CJF General Assembly to Deal with Youth Problems; Initial $50,000 Fund Set Up

An initial fund of $50,000 provided by the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds for national campus projects, following presentation of demands by student activist groups at last year’s CJF General Assembly, will be allocated by a special committee at the 39th General Assembly which opens in Kansas City next Wednesday, a CJF spokesman said today. The special committee, made up of six students, six faculty members and six Jewish leaders, will meet at a luncheon session on the opening day to consider six to ten proposals submitted by campus groups since the 1969 Assembly in Boston last November. The special committee will review the proposals and allocate funds from the $50,000 to the approved proposals. These include such ideas as a student newspaper, a student magazine, a mobile cultural project, Jewish studies projects and similar proposals, the CJF spokesman said. Prior to the 1969 conclave, a number of activist student groups issued warnings to CJF leaders that if they were not provided opportunities to speak at key Assembly sessions on their proposals for changes in Jewish fund-allocation priorities, they would seek to take over such sessions. After talks between them and CJF leaders, the students were provided those opportunities at several sessions of the 38th Assembly.

The several hundred students who came to Boston called for greater support for Jewish education, communal financing of their campus activities and a greater role for students in the decision-making and allocation procedures of the Jewish communal fund agencies. In response, the 38th Assembly voted unanimously to involve the participation and membership of college groups and faculty members on boards and committees of Federations and welfare funds in determination of policies, programs and priorities. The resolution called for more intensive federation planning and programs to serve and involve students and faculty in community activities. The resolution urged federations to “seek out emerging campus groups and give full consideration to support of programs initiated and conducted by students or faculty” and to provide “leadership, staff and funds required to achieve this effectively. The student representatives were invited to submit specified proposals to the young leadership group of the CJF, members of which were to sponsor their presentation to local federations. After the 1969 conclave, a CJF committee on college students and faculties was named which recommended creation of a fund for student-faculty projects. An initial fund of $50,000 from CJF funds was approved at a June CJF board meeting.

The CJF spokesman said that “about” 100 student delegates were expected to attend the Assembly in Kansas City and that arrangements were being provided for them at a Kansas City hotel. Other plans for student participation include an orientation plenary session on the opening night of the Assembly. Six college and faculty sessions have been scheduled for the second day, Thursday, on community structure for campus organizations, financing college youth programs, Judaic studies programs, out-reach programs, reaching and involving the Jewish faculty and other proposals to meet student demands. At a Friday morning session, the spokesman said, there will be a summary presentation of the Thursday discussions, with airing of general opinions by students, faculty members and Jewish community leaders. A spokesman for one of the student groups told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that a repetition of the confrontation threat was unlikely this year. Yitzhak Epstein, secretary of the World Union of Jewish Students, an umbrella group, added that he expected a number of members to attend the 39th Assembly. However, he said, the distance of the Kansas City site from the eastern United States concentration of students would make it difficult for many who wanted to attend to do so. Mr. Epstein said World Union spokesmen would try to “communicate” with the CJF delegates. He added a judgement would need to be made on the degree to which commitments made by CJF leaders last year in Boston had been implemented since.