Binghamton University

We have an incredible chabad that runs lots of programming, a key event they run is Friday night dinner with over 500 students, and they cater to all denominations. Hillel has reform, conservative, and orthodox (JLIC) branches it serves. We have a warm and welcoming JLIC that hosts orthodox students for davening and other religious events. We also have Olami Meor on campus, bringing students closer to Judaism. Overall, we have a robust social, religious and cultural Jewish infrastructure that holds the Jewish community together.

Around campus I feel totally comfortable walking around wearing a skirt as an Orthodox Jew and a magen David necklace out. However in the classroom, both teachers and students blatantly express their beliefs about Israel or Jews, which unfortunately leads to difficult conversations in class, or self censorship of Jewish students who don’t feel safe to speak up. My experience is just with my social science/humanities classes so I’m sure students in other majors have different experiences in the classroom.

There’s kosher hot food for lunch and dinner from the dining hall on campus! It’s not the best quality but it is there. It’s also very cheap because every student on campus has to pay for a meal plan and the minimum to put in your account is usually too much anyway. For students who live off campus, there are many grocery stores that carry kosher food, and for kosher meat specifically there are a few places (like Wegmans) that do offer kosher meat/chicken.

Through chabad and other orgs, and especially living in the more Jewishly populated dorm buildings, every one gets a chance to meet each other in the first few weeks. After that, everyone finds there place. I would say that although the Jewish community is very large, students feel they can talk to any Jew they see in class or in lecture halls.

Every thing is offered! From minyan 3 times a day, to shabbat meals, to a consistently checked eruv, available kosher food, 6 rabbis working directly with college students, religious accommodations in the classroom, religious life is flourishing here.