RHET 233
SPRING 2010
Experiencing Differences on Campus: Jewish Culture at the University of Illinois
Abstract: The Jewish population at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign makes up
approximately 11 percent of the undergraduate population. With 3,500 students, this constitutes
a rather large minority religious group. This research paper seeks to identify what makes
Judaism unique and what separates it from other religions on campus, but also notes similarities
found within other religions, such as experiences of Muslim students on campus. Through
observation, interview, and analysis of articles, the culture of Judaism is explored. How is
Judaism defined on the University of Illinois campus? What do nationwide trends of Jewish
undergraduate statistics show about the University of Illinois population? Throughout the
researching process, it was concluded that there were no striking differences between Judaism
and any other religious group on campus, and that the Jewish community was welcoming and
inclusive.
The goal of this research paper is to look at the experience of Jewish undergraduate
students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus; more specifically, what does
being Jewish mean on a Christian-dominated campus in the 21st century? While at first I found
myself focusing on the topic of possible discrimination against Jewish students, I broadened my
objective to include examining both possible discrimination and the examination of the
community of Jewish undergraduate students at the University of Illinois. After reading research
articles, I developed a greater empathy for the Jewish culture, and pondered why religious
barriers are so divisive not only at the university, but in society as well. While going through the
research, I focused on several questions: does being Jewish on a Christian-dominated campus
separate you from Christian and other religious affiliated peers? What does it mean to be Jewish
on this campus? At first glance, Judaism seems like an exclusively different culture, yet the
practices follow common themes of other religions found on campus.
To examine this topic, I felt that my background allowed me to look at the research fairly
and from a balanced perspective. I had grown up in a religiously diverse community; and my
upbringing was to respect all ethnicities and cultures. Our family’s neighborhood friends were
many religions including Christian, Hindu, and Judaism. As Christian Protestants, my family was
the minority. Growing up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, I had been immersed in the
Jewish culture from an early age. Attending more B’nai mitzvahs than I could count in middle
school, I arrived at high school and became more acclimated to the larger Jewish community
where I learned the subtler differences of different denominations.
At college, however, I noticed a less blended environment. First, most of the Jewish
freshmen flocked to Illini Tower, a distinctly different type of housing – private dormitory living
similar to apartments, which included living areas and kitchenettes. The segregation did not end
with housing choices. At sorority recruitment, several girls referred to some sororities as “Jew”
houses. From an outsider’s perspective, it was as if all Jewish students were seen as outcasts
simply because some sororities had a Jewish foundation. This seemed archaic to me, as I had
always been involved to a certain degree with friends in the Jewish community. Studying this
topic for research was of interest because culturally, I have been immersed with Jewish friends
and their families throughout my life and feel akin to them. At the same time, I can view this
from the perspective of my Christian Protestant background.
I looked forward to beginning my research, not only because I was familiar with the
culture that surrounded the religion, but I have always been mystified by the Jewish community,
as it seemed a bit closed—almost as if it was a secret society that no one could infiltrate.
Through my research, I clearly sensed their pride in their religion which serves as the foundation
that bond Jewish students together religiously and culturally. I looked forward to learning more
about the lives of approximately 3,500 self-identified Jewish undergraduates at the University of
Illinois, which accounts for almost 11 percent of the total undergraduate population. After my
interview and observation, there seemed to be no striking differences with Judaism as compared
to other religions on campus. For example, the Cohen Center for Jewish Life has religious
services, activities, and community events that were virtually no different in its structure than
any other religious center on campus. There are more similarities to bond the total student
population together than to divide them.
As a backdrop, in reality our nation is a story of contradictions when it comes to boasting
of being the “melting pot” of religions, nationalities, and cultures. As we welcome newcomers
with the Statue of Liberty, the symbolism is actually a sharp contrast to the prejudice that still
exists. So, where did these religious barriers come from? Historically, looking back to college
life in the 1920s and 1930s, Jewish students were either numerically restricted or completely
rejected at most universities, which were Christian-founded institutions. To balance this, studentcenters such as the Hillel Foundation were founded on college campuses, beginning at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1923, where the Hillel Foundation developed a
student-center for Jewish students to gather for religious activities and to bond informally with
others. While they were actively discriminated against in the early 20th century, were they still
experiencing some forms of discrimination on college campuses, even in the 21st century?
