Amy Babcock says people are receptive.

by small communities, while oth-
ers enjoy exposing their non-Jew-
ish classmates to Jewish practices.
Mr. Azariah was instrumental
in reviving the Jewish student or-
ganization at Central, and served
as the organization's president for
two years. He also took advantage
of Jewish opportunities off-cam-
pus, through Mt. Pleasant's only
synagogue.
Ms. Wolfe became involved in
Jewish life off the Western cam-
pus, working as a Sunday school
teacher at the local Conservative
synagogue. 'The class kind of kept
me in touch with Jewish life," she
said.
"Most people here are open and
receptive," said Amy Babcock, an
Eastern Michigan University se-
nior from Bloomfield Hills. "My
first three roommates as a fresh-
man were from Livonia, Westland
and Ann Arbor and had never
met anyone Jewish before. They
knew nothing about Judaism, but
by December they were reading
Chanukah prayers with me." The

Jewish community at
EMU numbers about
1,000 students.
Jan Lyddon, who
serves as staffliaison for
the Western Michigan
Hillel, said being in a
small minority "can be a
good experience for stu-
dents." She often finds
herself advising students
faced with scheduling
conflicts around the Jew-
ish holidays. "It's okay
for them to learn to
speak up for their inter-
ests and their needs.
Ms. Lyddon, director
of planning and institu-
tional research at West-
ern, attended Iowa State
as an undergraduate
and is used to small,
tightly knit Jewish com-
munities. "None of the
Jewish students here
take Hillel for granted,"
she said. 'They acutely
feel the need for a small
group of students."
At Western, Jeff
Surowitz believes "my
role has changed a little
bit. As a Jew in West
Bloomfield, my role was
to learn [Judaism] from
others who knew more,
and here one of my roles
is to explain [Judaism] to
other people."
While all of the stu-
dents interviewed for this
article said they had
faced ignorance of Ju-
daism and scheduling
conflicts, few thought
that anti-Semitism was
a big problem on campus.
"Some people ask whether
I've been discriminated against
as Jewish," said CMU's Mr.
Azariah. "I would say that does
not happen as often as it would
happen on the Michigan State
and U-M campuses. Most people
who come to Central are from lit-
tle towns — they're just not aware
of what it is to be Jewish or a mi-
nority, and the Jewish student or-
ganization is here to make people
aware."
Mr. Surowitz said he has heard
occasional derogatory expressions
at WMU, but that no one has ever
expressed hostility toward him for
being Jewish.
Talya Drissman calls Wayne
State University "a very open
campus. You can basically make
friends with anyone ... If you want
to make Jewish friends all you
have to do is go to Hillel," said the
junior from Farmington Hills.
Only 400 of the 30,000 students
at Wayne State are Jewish.
Ultimately, while studying at
a campus with few Jews is ex-
tremely difficult for students who
want a diversity of Jewish options
or who have strict religious needs,
the obstacles are not insur-
mountable for students who can
afford to be more flexible.

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