B’nai B’rith today voted a $7,487,817 budget for its 1962 activities at the 118th annual meeting of its board of governors. This represents an increase of more than $472,000 over last year and was reported by Maurice Bisgyer, executive vice-president, as the largest operating budget in the organization’s history.
The major portion of the increase–$333,000–was earmarked for B’nai B’rith’s three major youth programs, the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations, the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and the B’nai B’rith Vocational Service. Their collective budget for next year will exceed $3,628,000.
A report by the Hillel Foundations prepared by Dr. William Haber, its national chairman, showed a seven percent increase in Jewish student enrollment at American colleges and universities this semester. This is “slightly higher” than last year’s percentage increase and compares with this year’s five percent average for all students.
There are now almost 300,000 Jewish students enrolled in American colleges–about 7.5 percent of the total campus population. “We can expect an enrollment of at least 500,000 by 1970;” Dr. Haber’s report declared.
Dr. Maurice Jacobs of Philadelphia, chairman of the B’nai B’rith Vocational Service, reported an “unprecedented demand” for social workers in the American Jewish community. He said that “the shortage of trained manpower in this field has created a situation where many important jobs are impossible to fill.”
A survey by the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization reported by its chairman, David Blumberg of Knoxville, Tenn., showed that “Jewish youngsters are opposed to any subterfuge or masking of Jewish identity to restricted housing or other facilities.”
The study, compiled from the views of 150 BBYO leaders, showed that Jewish youngsters also reject the notion that “Jews should not go where they are not wanted.” Their consensus was that “when a Jew encounters discrimination, he should protest vigorously and take steps to remedy the situation.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