My research methodology was a personal interview, observation of a movie night at the
Hillel Foundation’s Cohen Center for Jewish Life, and examining an extensive number of
research articles. Intentionally, some articles I chose were focused on discrimination of other
religions, such as Muslim, because the experiences were similar to those of Jewish
undergraduates. Seeking to draw on many experiences, I felt I could draw the best conclusions
from the widest aspect of articles and this is why I also chose to do both an interview and
observation.
My observation was at the Hillel Foundation’s Cohen Center for Jewish Life, which is
located on campus as the premier gathering place for the community to share Judaism as their
faith and to draw students who are living away from their practicing families. During my
observation I noted several interesting activities. When I first entered the Cohen Center in the
early evening, there was a lot of commotion. Children were running around in an open room and
there was the Yom Haatzmavt Potluck and Gala Event taking place in the large conference
room. I assumed this was why there were so many children, but it also showed that the larger
Champaign-Urbana community—not just university students—were involved with the Hillel
Foundation. These inter-generational activities strengthen the bonds of followers and show
students the value religion offers after college life.
While the Center is inviting to the Jewish community at large, I was still clearly an
outsider. This was evident when I had to ask at the Front Desk where the movie would be
showing. It was apparent that everyone else inside the center naturally knew where the location
of movie night was. When I arrived in the room, there was one young student already there,
casually sitting on the couch reading a book and completing homework. While the group to
watch the movie was small, the demographics indicated that the Cohen Center pulls from the
entire Champaign-Urbana Jewish community with three college-aged students and one elderly
man in attendance. So while the Center felt exclusive to me, it offered many large and small
events such as the Potluck and Gala Event and the movie night to bring the wider Jewish intergenerational community together.
My observation was that the Cohen Center offered a supportive place where a student
could come to interact and rejuvenate with people of their faith, participate in an activity, or
catch up on homework in a relaxing atmosphere that also offered religious growth with a temple,
and informal rooms with a full café serving kosher products, lounge area, and many conference
rooms that could hold activities.
The next method of my research was to perform a student interview with a Jewish
undergraduate. My background gave me ease to seek out someone to interview. Admittedly,
when I had arrived on campus as a freshman, I had been flabbergasted to meet students who had
never met a Jewish person before. This was the starting point of this strange experience of seeing
religious divisions. While at college, I became introduced to stereotypes associated with the
religion of Judaism, and heard jokes from students and, on a broader view, become aware of
jokes in the media as well.
My interview was with an undergraduate student in her junior year, Alyssa Johnston.1 I
listened and learned from her that Jewish students most likely experience forms of discrimination
throughout their college career at the University of Illinois. This can include jokes, snide
comments, and even some forms of online bullying that are known to exist. Like the students of
other religious minorities who reported that jokes and snide comments are common, Alyssa
reported this definitely occurs with peers and even friends; and she usually tries to just laugh
them off or ignore the comment. Alyssa also cited College ACB, an anonymous website known
for online bullying, and she clarified that while she has not personally been a target of this, she is
aware of others who have been.
During the interview, Alyssa disclosed that she considers herself heavily associated with
Judaism, but she does not consider it a part of her daily life. She attends temple only on high
holidays. As I had found, she also was not prepared that she would be considered a minority.
She made mention that it was also surprising how little her peers know about the Jewish religion
and culture.
Alyssa did disclose that she would like to marry someone from her religion who shares
her religious beliefs and ideals of Judaism. While she believes in the importance of upholding
Jewish values that have been instilled in her; she also has a priority of wanting to raise her
children in a Jewish populated area (so “they are more sheltered”). I thought her word choice of
sheltered was intriguing. The choice of the word sheltered infers hiding from harm or seeking a
protective environment to avoid harmful elements.
