WSJ:Christian Colleges And Law Schools Can Be Good For Jewish Students

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: Christian Colleges Can Be Good for Jews, by Rebecca Sugar (New York Sun):

Acceptance rates for Jews at top colleges have been declining, as entire categories of applicants have become disfavored by university admissions offices. For religiously observant Jews, there is another problem: Even schools with large numbers of Jewish students may not be viable options. Religious Jews need a critical mass of committed coreligionists on campus for prayer quorums and holiday celebrations. They need kosher food, which many colleges don’t offer.

Even if they get a coveted spot at a top school, observant Jews will often face anti-Semitism and find they have to defend themselves against radical ideologies that target their beliefs. There is unexplored potential, however, at an array of institutions that Jewish applicants usually overlook: Christian schools.

Institutions that honor the Judeo-Christian tradition and celebrate Western civilization tend to resist the academic decay, and attendant anti-Semitism, now plaguing many first- and second-tier campuses. Christian institutions frequently offer the classical-liberal education most of academia has abandoned. Words such as “God,” “truth” and “morality” haven’t been reimagined. Free speech is honored. Jews and Israel are generally respected. …

According to the Israel on Campus Coalition, which tracks publicly reported anti-Semitic and anti-Israel events across 1,100 campuses nationwide, during the 2021-22 academic year only two of the 225 incidents recorded took place on Christian campuses. Neither was violent. …

At Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., there are 200 to 300 Jewish students. Michael Helfand, a law professor, says the university is “the right environment for the right Jewish student.” Mr. Helfand wears a kippa on campus and describes Pepperdine as free from “a lot of the things some Jewish students say make them uncomfortable in other places.” …

Christian schools are already offering much of what these students are looking for. Diplomacy, philanthropy, a plan and a few hundred pioneers could turn some of these Christian campuses into very attractive Jewish choices. Jews have built infrastructure to accommodate their needs before. They can do it again.

Michael is one of four Jewish full-time faculty at Pepperdine Caruso Law School. He holds the Brenden Mann Foundation Chair in Law and Religion and helped launch our Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic. Michael also is Co-Director (with Jennifer Koh) of our Nootbaar Institute for Law, Religion and Ethics: