A totally honest thread...from long long ago

[violetpretty]

I know I talked to a PNM at Maryland a couple years ago during tours. She was wearing a Star of David pendant and I saw her tuck it under her collar while we were talking! I called her out on it and told her she didn't have to do that! It's very common for PNMs and Jewish members of all chapters to wear Star of David pendants during recruitment.

Also, sometimes Jewish PNMs will tell you. Not like "I'm Jewish," but if they say they are involved with Hillel, Jewish Student Union (JSU), or they are doing the Birthright trip to Israel, you know they are Jewish. Some PNMs want you to know.

[LXA SE285]

I remember reading an article online a while back stating that decades ago (in the 1940s and/or ’50s), Bama had the largest Jewish student population of any school in the U.S. outside the Northeast. At one point, they had chapters of AEPi, Phi Epsilon Pi (merged with ZBT), Sammy, and ZBT for the men and AEPhi, DPhiE, and SDT for the women.

[ellebud]

The two AEPhi chapters that I am familiar with did not serve kosher meals. Far from it...the veal parmagania and tacos were testaments to that. There was one girl who kept kosher. Her mother sent prepackaged meals to the house once a week. (Remember this was before microwaves. I imagine everything was dried out and yucky.) I know that she would eat salad, tuna, and eggs. (As long as bacon hadn't been cooked in the same pan. It took real commitment to keep kosher at that time. I imagine the in today's world, with so many vegetarians, it is easier. But my family stopped keeping kosher when we arrived in the United States in the 1880's.

The question of how does a sorority know if you are Jewish or not is much harder to answer nowadays. When I was in school, if you came from Beverly Hills (as I did) it was ASSUMED that you were Jewish. My name wasn't Jewish, but the high school, at that time was 95% Jewish. Names used to be a guide but I know girls with the first name of Crissy (Christ as the base) who are Jewish and very observent. (Her mother loved the name Crissy.) I know a girl with the last name of Cohen who isn't Jewish. (Her grandfather was Jewish). Barry Goldwater (boy am I dating myself) wasn't Jewish...his grandfather was. I also know women with very non-committed names who are Jewish. (Many Jews changed their names to be more "American". My original last name was changed to sound more American by my grandfather.) Miller is a perfect example. It is not a Jewish name. It is English. But some families who had a name like...Militcovich changed it to Miller. And at Ellis Island (as happened with my family) the family name was changed by officials because the officials simply couldn't spell the family name.)

If you want to let people "know" that you aren't Jewish (or are) the most obvious way is to wear a small cross or a Star of David. There really isn't a thing about "looking Jewish." My oldest daughter has blond hair, blue eyes. My youngest has brown hair and green eyes. You might have seen my youngest on some tv commercials: She has been the homecoming queen, a young all American teen...and a latina. (The last because she has brown hair and they covered the reddish streaks in her hair.) And they are both Jewish. Oh and yes, on your application for rush there a subtle "hints" as to whether one is Jewish based on activities. (not the obvious like "Christian Fellowship", although that could work.)

[Benzgirl]

When I was in school we had SDT, DPhiE, AEPhi, Sammy, ZBT and AEPi. All had houses with meals, none were Kosher.
My brother's apartment mate did keep Kosher and his pots and pans confused the heck out of the other guys. At least he had two sets of dishes (each a different color)

[bejazd]

I'm only kidding, jwsteele! My parents are USC alums so we generally root for the Trojans, at least during football season! It's so tough to get into USC or Cal that I think you'd have to consider the two as academic equals. And the last kid I knew that went to Cal is a conservative Christian and a staunch Republican, so go figure. Stereotypes just don't hold up to reality.

Loved your story ellebud!

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by ellebud

The question of how does a sorority know if you are Jewish or not is much harder to answer nowadays. When I was in school, if you came from Beverly Hills (as I did) it was ASSUMED that you were Jewish. My name wasn't Jewish, but the high school, at that time was 95% Jewish. Names used to be a guide but I know girls with the first name of Crissy (Christ as the base) who are Jewish and very observent. (Her mother loved the name Crissy.) I know a girl with the last name of Cohen who isn't Jewish. (Her grandfather was Jewish). Barry Goldwater (boy am I dating myself) wasn't Jewish...his grandfather was. I also know women with very non-committed names who are Jewish. (Many Jews changed their names to be more "American". My original last name was changed to sound more American by my grandfather.) Miller is a perfect example. It is not a Jewish name. It is English. But some families who had a name like...Militcovich changed it to Miller. And at Ellis Island (as happened with my family) the family name was changed by officials because the officials simply couldn't spell the family name.)

