A Vanderbilt University student-faculty panel discussing “what Judaism says to our college youth” came to the conclusion that the answer is nothing, according to a report in the student newspaper, the Hustler. The panel was comprised of Rabbi Arthur Hollander, the university’s Hillel director; Dr. Stanley Glasser, associate professor at the Vanderbilt medical school, and two senior students, Ros Frank, president of the women’s student government association, and Paul Kurtz, the Hustler’s sports editor.
Young Mr. Kurtz’s outspoken demand that “we want Judaism” not “watered-down Judaism” may have echoed the frustrations of Jewish men and women on campuses all over the country, the Hustler said. Mr. Kurtz contended that “the half-hearted attempts Judaism has made on the campus have made it worse for the cause. It has alienated many (Jewish) students…Jewish students think they are being preached at.” Miss Frank said that she has “had many doubts” and complained that “it’s very difficult to find somebody who understands you and will listen to you.”
Dr. Glasser seemed to agree when he said that “we provide the students with a structure where they can have a prophylactic social life and educational life.” Judaism, he said, “is saying nothing specific to students…about ethics in business, intrapersonal relationships or Vietnam.”
Rabbi Hollander remarked that “80 percent of the 5,000 students at Vanderbilt do not see the inside of a church or synagogue from one end of the year to another.” However, he expressed hope for the revival of overt Judaism on the Vanderbilt campus. “We of Hillel are beginning to understand that we need a new approach to students,” he said.
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.
