I visited mass at St. Francis with our Catholic friend, a Methodist church by the river with my roommate, my Episcopal church, and went to my friend’s Jewish service. It was a really great way to learn about the similarities and differences between our faiths, and I think we all felt comfortable to meet the people there and ask questions we had always wondered about.
I don’t know if your son would describe himself this way, but as a person who is both socially/politically liberal and very religious, in many ways I feel much more comfortable among students here than I did at home in Los Angeles. It is much more common for people to have a tradition of faith, where at home I would often be called out by my more liberal friends for being Christian.
If you’re interested in getting more information from Jewish students currently at UA, my roommate is a member of the Hillel and one of my closest friends attends a small, more traditional service off-campus. PM me and I would be happy to put you in touch.
I have twins that started at UA this fall. We are Jewish, Reformed, and they have had a great experience at UA so far. As mentioned earlier, there are so many students from all over the US that the campus is very cosmopolitan.
I have not seen or heard of any prejudice and neither have my children.