If you want to let people "know" that you aren't Jewish (or are) the most obvious way is to wear a small cross or a Star of David. There really isn't a thing about "looking Jewish." My oldest daughter has blond hair, blue eyes. My youngest has brown hair and green eyes. You might have seen my youngest on some tv commercials: She has been the homecoming queen, a young all American teen...and a latina. (The last because she has brown hair and they covered the reddish streaks in her hair.) And they are both Jewish. Oh and yes, on your application for rush there a subtle "hints" as to whether one is Jewish based on activities. (not the obvious like "Christian Fellowship", although that could work.)

Interesting- although even the activities that you list can be misleading. For example, I worked as a summer camp counselor for the JCC. The JCC is a jewish organization, but you don't have to be jewish to be a member or work for them. In fact my oldest son played soccer through a JCC league last spring- but we are Catholic.

Granted these are activities like Federated Temple Youth, but still if you saw it listed on a rush form, you might wonder.

[ellebud]

SC 's financial aid are really loans. There are Presidential, Trustee and another level scholarship. But there really don't have a lot of scholarships. And for admission the theatre school also has auditions: be it portfolio or audition.

[PeppyGPhiB]

I wasn't aware that any of the UC schools guaranteed admission. Some of them are much easier to get into than others. The hardest ones are UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD, UC Irvine and UCSB. But really a big reason why those are the hardest to get into is just that so many kids apply to each one of those schools...they're all in very desirable locations.

Anyway, USC's entrance requirements are no different than what most schools recommend - really require - for kids to get in today. It's just that the kids that actually get in far exceed the minimums. And yet even with all those requirements, I know my high school still required stuff like drama, speech, art or special elective vocational classes just to graduate...and that was in 1996. And I think that's a good thing...we need creative people in this world, too.

Auditions for theatre, music, voice, etc. majors is also pretty typical, but it's especially hard to get into USC's film school, which is arguably the best in the country.

Believe it or not, my school (Pepperdine) cost even more than USC, so I know how financial aid works these days! USC does offer plenty of need-based grant aid, too...it's just not called a "scholarship." But it's still free money. And just because it costs a fortune doesn't mean it's all rich kids that go there. USC has a huge endowment.

I think most greeks in Calif. would agree that USC has the strongest greek system in California. Berkeley is an old system, but it is not as popular at the school as at USC.

Football Fan, obviously USC is smaller than almost any flagship public university. But it is still much larger than many private schools.

[Nanners52674]

So i stumbled upon this thread and it was very interesting, especially the question and answer to "how do they know you are Jewish?" if it came down to looking at recruitment applications I could of seriously confused a sorority. I'm Jewish went to and worked at a Jewish summer camp all my life but attended a Catholic High School. I can only imagine what people would of thought i was.

[ellebud]

I have some distant cousins who are Jewish but live in an area where the public schools aren't safe so the parents opted for private schools. Like you, they went to Catholic schools, in their case because that was the only private school option. And, considering their last name...well, there was no doubt that there had to a Jewish relative. Did you ever ask/find out what your sisters thought you were?

[ellebud]

Honeychile: Good for you! It takes people with integrity and morality to change the world. (and yes..we were girls back when I was in college.) I don't remember if the application that I filled out had a religion line, but, as I mentioned it was pretty obvious that I was Jewish because of the area where I lived.

My youngest will be rushing in fall 2009. And I know that she will be able and will pick a place where she feels most at home.

[TinyDancer98]

Honestly, the thought of religion coming into play during recruitment never crossed my mind until I spoke with a friend of mine who joined a historically Jewish chapter. Of course, I knew very little about Greek life before I got to college, but I also grew up in an area with a very heavily Jewish population and where, as a Catholic, I was a minority. I am also of Polish descent but, when pronounced in English (as most people do) my last name sounds Jewish. In fact, most of my friends growing up and through high school were shocked to find out that I was not Jewish, based upon my name. It is interesting to think that had I rushed years ago, based upon my name and where I was from, decisions may have been made based on religious assumptions- be they correct or incorrect.

[Fawn Liebowitz]

I'm sorry, I have not looked back at this thread in almost 6 months and just noticed this question....actually yes, in 1970 it was indeed on the application - a line next to "Religion?"

The recruit/"rushee" information form from the local Panhellenic Association here still asks for "Religious Affiliation".

[ellebud]

....wow... If I may ask, where are you located? What is the campus atmosphere like where you are?

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by Fawn Liebowitz

The recruit/"rushee" information form from the local Panhellenic Association here still asks for "Religious Affiliation".

I wonder if part of that is for help with recs - like if Suzie PNM is not known by the women in the PA but she puts "Spaghetti Monster" for religious affiliation, the women can then call others they know who go to the Spaghetti Monster church and ask about her.