3X, I'm Out (Well, Not Really)

What I mean by what is in the title is how I felt about almost getting my first in-person voice interview this week. I finally had heard back from the President of Hillel here at BGSU and scheduled a time to meet this past week. Unfortunately, she had some prior engagement and had to reschedule her time to meet with me. Three times this week I set up times to meet, and three times this week she was not able to make it at the last minute. For the time being, I have put that piece of fact-gathering on the backburner.

Earlier this week I came across an ethnography of the Jewish student population done by a student at Purdue University. The beginning of her report reads like something we would (or should ) be writing about in our journals. She gives a very vivid description of the physical environment of the campus' Hillel house. She describes every room in the house, it's purpose and its importance to the Jewish students on the campus. It reminds me that all types of students, in one way or another, need a place to call home on their campus. A place like the Hillel reminds me of my own experience working at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at my undergrad. I spent alot of time there and was able to meet many students and adminisrators that made an impact on my college experience. The Cultural Center was a big part of my experience and in that sense I can see why a Hillel is such an important part of the Jewish students' culture.

Another important point I took from the report was the fact that the Hillel provided its students with religious and spiritual guidance. I thought this was important for a student who takes their religion seriously to have such an outlet in that time of uncertainty, which college can sometimes be. The author states that during her study she "came upon the realization that Jewish college students at Purdue face challenges retaining their faith due to law abiding issues, discrimination, and different levels or notions of Jewish identity (p. 3)". At a time in life when most people are still figuring out who they are, Jewish students acan turn to the Hillel to helop reinforce their beliefs and finds others who can relate to their experiences.

I think that for Caleb to have a place like the Hillel on his campus would help him to develop into a well-rounded college student. It would allow him to retain an important part of himself and socialize with other Jewish students without having to compromise his faith or integrity to fit in. I would like to find out how Jewish students on college campuses with out resources like Hillels manage to congregate and celebrate their faith. While I assume it is more difficult to organize a group without a home base, I would like to see (and hopefully, participate in) how it gets done despite the lack of resources.


Resource
Teuful, K. (2005). From shikses to nudnicks: A guide to jewish life at purdue university. Unpublished manuscript, Purdue University.