<p>Are there many Jewish students at Wake Forest?</p>
<p>I would not say there are a lot of Jewish students at Wake, but from what I have observed the Jewish students there are comfortable. There is a Hillel. If you are interested in learning more about Jewish life at Wake, the best thing is to visit the Hillel website and contact one of the students or faculty advisors listed there. We did just that in February, and my son visited Wake for the 2nd time and spoke with a senior who was active in Hillel and who took him around the campus and answered all of his questions. This was a great experience and my son will be a freshman at Wake in the fall. My opinion is that a student who is quite observant and looking for a very active Jewish life at college would probably not pick Wake Forest, but for someone who is not terribly observant, Wake Forest would be fine.</p>
<p>Why do people care about this so much? If you want ethnic isolation go to Yeshiva.</p>
<p>It must be quite a strain to go through life with such a horrible deficiency, Harry.</p>
<p>We care about this topic because we want our children to be comfortable at college. If you experience high school in an area where there are many Jewish families, going away to a college with few if any Jewish students can be unsettling. There is the issue of anti-Semitism and simply cultural acceptance. As a college student, I visited a friend a Georgetown and attended what was supposed to be a non-denominational prayer service with him. During this service, the priest made comments about forgiveness, specifically the need to forgive the Jews for killing Christ. I was horrified, embarrassed and upset. That was a real turning point for me, as my non-Jewish friend did not at all understand how I felt. I, like many other Jewish parents, am not seeking cultural isolation for my son. I want him to meet and get to know people of all races, cultures and faiths. But, I do want him to be comfortable being Jewish at his college. I don’t want him to feel like the odd man out. If this is not important to you, that’s just fine. But respect the views of those of us who consider this an important topic.</p>
<p>rockvillemom - you have to kind of ignore Harry. He is inflammatory, immature, and condescendingly disrespectful to others.</p>
<p>I am shocked as well about what the priest said. It doesn’t even make sense, either historically or scripturally. Maybe I am misinformed, but didn’t the Romans kill Christ? Yes, the corrupt Jewish leaders of the time turned on him, but that hardly had anything to do with being Jewish and everything to do with their power base. Besides, since it was all ordained to happen anyway, and according to Christian theology we cannot be saved from original sin if Christ had not died for us, then the Jews don’t need forgiving. Easter Sunday is not only the holiest day of the Christian spiritual year, it is supposed to be a joyous celebration, precisely because Christ rose from the dead. But then he had to die for that to happen, right? And it is called Good Friday, not Horrible Friday. Priests like that are just sad.</p>
<p>Rockville, I understand a certain comfort issue but for the most part, I think people make too much of these issues. You see it all the time: is there a large asian population? are athiests accepted? etc. I went to a catholic university (the one you mentioned) and there were plenty of jews. Actually, being a little different - whether it be in ethnicity, race, whatever - is often what made a kid interesting and, therefore, popular. I am not religious at all and I don’t feel I need to stay away from people who are. I can understand a PARENT’S concern but let your son decide where he will be comfortable. </p>
<p>If the issue is really that you don’t want your child mixing with christians, you may have to examine yourself. If that’s the case you may not be so much as protecting him from perceived antisemitism but encouraging prejudice yourself. </p>
<p>Take everything fallenchemist says with a grain of salt. She is a shameless Tulane booster that is deluded to the point that she thinks Tulane should be in the Ivy League. She doesn’t like me for bringing her back to reality. That’s why she stalks me in these forums. She has a secret crush on me too!</p>
<p>She is a he, lol. You really don’t read very well, Harry. And all this talk about Yeshiva, isolation, not wanting to mix…the OP never said anything remotely like that. She asked a simple question and you made the rest up out of nothing. You are a piece of work. And if you could read my posts, you would know that I exactly argued the opposite as regards Tulane and the Ivy League. You are an egotistical bore.</p>
<p>And did you go to GW or Georgetown? You say Georgetown here and GW in another post. If I keep checking, how many schools will I find you claim to have gone to?</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the subject: there are not a ton of Jewish kids at Wake (about 80 overall), but I think the ones that do attend fit in fine (I have certainly never overheard any anti-Semitism on campus). I am not Jewish myself but would probably agree with Rockville’s assessment that those that aren’t terribly observant would be fine.</p>