While Alyssa has never personally been addressed in a discriminatory type joke, she
remembers in high school it was okay to joke about these same jokes with her Jewish high
school friends and never felt uncomfortable. For example, she would commonly joke with her
friends and say, “You’re such a JAP [Jewish American Princess].” However, when said to each
other, it wasn’t perceived as a possible discriminatory remark. Ironically, I thought these
phrases said among her Jewish friends could in fact be reinforcing stereotypes that Alyssa now
hears around campus.
One of my questions during the interview asked why she had not joined a Jewishaffiliated sorority. She said that while she does feel an immense pride for her Jewish culture, she
consciously chose not to join a Jewish-affiliated sorority intentionally so that she could meet new
groups of people—different from those she knew so well from back home. For her, it has been a
learning experience as well, because she can educate and learn about other religions which she
says would not have happened if she had not stepped out of her Jewish comfort zone.
This interview supported several articles I had read where students will feel a level of
comfort that is directly related to the number of other students in their religion that are present on
campus or the level at which they display their faith. While Alyssa associated with the culture
of Judaism, she did not practice the religion aspects as much as others and therefore would not
have experienced the same level of possible discrimination, because she blended into the college
community. This coincided with a research report “Muslim Students’ Experience of
Discrimination,” where Muslim students interviewed shared stories of friends that were verbally
harassed because they chose to wear a hijab, the head covering worn by many Muslim
women. One interviewee mentioned that “wearing the hijab portrays Muslims as an increasingly
visible minority. Being visible obviously makes one more of a target” (“Muslim Students’
Experience of Discrimination”). I would assume, therefore, that if Alyssa chose to wear a
kippah, the women’s hair covering in the Jewish culture, she may have been a more direct target
for more active discrimination such as outward remarks or intentional exclusion.
The article “How Hard Is It To Be a Jew on College Campuses?” examines the potential
difficulty of being a Jewish college student and came to a similar conclusion: over the course of
their research, authors Kadushin and Tighe found that overall, the subjects felt it was relatively
easy to be Jewish on college campuses if it did not include outward activities such as studying
the Torah, keeping kosher, or attending services. In this article, it highlights that those who were
more active in their religious practices found it was challenging to display their Jewish identity
without a negative feeling to the experience.
In more detail, the study in the article went on to examine the elements of how Jewish
undergraduate populations from eight different universities felt in terms of comfort in displaying
their religion. At these eight campuses, there was a wide percentile range of Jewish populations,
varying from 6.5 percent to 24.9 percent. The study concluded that the more densely populated
the school was with Jewish students , the more at ease students would feel about being identified
as Jewish. More specifically, the college with 6.5 percent of a Jewish population reported an
average percentage of 35 when asked how easy it felt to be identified as Jewish. In contrast, the
campus with 24.9 percent identified Jewish population, 78 percent felt comfortable being
identified as Jewish on campus. With approximately 3,500 Jewish undergraduates identified at
the University of Illinois, this comprises approximately 11 percent of the total undergraduate
population, and represents a stronger minority than other minority groups on campus.
Social factors, such as the individual’s personal network of Jewish friends, as well as how
connected they felt to the overall student body, also contributed to their feelings of ease. This
relates to my interview with Alyssa, who has a strong support base of Jewish friends from back
home who are here on campus, and this helps her in feeling more comfortable and accepted on
campus. Equally as helpful but in a different way, her involvement with a non-Jewish affiliated
sorority, makes her campus experience more personal and she has a wide group of friends, which
helps her feel connected to the total student body as well. Alyssa also reported feeling very close
to other individuals that were Jewish and had chosen not to join a Jewish-affiliated fraternity or
sorority as well. While the results of the study were overall positive among the eight campuses
chosen for this study, do Jewish college co-eds in campuses across the nation feel the same way?
Are Jewish students across college campuses experiencing a decline or opportunity in
their Jewish identity? In an article featuring an interview with Dr. Jehuda Reinharz entitled, “An
Interview with Dr. Jehuda Reinharz”, the author Niles Goldstein struggles to tackle this
issue. While organizations such as the Hillel Foundation associate with 30 percent of Jewish
undergraduates on college campuses, the majority of Jewish students do not participate in these
organizations. Dr. Reinharz stresses the advantages of not emphasizing denominations but rather
the teaching of pluralism on college campuses, which helps to gather all denominations in the
common practice of Judaism, which benefits all students. Because Judaism is a religious
minority on college campuses, it should be highlighted as an open community that teaches values
and encourages and values friendships with all groups on campus.
