Jewish Cultural Center to open soon at Hendrix
Posted on Saturday, May 3, 2008
CONWAY — Sara “Sunny” Young was president of her St. Louis temple’s youth group, so people assumed she’d attend a college with a sizable Jewish community.
But she ended up choosing Hendrix College, a Bible Belt college in a county with no synagogue and few Jews.
“My friends and family were absolutely shocked, especially my Jewish grandmother,” Young recalls.
But she hasn’t regretted attending the private liberal arts college in Faulkner County.
Now that the school is creating a Jewish Cultural Center, she hopes others will make the same choice.
“Hendrix is such a welcoming community for the Jewish faith, and people are interested in [Judaism ], so I think this will really broaden our perspective,” said Young, president of the school’s chapter of Hillel, an international Jewish students ’ organization.
The center, set to open on May 19, will serve as a resource on Jewish culture for the college as well as the greater Arkansas community. Anticipated activities include lectures, symposia, workshops and conferences on cultural heritage, as well as film series, that enhance current academic courses and Hillel programs. Another goal is to better connect Hendrix to the local, national and international Jewish community.
“I was so excited about the Jewish Cultural Center because I know it will attract more Jewish students,” Young said.
The center already has substantial funding. Michael Maling, president of the Crain-Maling Foundation in Chicago, gave the college $ 500, 000, which trustees have earmarked for the center. A Jewish clinical psychologist and a Hendrix trustee, Maling became acquainted with Hendrix during his medical residency at John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock. Maling’s daughter, Marissa, graduated from the school in 2006.
Another $ 150, 000 gift to Hendrix, from Madison Murphy of the Murphy Foundation, will help raise matching funds. Murphy is a 1980 Hendrix graduate and the board of trustees’ chairman.
The center is a hefty investment for Hendrix; the program aims to raise between $ 150, 000 and $ 200, 000 each of its first five years in order to sustain programming.
It’s an ambitious goal for a school that, until recently, had almost no Jewish students.
Six years ago, the Rev. J. Wayne Clark helped Jewish students fund and establish a chapter of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. At the time, said Hendrix’s chaplain and director of Religious Life, he could count the number of interested students on one hand.
That’s not surprising, considering the state’s demographics.
Arkansas’ Jewish population is estimated to number between 1, 500 and 2, 000 of the state’s 2. 8 million residents.
“Arkansas has one of the lowest Jewish populations in the country for a state, and I think the college is just trying to do what we can to help the Jewish students realize that there can be a place for them,” Clark said. “We want to be in partnership and work with them to help them realize that they can stay here and be a part of this state and become leaders in the state.” No one can say for sure how many Jews are enrolled, because the application requests, but does not require, that students report religious affiliation. Estimates range from 10 to 50 — out of a total student population of 1, 200. Six of the school’s roughly 100 professors are also Jewish. So why establish a Jewish Cultural Center ?
“We want to create a space for interfaith dialogue,” said Hendrix President J. Timothy Cloyd. “It is important to have a Jewish Cultural Center here at Hendrix that is open to and encourages all students to explore their heritage. It’s critical with globalization that we come to understand people of different faiths.” The Jewish Cultural Center and Hillel eventually will be housed within Religious Life offices in the new $ 22. 8 million, 80, 000-square-foot Student Life and Technology Center, which broke ground March 18 and is expected to be completed by late 2009. Until then, the center occupies temporary space in the Mills Building.
Though the school is historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is no longer owned by the church. Still, the vast majority of students are Christian, with non-Christian religions estimated at no larger than 5 percent each, Clark said. Cloyd sees the school’s Methodist connection as a natural reason to incorporate religions of all kinds into campus life.
“The Methodist Church has a long-standing commitment to encouraging knowledge and spiritual life,” he said. He pointed out that the Methodists are a diverse group, one that includes Hillary Clinton and President Bush, and that the denomination “encompasses exploration of one’s faith.” Within the past decade, Hendrix has begun to attract more students from outside Arkansas, according to Cloyd. Before 1999, an estimated 35 percent of students came from out of state. Now, 60 percent of students come from beyond Arkansas. Cloyd says the increased geographical and religious diversity benefits the entire campus community.
“It’s a rich way of creating and cultivating tolerance and a deeper understanding between people,” he said. “We can talk about what it is that we have in common, and we can talk about the legacy of the Jewish community and heritage in the South.” The Jewish center’s director, Marianne Tettlebaum, will also take on the role of Hillel adviser. She envisions the center as providing structure for student-driven Hillel events, such as Shabbat services and holiday celebrations, including a Passover seder, Purim carnival and Hanukkah party.
Tettlebaum, a former Fulbright scholar, joined Hendrix’s faculty as a visiting assistant professor of religion and philosophy in August. She says she was intrigued by the opportunity to lead the center because of her family’s Jewish roots in Helena. Cloyd says Tettlebaum is a “natural fit.” “I would like to raise the profile of Jewish life on campus,” she said of her goals. “I would like, via our association with a really good liberal arts school, to really raise the awareness nationally of Jewish life in the South and the fact that there is exciting and viable Jewish life in the South.
“ I think there’s something important and symbolic about an institution that is affiliated with the Methodist Church being interested in having a Jewish Cultural Center. That speaks in the most positive way to religious diversity in the South and in the state.” One rationale behind the center is to provide programs that enhance current course offerings and campus programs. That connection will start as early as this summer, when students Julie Champlin and Lauren Bartshe visit Holocaust sites in Germany and Poland and create a photo-essay chronicling their observations. The selfdesigned trip will be one of three Odyssey projects students at Hendrix must complete by graduation. The Odyssey Program provides experiential learning opportunities in the categories of artistic creativity, global awareness, professional and leadership development, service to the world, undergraduate research and special projects. The Jewish Cultural Center will help students pursue these goals.
Furthermore, Tettlebaum envisions “bringing in a combination of intellectuals, writers or artists and spiritual leaders that, as speakers, are going to enhance things that are already going on in people’s courses.” Politics professor Kim Maslin-Wicks says the center will be a boon for students.
“I think it’s an opportunity to bring in some real high-profile serious scholars in this area,” she said. “I think raising our students’ awareness of different cultural issues, historical or current, will benefit the school.” For Hendrix’s small Jewish population, the center will provide a structured way for their peers to learn about Judaism. It will also provide a support network for Hillel, says Young, the student from St. Louis who serves as Hillel president.
“There is such an interest in Judaism here, and there aren’t a lot of people to represent the religion, so I kind of feel pressured by that, and I think the Jewish Cultural Center will take that off the few Jewish students that are here now,” she said.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
![[NWA Churches]](http://www.nwanews.com/Advertising/Buttons/cusunday.gif)
