<p>How do you find out if a school has had a history of discrimination against Jews?</p>
<p>This is the #1 issue in choosing a school for a friend of mine.</p>
<p>he got into the following schools</p>
<p>u penn, penn state, lehigh, nyu, u chicago, harvard, columbia, temple</p>
<p>Wow, he’ll turn down Harvard because they once did to Jewish people what every school on your list currently does with Asians?</p>
<p>I am jewish, and can tell you that at UPenn, NYU, UCHI, and most of the schools, a jew will find other jews.</p>
<p>how has he learned about his acceptances so early?</p>
<p>On that basis, his only choice is probably Brandeis.</p>
<p>Temple is historically one of the most accepting schools in regards to everything, as evident by our diversity.</p>
<p>Most institutions of any kind have some history of prejudice against one or more minority groups however defined.</p>
<p>As hmom5 said, the quintessential example of an institution with a history of bias in favor of Jews is Brandeis. </p>
<p>This might be helpful for your friend: [Choosing</a> a College - From a Jewish Perspective](<a href=“http://www.uscj.org/Koach/choosing.htm]Choosing”>http://www.uscj.org/Koach/choosing.htm)</p>
<p>I was also wondering how he learned of acceptances so early. Harvard’s discimination against Jews in the first half of the last century is well documented, but I don’t know how much that would affect a current student’s experience. I saw a stat somewhere stating that over 50% of the white students at Penn are Jewish, so that may help him feel comfortable there.</p>
<p>I fairly large number of my friends and professors here are of Jewish origin.</p>
<p>excuse me, but if he got into Penn through Early decision-
Applying Early Decision</p>
<p>A student may apply Early Decision to only one institution.</p>
<p>For those applicants who have already decided that the University of Pennsylvania is their first college choice and who agree to matriculate if accepted, we encourage application under the Early Decision Plan. </p>
<p>-then he has to withdraw his applications from the other colleges he applied to! This sound like a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Wisconsin made a point of accepting Jews when the Ivy schools were limiting their numbers. To this days certain schools in the East and Midwest send higher numbers of kids to UW than might be expected otherwise. See P81 of linked book</p>
<p>[They</a> Marched Into Sunlight: War and … - Google Book Search](<a href=“They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 - David Maraniss - Google Books”>They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 - David Maraniss - Google Books)</p>
<p>I went to Penn State and found that there was a large and active Jewish community.</p>
<p>You have to give credit for change… they are not run by the same people that instituted discriminatory policies decades ago.</p>
<p>
Likely letters are a wonderful thing. ;)</p>
<p>If you go on the Hillel website and search for the college, they’ll tell you how many jewish students are at each school: [Hillel’s</a> Guide to Jewish Life on Campus](<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx]Hillel’s”>http://www.hillel.org/HillelApps/JLOC/Search.aspx)</p>
<p>“This is the #1 issue in choosing a school for a friend of mine.”</p>
<p>Why is he planning to study in the United States instead of making aliyah? There’s a strong history of officially sanctioned anti-Semitism in this country.</p>
<p>Of the schools the OP mentions, Penn, Harvard, and Columbia (at least) have a history that includes the use of official or unofficial quotas to limit the number of Jewish students in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Prominent Jewish leaders in New York actually sued to try to get Columbia’s tax exemption canceled in the 1940s on grounds that it was violating New York’s anti-discrimination laws, but ultimately their suits were thrown out of court on standing grounds (the courts said the party actually discriminated against would need to bring the suit). And it’s widely alleged that Yale instituted the “legacy” preference still in use at most Ivies and many other elite schools as way to limit Jewish enrollment. </p>
<p>That’s in the long past, however, and I think it would be unfortunate to limit your options by dredging up that old history and holding it against these schools today.</p>
<p>I wonder if the OP (or the OP’s friend) is possibly more concerned about more recent incidents involving pro-Palestinian, pro-Arab, or “anti-Zionist” activism on college campuses, which some Jewish groups have deemed “antisemitic” in character? That’s a different kettle of fish.</p>
<p>Following up on Hanna’s post, he would have to study in China, for example, since it is one of the few countries that has never discriminated against its settled Jewish population. (See the history of the Kaifeng Jews.)</p>
<p>is this a joke? c’mon it’s 2009…</p>
<p>I am Jewish. My father and sister attended Harvard. My mom went to Wisconsin and then Barnard. I attended Penn. My s is a senior and will be at NYU this fall. All of those schools have large, vibrant Jewish communities. Unless your child wants to attend a Jewish University, I think that if you look at any LACs/Universities which have a history of large Jewish student/faculty populations, you should be fine.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>