<p>Looking for feedback on Jewish students attending Christian colleges. Considering schools that are open to all religions. To give an example- Loyola Marymount not Pepperdine.
D is starting to explore schools. H is pushing public due to cost. We will not qualify for any need based aid. Ca resident. Jewish but not religious.
As of now it doesn't appear to us (she feels differently) that she will adjust to being far from home. Her sibling attends a 3000 student private that is non religious. I have seen the benefit for him of a close knit community. I would like her to be able to find something similar. It seems to me most secular west coast private schools don't give merit and if they do it is to a small number of students. Doubt she will have the grades or scores for Occidental or any of the Claremont schools.
Just on paper for now looking at Western US private colleges that give merit aid. Schools we are thinking about Seattle University, Loyola Marymount. She is a no frills girl.
Any suggestions and imput as to how a jewish student would feel.</p>
<p>Seattle and Loyola Marymount are Jesuit schools. They are not overly religious at all. Your D would have to take a couple of theology and philosophy courses, but they are not Catholic-specific. I think she would be fine.
Older D visited a friend at Seattle and thought it was a very comfortable, cozy place. AND in a great city.<br>
My daughters know some Jewish students at their Jesuit school who have no problems at all.</p>
<p>We discussed this recently on the College for Jewish B Students thread. Come on over and read our discussion.</p>
<p>LinyMom- I will take a look. I have from time to time glanced at the thread and it always seemed more east coast centered.</p>
<p>I think it would be a little hard at a mainline Christian school, but not at a Jesuit school, not at all. In fact, they seek religious and cultural diversity. My D is at LMU, and she has Jewish friends there. </p>
<p>I was raised very Catholic, and so many of my friends once I became an adult are Jewish-- we Catholics and Jews share a similar cultural-approach-to-religion upbringing and understand each other well!</p>
<p>Why rule out the publics?</p>
<p>Attending a good public is not necessarily a lonely, impersonal experience – especially if it’s in your own state (meaning that the student will start out by knowing at least a few people on campus) and if the school makes efforts to make a large campus feel smaller.</p>
<p>My son went to the University of Maryland, which has an abundance of special-interest and honors programs for freshman and sophomores that make the huge university feel much smaller. He never seemed lost there. In your state, your daughter might find a similarly positive experience at UC San Diego, with its undergraduate college system.</p>
<p>Or gorgeous UC Santa Cruz!
I know that most people agree that Catholic schools are not a problem in terms of the happiness of Jewish students there, but I still believe, after teaching at one many years ago, that there is a difference in the way that authority and questioning are viewed. PM me if you want to know what I mean.</p>
<p>Some things to think about–how “Jewish” does she want her college life to be, and who will she date?</p>
<p>Our local Catholic/Jesuit college (Xavier) has an outreach program from the Hillel at University of Cincinnati, so there are at least some activities for the Jewish students there.</p>
<p>One of my first cousins, raised as a committed and proud Jew, had a lot of trouble adjusting to college and bounced around in several of them until he found himself at Pepperdine. He loved it, it did very well by him, I don’t think he felt significant discomfort while he was there (although I think I would have). There’s only a little fly in the ointment (from my perspective, not Pepperdine’s): With a wonderful, gracious, loving spouse and two wonderful children, all of whom are also Pepperdine alumni, and all of whom are confirmed evangelical Christians, he no longer considers himself Jewish, and in fact accepted baptism after his father died a few years ago.</p>
<p>“we Catholics and Jews share a similar cultural-approach-to-religion upbringing and understand each other well!”</p>
<p>researching - I am curious about what this means. Please elaborate.</p>
<p>I attended a Jesuit college back in the 80s and there were some Jewish students attending as well. It did not seem to be an issue back then. I would assume it would be even less of an issue nowadays, especially if your family is not orthodox/conservative. As dbwes stated, Theology and Philosophy courses are required but they are not “catholic” specific. As a matter of fact, it was because of taking those classes that many of us became interested in learning about other religions, especially Judaism and Islam.</p>
<p>*“we Catholics and Jews share a similar cultural-approach-to-religion upbringing and understand each other well!”</p>
<p>researching - I am curious about what this means. Please elaborate. *</p>
<p>I have also found this be true. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just seems that way. I think that’s why there are a lot of Catholic/Jewish marriages. </p>
<p>My kids, nieces, and nephews have gone to Catholic schools (k-12) and they have had many Jewish classmates in those grades. There haven’t been any problems at all. </p>
<p>I would think attending a Jesuit school (LMU, Georgetown, SLU, etc) would be no big deal.</p>
<p>Well, I can certainly appreciate the common heritage of being persecuted – Catholics and Jews – so, perhaps that gives them a bond of sorts. But, the great irony of such a bond is that Jews reject the divinity of Christ, whereas Catholics hold it as the central tenet of their faith.</p>
