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Now if white Christians wanted to do that...THAT'S a problem
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<p>...well white Christian groups practicing exclusionary policies don't exactly have the best track record... Nazis, KKK, etc.</p>
<p>by contrast, when, say, a bunch of Asians get together, genocide isn't a topic that comes up very frequently.</p>
<p>No, but tasty, tasty rice is.</p>
<p>there is a significant difference between seeking an environment in which you can have a community of people who share something in common with you and seeking to exclude others. i'm sure there are white Christians of various denominations for whom finding a college religious community that will support their beliefs is also important.</p>
<p>there seems too much of a rush to cloud the issue of an individual's need for community with political correctness. often finding that supportive community that makes you feel at home can actually make it EASIER for someone in a new environment to then reach out and explore beyond their comfort zone.</p>
<p>Well said, bizymom. There are some schools where church attendance is a major part of college life. My daughter is used to being in the minority, but would like to find a school with at least a small group of others that she can attend a sedar with when she is far from home. We are not looking for kosher meals, just a very open and diverse climate. She is looking for a smaller school, under 6,000, in the South. Once you look beyond the name schools, it is not so easy. College of Charleston looks good, but it is 10,000 students. All suggestions are welcome. North Carolina or South Carolina are her top choices. Please don't mention Emory and Tulane, probably to much of a reach. Thanks</p>
<p>candace -- have you looked at the hillel campus guide? (<a href="http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx</a>)
you can search by region or school size.
it is not a perfect resource -- sometimes its info isn't completely accurate -- you always should check the info with the school's Jewish student org directly as well, but it can serve as a starting point to give you the names of some schools to look int to.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Now if white Christians wanted to do that...THAT'S a problem.
[/quote]
Hmm, let's see - anyone ever heard of Boston College, Georgetown, Fordham? How about Hope College or Wheaton (IL)? Gee, those are such problem schools.</p>
<p>I think anybody should be able to hang out with whomever he/she wants. I went to high school with a Chinese-American girl who was the only Asian in the school. And when she got to college, she wanted to hang out with only other Asians, which I think is totally understandable. I'm sure the same thing happens to other ethnic/religious groups. I was merely pointing out the obvious exception to this rule is white Christians. If somebody made a post saying "Which colleges have a lot of white Christians--I really want to hang out with other white Christians like myself," the person would get attacked as a racist from every possible direction. This isn't a burning problem that keeps me awake all night. I just thought I'd point out the irony. If you doubt my point, go over to the Parents board and start a thread about wanting to hang out with a bunch of white Christians, and see what happens.</p>
<p>Ah, prestige, I guess you forgot about the Japanese cutting a swath through Nanking, Pol Pot, the Bataan Death March, etc.</p>
<p>I can definitely vouch for NYU...one of our dorms, weinstein, contains a good portion of jews. But there are alot of jews here in general.</p>
<p>But everyone here gets along; christian, jew, muslim, so its all good.</p>
<p>Groups that are in the majority -- white Christians broadly, not a particular sect -- don't have to "seek out" colleges where they will feel comfortable or have differences accommodated. Throw a dart at a list of college names and chances are you will hit on a majority Christian campus. Problem solved.</p>
<p>
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I was merely pointing out the obvious exception to this rule is white Christians. If somebody made a post saying "Which colleges have a lot of white Christians--I really want to hang out with other white Christians like myself," the person would get attacked as a racist from every possible direction.
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</p>
<p>you know -- its all a matter of how you phrase things and i don't think you can lump all white Christians together either. if someone posted, "where can i attend where there aren't many minorities because i only like associating with other whites," yea, they'd probably get some unfriendly responses. but if someone said, "i am a religious Christian and am looking for a school where there are others who i believe as i do," i don't think they'd get any flack but rather some helpful suggestions.</p>
<p>a big difference though between white Christians and others is that the former are used to being in a majority -- something they probably don't even think about or aren't consciously aware of -- when you are part of the dominant majority it is easy to take certain things for granted.</p>
<p>
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Ah, prestige, I guess you forgot about the Japanese cutting a swath through Nanking, Pol Pot, the Bataan Death March, etc
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</p>
<p>TourGuide,</p>
<p>Actually I was anticipating a mention of those very atrocities.</p>
<p>Crimes against humanity are crimes against humanity. Period. Doesn't matter who commits it - so let's set that straight right away. the core difference between white supremicist groups and those examples mentioned above is simply the fact that those events happened in a time of very extreme conditions, namely war (civil war / revolutionary war or otherwise) War crimes have happened throughout history in every major conflict (look at Abu Ghraib as the latest example) - the key point here is that this is an unfortunate by-product of war in a "winner take all" environment and less a commentary on any nationality in particular (i.e. that a certain race or religion is more likely to commit war time atrocities vs. another - they all happen pretty evenly) ... contrast that to a group such as the KKK whose entire raison d'etre is flat out hate.</p>
<p>Look, I understand what you are saying and where you are coming from - I think that a "live and let live" motto is a great one to live by - i.e. if any group of any race, creed, ethnicity, nationality, religion, etc. wants to get together to discuss and celebrate their respective commonalities, great... it's when that celebration leads to people donning hoods and burning crosses on their neighbors lawns - that's when we have a serious problem.</p>
<p>Actually- the very first PM I got (over 2 years ago) was from a transplanted Catholic from Long Island who moved to North Carolina. I guess I was then also asking if a Jewish kid from NY would be comfortable going to school in the south.