<p>Here’s a blurb from the Hillel site: [Wake</a> Forest University](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17965]Wake”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Campus.aspx?AgencyId=17965)</p>
<p>I am a prospective student looking to apply to wake forest next year, and I also fear that being jewish will present a problem for me. It is scary to think that only 80 students are jewish, and unlike those students, I do not practice Judaism, rather I am jewish by blood (if you will). I thought it would be good to ask straight forward whether my being jewish will be as big of a problem as it presents itself to be. As rockville said about the priest, I don’t want to be in a situation where people see me as Jewish before who I am as a person. Has anyone attended or visited Wake Forest and has observed some settling or unsettling information about this?</p>
<p>Hi - I think the number of Jewish students at Wake has increased slightly - there is more Hillel activity going on, etc. My son is now a happy sophomore and has had no problems whatsoever being Jewish at Wake Forest.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to the new Wake Forest Hillel website:</p>
<p><a href=“Sign in - Google Accounts”>Sign in - Google Accounts;
<p>It says there are about 115 Jewish students now and the number is increasing.</p>
<p>guys, the post was initially written in 2009, lol!</p>
<p>miked2020 - this is kind of an old thread - but I would be happy to assist you with this topic. Just PM me.</p>
<p>Glad to see this conversation has moved back to the original question. So, what type of participation does the Hillel have? Are Shabbos dinners frequent and well attended? Is there kosher food for Passover week and a seder to attend? My daughter interviewed in August and the student told her she knew there was a Hillel that was experiencing a “come back” but I was concerned that I saw little for a Jewish student to participate in (granted we were there first week of classes and it wasn’t High Holidays yet.) So we are intrigued by the idea of being able to do some “teaching and outreach” --but also want her to feel like a part of a “small but vibrant community.” Does anyone here attend Wake Hillel functions?</p>
<p>And fallenchemist, since you know a bit about Tulane too… what is the Jewish community there like compared to Wake? What about the overall comparison between the 2 schools?</p>
<p>creativecrew - you will get a quicker reponse if you post the Jewish life question on the Tulane forum. While I have never visited Tulane - I know it has a very high % of Jewish students and a very active Jewish life. There is no question in my mind that Tulane >Wake in that category. However, IMO, Wake > Tulane in terms of academics, small class size and interaction with professors. If you peruse the Tulane threads - you will see a fair amount of complaints regarding academics. At Wake - they will tell you classes are challenging and the work load fierce - but it is rare to see a substantive complaint.</p>
<p>Also - I don’t know if rankings are important to you - I consider them a small amount - Wake is tied for 25th place and Tulane is tied for 51st place in USNWR rankings of national universities.</p>
<p>Thanks RockvilleMom forthis is helpful info comparing the 2 schools. Wake’s academics are a big appeal. Do you know about the Jewish life at Wake? Can students get to High Holiday services and a seder? Are there Shabbos Dinners at Hillel?</p>
<p>Sorry - I don’t know much about the current state of Jewish life at Wake as my son has chosen not to participate in Hillel. I know he is comfortable at Wake - not experienced any problems being in a small Jewish minority there - but he has not attended any Hillel functions. I suggest you look at the Hillel link I posted earlier - post #11 - and contact some of the current Hillel officers. Their names and e-mail addresses are listed in the Contact Us section of the website.</p>
<p>One of the things we did was when he went to visit the school - we also set up a meeting with a Hillel officer. This student took him around campus a bit and spoke with him on a more personal level than a tour guide about life at Wake Forest and being Jewish at Wake Forest. This meeting went well and he decided to attend. I try to do something like this with every college we visit (now working with younger son).</p>
<p>So we heard from someone at Wake Hillel who says they have 100+ members. Seems high compared to the Hillel Campus Life website. D is going back to Wake again next week so she will meet some of the Hillel officers and talk more about Jewish life on campus. Thanks.</p>
<p>If you are referring to the national Hillel website and numbers on there - it is very out of date. I have no idea why – but they don’t seem to update it any more. I would rely more heavily on info you get directly from the college. And I mean this for every school you explore - not just Wake Forest.</p>