Jewish Alumni Organization hosts conference on identity

Hayley Tsukayama Staff Writer

Dozens of Vassar alumni will return to campus from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 as part of the Jewish Alumni of Vassar College (JAVC) organization’s program, “Jewish Identities: At Vassar and Beyond.”

The program, dedicated to connecting Vassar’s Jewish past to its present, will consist of several events at various locations around campus. Each will explore some aspect of Jewish culture or religion, either as it existed in the past or how it is today. The weekend will feature several graduate speakers, as well as others from the College’s Jewish Studies, Religion, English, History, and Music departments.

The event, over a year in the works, is the first on-campus event for the JAVC, though the group has done work on-campus and in New York City, according to JAVC President Jay Bartow ’98.

Bartow also said that the JAVC helps with student programming and the funding of Vassar’s Jewish publication, Ra’ashan. The JAVC arranged the screening of Trembling Before G-d last fall.

Founded in 1996 by Mik Moore ’96 (son of keynote speaker and Director of the Jewish Studies Program, Deborah Dash Moore), the group now has 1,800 members on its mailing list. According to Willa McCarthy ’92, Director of Alumni Relations for Vassar College, about 40 graduates from the past 50 years are expected to attend the events this weekend.

Associate Professor of Religion Marc Michael Epstein said he believes the weekend can be beneficial to all, both current and former students.

One of the event’s speakers, Epstein expects a weekend of mutual learning, and said that he hopes the graduates will leave seeing Vassar as a “dynamic, enriching place to study Jews as well as a place for expression of Jewish culture.”

“We want to gain from our alumni some sense of how Jews have negotiated culture in the past and how we can better serve future students, both Jews and non-Jews, here at Vassar,” said Epstein.

One of the weekend’s most important events will be on Friday, Nov. 12. Seven panelists, including graduates from classes ranging from 1955 to 1997 and current student Laura Robbins ’06, will be involved in “Multi-Generational Perspectives on Being Jewish at Vassar College.” Andrea Lieber Merwin ’89 will facilitate the discussion in Taylor Hall 203 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Professor of Religion and Director of the Jewish Studies program Deborah Dash Moore will deliver her keynote speech “Studying American Jews: Reflections on Three Decades” at 1:30 p.m. in Rocky 200.

Following the speech, guests are invited to attend one of three sessions exploring different aspects of the Jewish identity with Vassar Professors Miriam Cohen, Rachel Friedman, and Peter Antelyes.

All students and faculty are invited to attend the conference sessions this weekend, said McCarthy. While an RSVP is not required, it is appreciated. RSVPs may be emailed to Jessica Rod at jerod@vassar.edu. Registration will be on Friday afternoon from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Bayit House, 51 Collegeview Avenue.