the city, and Wayne began to lose students and funding.
Today, the current Jewish student population is
estimated at around 500 — half undergraduates, half
graduate students (excluding the professional
schools), says Miriam Starkman, director of WSU's
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
That's less than 2 percent of the total number of
non-professional school WSU students, including
18,093 undergraduates, 9,575 graduate students in
master and doctoral programs. WSU's director of
institutional analysis, Paul Donn, says the university
does not have accurate information on the religions
of students; he could not provide the number of Jews
among the 2,740 students in professional schools.
_ Still, WSU has much to offer the Jewish commu-
nity and, in fact, is working to strengthen its long-
held ties with local Jews.
As a result of his friendship with Robert Aronson,
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's chief
executive officer, and the late Bingham Farms philan-
thropist and Norway ambassador David Hermelin,
WSU President Irvin D. Reid has traveled twice to
Israel, once with the
Federation. While there, he
sought potential partnerships
for peace and conflict studies
and athletic exchanges.
_o
The campus Hillel is growing
and recently sent seven WSU
students with Starkman on a
Birthright Israel trip. And the
Cohn-Haddow Center for
Judaic Studies brings in world-
class lecturers and hosts confer-
ences on Jewish topics.
"It's important to know there
is much that the Jewish commu-
nity doesn't know about Wayne
State, and should get to know,"
says Aronson. "Wayne State's a
great cultural, academic resource for our community."
Back To The Future
WSU's long battle through the 1970s for funding,
recognition and growth is paying off. In the 1980s,
the university refocused and strengthened its
resources, says Hal Stack, director of Wayne's Labor
Studies Center. The university opened colleges of
Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs, of Fine
Performing and Communication Arts, and of Science.
In addition, the university built the David Adamany
Undergraduate Library and a $15 million Recreation
and Fitness Center in the center of campus.
In 1999, WSU received a record $33 million in
gifts and pledges. Two-thirds came with help from
Jewish alumni. Bloomfield Hills' Eugene Applebaum
gave $5 million for the new Pharmacy and Allied
Health Professions building. Eugene Driker of
Highland Park led the $16.5 million campaign,
almost completed, to expand the law school.
These men are continuing a longtime legacy of
Jewish giving to WSU, as did the late Leonard N.
Simons, who helped start the Wayne State University
Press, and Franklin's Max Fisher, who this year
received an honorary doctorate from WSU and has
been a longtime benefactor.
Bold New Leadership
Four years ago, Reid was unanimously chosen presi-
dent by the WSU Board of Governors. The warm,
energetic president has developed a global vision for
the university. "I'm always looking for themes that
bring people together," he says.
Besides Israel, Reid has traveled to South Africa,
Egypt, Syria and Jordan, where nursing students
from Hashemite University come to Wayne to com-
plete their doctoral degrees.
Currently, Reid is working with Aronson on a U.S.
State Department grant to create an exchange at
Wayne between Arabs and Israeli Jews.
"Wayne is an ideal place for people to come
together, to talk and to argue, and still respect one
another," he said. "That's why it was important to
have Shimon Peres here ... We are a factor for change
and for conflict resolution."
After his first trip to Israel, Reid wanted his stu-
dents to benefit from his experiences, which is why
WSU students now take part in the archaeological
dig at Zippori in. Israel.
"I applaud every Arabic
student who comes to
my class," says Professor
Edith Covensky. Her
Israeli Culture class
covers • topics like the
kibbutz and feminist
movements, Israeli dance,
literature and music.
Kim Gladstone, Reid's special assistant for global
education, remembers when Reid stopped to talk to
students working at Zippori. They were from every
major Michigan university, but Wayne. Not anymore.
Impressed by Israel's "extraordinarily small size and its
enormous accomplishments," Reid also gleaned ideas
on how to deal with great diversity, which parallels the
makeup of his university. He learned of the resettlement
of Ethiopian Jews and the development of technical
skills for Russian Jews at the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Rehovot and at technology parks near Haifa.
Those ideas have taken shape at WSU, Reid says,
as he and his staff plan the development of a 75-acre
Research and Technology Park north of the campus,
between the Ford Freeway and the New Center area.
Other partners in this venture include the city of
Detroit, General Motors Corp., Detroit Renaissance
and the University Cultural Center Association.
Reid envisions the park as "a place where people
will live, work, play and participate fully in the
research and academic programs of the university."
Top to bottom:
Greek Orthodox student Michael Shamat, whose
mother is American and father Palestinian,
enjoyed professor Edith Covensky's Bible class so
much that he signed up to study Hebrew.
Sandy Sniderman of Ferndale, who is Jewish
and a minority in the Hebrew language class,
ponders a student's comment.
Jewish Legacy Rekindled
Doug Mathian of Detroit investigated world
religions for the historical context and has
taken a year and a half of Hebrew.
The Jewish legacy at Wayne is still ever-present on
campus. The buildings alone bear more Jewish than
non-Jewish names, including Cohn, DeRoy,
Gershenson, Prentis, Schaver, Shapero, Shiffman,
Colleen Allen of Farmington Hills is planning
to move to Israel after spending time on the
Zippori dig in Israel sponsored by the
Federation and WSU.
6/15
2001
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