<p>Of course, as someone posted, going to a Jesuit college will in no way be a hindrance to a Jewish student. Boston College, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross all offer excellent education free of ecclesiastical pressure, being Jesuit. I cannot say the same for non- Jesuit colleges, like Notre Dame. There, I believe, the religious emphasis is palpable.</p>
<p>
Chapman University in Orange CA. It’s a National Masters University, so mid-size not enormous in population. Founded by a progressive Protestant Church in the 19th century. The name of that movement, “Disciples of Christ” is off-putting if you think (as I did, at first) that is a modern Evangelical or fundamentalist Protestant group! To the contrary, the DOC more resemble in social activist progressive ways, the Unitarian Universalists well known on the East Coast. Today, Chapman U. Makes no religious demands on any of its students. Has a “small but mighty” Hillel, a small off-campus Jewish fraternity (“Sammy”, Sigma Alpha Mu), services at the Fish Interfaith Center, and many Jewish students in attendance. Notable departments include: Business, Film/Media, Physics (recent Nobel Prize winner and his team), Psychology, Theater/Arts…plus Grad schools that terminate in Masters degrees, rather than PhD. So as an undergraduate you also see older students in their mid-20’s attending the professional Schools of Law, Psychology, Business and MFA (Film) on the same campus. In those professions, the terminal degree is masters, so the designation “a National Masters University.” </p>
<p>As for the other, in my experience the Catholic and Jewish bond today comes from both groups recognizing the emotional pull of rituals and complex, beautiful music. Even though all the rituals are different, the theological basis is pointedly different…nonetheless, when a Catholic person enters a synagogue or lifecycle ceremony, the Catholic observer “gets” why the service works emotively for those present.</p>
<p>I’m inclined to agree about the openness of Jesuit colleges relative to evangelical Christian colleges (what we tend to call “Christian colleges”), and maybe even relative to some other Catholic colleges. When my sister (who was Catholic–I am a convert to Judaism) was an undergraduate at Xavier (Ohio), one of her Bible professors (and one of her favorite professors) was a rabbi (a professor from HUC Cincinnati).</p>
<p>On the other hand, that class was called “Old Testament,” and not “Tanakh,” or even “Hebrew Bible.” Another friend of mine, who went to law school at Georgetown, hadn’t anticipated that she’d be unable to get contraception through student health. There probably will be crucifixes in the classrooms of a Jesuit college. </p>
<p>So, while you can expect most Jesuit colleges to welcome Jewish students into their communities, it’s probably important to make sure your daughter can be comfortable in a community that clearly is the Jesuits’. And I don’t mean to criticize the Jesuits for this at all. If the Society of Jesus, or the Catholic Church in general, operates a private university, then they have every right to make it as Catholic as they want it to be. It is their clubhouse, so to speak. I’m just advocating that you make sure the fit really does look good before she moves all her stuff into a dorm room.</p>
<p>Marian- publics are definitely not ruled out. She will be applying to quite a few of them. UC San Diego is not on the list. For Ca high school students UCSD is highly competitive and it would be a huge reach for her. UC Santa Cruz is definitely on the list. Also Cal Poly SLO and UC Santa Barbara and probably Davis.
Thanks for the info on Chapman. We know some students who have gone there but none Jewish. I think it is worth a visit. I want to try to take her to see a small school and was considering LMU but Chapman might be a better choice. She would need merit aid to attend.
As for dating she does not feel at this time the boy needs to be Jewish. She does rule out guys who attend “born again” churches. She had a recent experience with a nice boy who kept inviting her to his youth group and his church. She joked that she didn’t know if he liked her or if he wanted to “save” her.</p>
<p>My niece went to Santa Clara University (a Jesuit university) and had no issues at all – in fact, fewer issues than her sister at Davidson College in the south. Honestly, I concur that evangelical Christian environments are the ones that could be problematic for Jewish students … not Jesuit Catholic ones.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have any qualms whatsoever about sending my Jewish kids to Georgetown, Boston College, Notre Dame if they were so interested / inclined.</p>
<p>(levirm: I know what you mean - the Jesuits have been questioning authority for centuries.)</p>
<p>It is all about diversity, social justice, serving others. </p>
<p>Mom60: Santa Clara is another great option. of course, if you are willing to go to the East Coast, Georgetown, Fordham and Boston College are very welcoming, as well.</p>
<p>Perhaps, another commonality that Jews and Catholics share is that their faiths (with all the religious trappings, which is unfortunate to me) do hold a very central position in their lives (if they are observant) – how can they NOT? – they are very demanding religions, if followed closely.</p>
<p>Hey, maybe Islam is closer to them in that regard than is readily apparent…</p>
<p>Was just going to mention Santa Clara. There is another poster whose dau is from an interfaith marriage and loved Santa clara</p>