BY

JODIE KAUFMAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID KATZ

niversity of Michigan student Joshua Schwadron is stylish, intelli-
gent and involved. But he never would have imagined these attrib-
utes would lead him to win GQ magazine's Big Man on Campus
Award.
One day this fall, Josh was perusing the magazine with a female friend when
she suggested he enter the contest. "I wondered who would win, and she con-
vinced me to enter," Josh says in regards to his decision.
The award was based on scholarship, community service, academics and ful-
filling the GQ look. More than 2,400 college students entered and the magazine
staff narrowed down the candidates to nine semi-finalists. It was then up to vis-
itors to the magazine's Web site to view the profiles and pictures of
the nine college men and to choose their favorite.
Josh attributes his win in part to the large support from
the Jewish community. "On campus, I had a great Jewish
following and level of support. Jewish students wanted a
Jewish winner."
Josh also believes the winning "had a lot to do with U-
M being a really big school and having the mass appeal.
I think I had a little bit of everything, where a lot of
people had a lot of one thing."
A spring break trip to Los Angeles to attend the
GQ annual Hollywood Party and a mention in the
March issue of GQ were part of Josh's winnings, but
he remarked that the "biggest prize is the title."
Josh also received a trip to Chicago and a suit by
Pierre Cardin, the co-sponsor of the award.
"This is definitely something I can tell my kids
about," the 21-year-old economics senior says.
Josh's involvement throughout college
includes serving as president of the Future
Business Leaders of America club, two years on
Hillel's Major Events Committee, tutoring ele-
mentary school children, summers doing com-
mercial real estate in New York City, and avid
participation in the Chabad House.
"My grandmother was very involved with
the Chabad House, and because of her I
became very involved here at Michigan," says
the Miami native.
Says Rabbi Alter Goldstein, director of stu-
dent programming at the Chabad House in
Ann Arbor, "he is a phenomenal kid, a kid
who everybody loves and everybody gets
excited to see. He is a great asset to the
Chabad House."
Josh plans to pursue a master's degree at
the University of Michigan Business School
next fall, followed by law school.
Josh has used his award to acknowledge his
Jewishness. Rabbi Goldstein commented that
"Josh felt he could use himself, now that he is in
the spotlight, to show that being Jewish will not con-
tradict who he is, but will make him a better person."