In “The Road to Renaissance,” an article from Contact, The Journal of Jewish Life Network,
author Richard Joel discusses the different groups of Jewish students on college campuses
nationwide. While there are those who are actively participating in the Hillel Foundation
activities, expressing their Jewish identity, and becoming community leaders, there is also the
challenging population within the student body on campuses. This includes students such as
Alyssa, who associate with Judaism culturally, but do not attend the Hillel Foundation activities,
or may have more limited Jewish religious knowledge than those who are more involved. The
group of students less involved was cited as the most influential group of Jewish followers,
because they would either bring new life to Judaism on campuses or continue to let Judaism fade
into the past, in a “live or die” sense (Joel 6). As stated earlier, because the Hillel Centers only
captures 30 percent of Jewish students across all campuses, this crucial 70 percent is a large and
significant number of students that must be engaged, whether it be in their dormitories, student
unions, or other planned events. By engaging students such as Alyssa, this strengthens the
identities of all Jewish students as a whole and offers to educate themselves further on their rich
cultural heritage and religious traditions.
In summary, with my research, including observing interactions at the Jewish center, a
personal interview with a Jewish undergraduate student, and examination of a wide selection of
articles written for both Jewish audiences and general audiences, several conclusions can be
drawn regarding not only the Jewish life of students on campus, but also the religious trends of
all students at universities. A major conclusion from my research supports that it is relatively
easy and comfortable to be identified as a Jewish student on campus; this is directly related to if
there are larger numbers of students identified as Jewish on that campus. This conclusion
coincides with my findings after I interviewed Alyssa, when she stated that she never felt
uncomfortable about being Jewish at home. Her hometown’s high percentage of Jewish
population mirrors the findings that Jewish people are more comfortable when there is a higher
percentage of a Jewish population in the area.
Solutions such as becoming more involved in Jewish campus organizations such as the
Hillel Foundation unites the Jewish community and helps individual students display and live out
their Jewish identity to the fullest extent. With planned activities offered such as movie nights,
this provides a relaxed setting for undergraduate students to gather with friends and unites the
students with the commonalities of Dr. Jehuda Reinharz’s ideas of pluralism. An informal center
is more appealing and holds the promise of reaching the additional 70 percent of remaining
Jewish students that are not involved. .
My research supports the notion that there are more similar themes such as respect for
others, family, and culture that are common among religions than there are diverse concepts that
would cause divisions. My observational experience, while interesting, seemed to mirror other
religious centers on campus, with the structure of religious services and planned social activities
as well. My research indicates that the subject of discrimination through remarks occurs with
Muslims and is similar to those discussed in the interview with Jewish student Alyssa. The
unique similarities found in experiences between religious groups on college campuses can break
down invisible barriers that some minority groups may feel here at the University of Illinois.
Works Cited
Cohen Center for Jewish Life. Observation. 3 April 2010.
Goldstein, Niles. "An Interview with Dr. Jehuda Reinharz." Contact 2.2 (2000): 3-4. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
Joel, Richard M. "The Road to Renaissance." Contact 2.2 (2000): 5-6. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
Johnston, Alyssa. Personal interview. 31 Mar. 2010.
Kadushin, Charles, and Elizabeth Tighe. "How Hard Is It To Be a Jew on College Campuses?"
Contemporary Jewry 28. Web.
Muslim Students' Experience of Discrimination. IDEALS. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
<http://http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/1796/199%20Paper.pdf>.
Appendix
Survey Questions

Do you feel discriminated against on campus because of your religion?
o If so, what are some examples of events you have experienced?
o If so, why do you think people’s views towards Jewish is negative?

Has your dedication to your religion changed since you’ve been in college?

How much do you actually associate with Judaism/How devoted are you?

Why didn’t you join a Jewish-affiliated sorority? Was it a conscious decision?

Growing up in a highly populated Jewish area, did you feel discriminated against
in high school?

Is there anything you’d like to add?