Apparently- it is also a culture shock for NE Catholics living in the south. With so many evangelical churches, my Catholic L.I "neighbor", also was not made to feel too comfortable in her new environment. I guess as a Christian from NY, she was very surprised not to be welcomed and accepted by other Christians. But then again, maybe they just don't like New Yorkers in general and it had little to do with her religion.</p>
<p>for a lot of people, its not that they want to be surrounded by people just like them, its more that there are opportunities if an occasion arises , i.e. holiday. for example, while i'm not particularly religious, during the jewish holidays its nice to have somewhere to congregate with others who are also celebrating.</p>
<p>This and academics are the two most important things in my college search. I come from a predominatly Jewish area with better then 70% of my public HS being Jewish. I also went to private school from K-7. A strong Jewish population is very important to me.</p>
<p>BU is perfect for me. They just built a brand new Hillel too. It's gorgeous. I cant wait :)</p>
<p>I have 2 daughters at 2 different colleges, one on this list and the other is not. AT UIUC there is a large Jewish population and many opportunities to participate in Jewish life. She chooses not to at this point in her life. </p>
<p>West Point has a smaller Jewish population as percent of student body. However, there is a full array of services for the Jewish students and she participates in all of them. These include Shabbat services in a beautiful Jewish Chapel, high holiday services, Kosher for Passover tables and food, kosher MRE's, time off for the high holidays, Jewish Cadet Choir which performs in numerous venues, and Jewish Warrior Weekend with students from other service academies, ROTC programs, and Israel participating. In addition there are plans for a birthright trip. The chaplain is a rabbi who the cadets respect and admire. </p>
<p>It really boils down to what you want to do with your religion and college experience. You can find what you need and want whereever you go.</p>
<p>Funny that Chedva mentioned Boston College as a bastion of white Christians. When I started at Boston College, I checked into my dorm, Fenwick Hall, and then went to a transfer student orientation. They broke us up into groups of about 10, each with an orientation volunteer. We went around the table, and introduced ourselves and mentioned where we were staying. When I mentioned I was living in Fenwick Hall, the volunteer just about swallowed his tongue. Turns out Fenwick was the "Black Culture" dorm. In an effort to be politically correct, the college had agreed to the dorm, but that year someone realized it was a bit racist to segregate so many Black students like that, so they put white guys of many different religions(along with one Indian guy and a Brazilian) on the first floor (with a Black RA and a Nigerian Jesuit priest), Black guys on the second floor, and Black females on the third floor. That was my introduction to just how bizarre the whole ethnicity situation is...that institutions are put in the difficult position of having to meet demands for diversity while at the same time they must respond to those same people's requests to have groups that are exactly NOT diverse.</p>
<p>God this list makes me angry. Somehow this kid in my class got accepted to Yeshiva U WITHOUT ever taking the SAT AND is going January. The kid has good/decent grades, 80-70ish, and skipped like 7th Grade.
Woe is me.</p>
<p>Fenwick sounds a little like the room in Animal House where the "cool" frat sent all the oddballs and foreign kids during rush.</p>
<p>Hey this list is just information. It didn't say "Jewish people should go to these schools." The person who posted it just said that some Jewish students consider a large Jewish population to be a big priority. Is that bad? No...just because someone has a personal preference doesn't mean he or she is weird. I personally don't find this list very helpful but I'm not going to complain about it.</p>
<p>Funny you should say that, Barrons. We first-floor Fenwickians felt like we had a tough time joining the social mainstream there, but it wasn't quite as bad as the classic Animal House scene. One of the guys had a twin sister who was a student there, and she was a portal to the few females that my gang got to know that year. The first floor had way more than its share of physically large guys, and guys who had played contact sports in high school and college if they were transfers. Not everybody on the first floor was a moose, but it was pretty clear someone had decided to include enough mooses to ensure everything went ok. I don't recall even one interracial confrontation that entire year. I was one of the designated mooses who would go upstairs and ask a second-floor resident to turn down his stereo, and never once was there a problem with that.</p>