OP-ED: Stop accusing our school of being a Jewocracy

By: Aviv Luban

Posted: 5/20/08

In my four years here, I have heard students express various shades of antipathy toward the "Jewishness" at Brandeis. I've heard the Jewish presence described as overwhelming, shocking and suffocating .

I do not wish to address nuanced and sticky issues like the timing of Passover break. What concerns me is the way in which some students, Jewish and non-Jewish, relate to the Jewish face of Brandeis' identity and student body. Even among some of those who favor a vigorous Jewish life on campus, one can hear statements of sympathy for students who were not warned about an overpowering Jewish presence before coming here. They also express the sentiment that it is totally understandable to feel overwhelmed by this presence.

Among those who are less favorably inclined toward the prominence of Jewish life on our campus, I frequently hear the idea that we should start thinning the Jewish concentration. This, they say, is more favorable toward a diverse student body. Implicit in this statement is the idea that the lack of diversity is a result of a putative Jewish monopoly and that it can only be rectified through the elimination of the Jewish majority. In its more extreme expressions, I sense in this sentiment an a priori opposition to the existence of a Jewish majority or a conspicuously Jewish character.

I'd like to unpack this idea of Jewish life at the expense of diversity. Perusing the pages of student newspapers, I rarely get the sense of a muscular Jewish presence, let alone a dominating majority. The social and intellectual discourse outside of classes does not generally revolve around Jewish issues except in a proportionally small set of social circles. Even from the standpoint of demographics, Brandeis is not overwhelmingly Jewish; the student body might be less than half Jewish depending on which statistics one follows. Even among Jewish students, most are not identifiably Jewish in appearance, lifestyle or religious practice. Broadly speaking, the idea of a Jewish monopoly on campus life is a myth.

I do not contradict the assertions that diversity is a problem at Brandeis or that minority students face certain challenges here. Yet, it is important to recognize just how much diversity there is at Brandeis and the efforts that are being made to increase it.

We have a dean of diversity, in the person of Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams, a sizable section of one of our newspapers is devoted to diversity, and we have access to a wide array of eclectic cultural offerings, such as the World Music series and the consistently global selection of art exhibits at the Rose Art Museum. Every week, students receive an e-mail from the Office of Global Affairs with a list of global and multicultural events for that week. The quantity and diversity of the events is astounding. One representative e-mail lists these events: a mixed heritage discussion and film screening; South Asian Fusion music night; a lecture on "Women, Walls and the World"; a lecture on middle-class activism in Mumbai; a lecture on the Sarvodaya nonviolence movement of Sri Lanka; discussion on grassroots development; a Lebanese film screening; and an Intercultural Residency Series. I encourage everyone to look at the list of events by month at www.brandeis.edu/globalbrandeis/events.html.

The problem at Brandeis is not the lack of diversity but the presence of division. Much of the Brandeis student body is balkanized, with not enough interaction between the various demographic and cultural groups.

This fact is the fault of no one. Some degree of clumping is inevitable as long as there is difference. Students sometimes charge the Orthodox Jewish population for being insular and disinterested in, or even disdainful toward, the larger community. But I know that many Orthodox students are very welcoming with respect to other students, and some go to great lengths to reach out and embrace other students, Jewish and non-Jewish. I'm sure the same is true for members of other groups.

Embracing diversity means embracing difference. Tolerance of one group does not have to and should not come at the expense of another. We should grow in tolerance and welcome the cultural and religious identities of all people and groups on campus. Then we will again become a community where, in the words of Abram Sachar, all of its members are precious.