14 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

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ON THE COVER

that there is this long, rich 
history of Jews in Europe, in 
the United States, and also that 
there’s been terrible persecution, 
that this is serious,
” she says.
“They come out taking 
Jewish history and culture more 
seriously, and also the history 
of persecution more seriously, 
which I hope can only help 
them to approach the world and 
people they meet with empathy. 
It’s just one avenue into that.
”
Jewish students and Muslim 
students also take part in pro-
gramming together, looking at 
the similar experiences Muslims 
and Jews have in the United 
States. “We have this special 
relationship with Muslim 
Studies that’s really unusual,
” 
she says. “I hope it signals to 
students that there’s a place and 
a way to have conversations and 
be respectful without just jump-
ing into politics and stereotypes 
and everything like that.
” 

RECRUITING STUDENTS
Peter McPherson, university 
president from 1993 to 2004, 

says their team in the early 
1990s decided it was import-
ant to recruit more deeply and 
broadly in the Jewish communi-
ty. “There are a lot of wonderful 
Jewish students, and I thought 
more of them should come to 
Michigan State,
” he says. 

By 2000, the number of 
Jewish students from the state 
of Michigan had jumped, 
and the school was offering 
even more innovative Jewish 
programming. “We were very 
pleased and proud of the Jewish 
Studies program at Michigan 
State,
” he says. “It was part of 
and parallel to our commitment 
to recruiting a much larger 
number of Jewish students to 
Michigan State.
”
Public universities should be 
providing educational oppor-
tunities for everybody, he says, 
and also give students the 
opportunity to meet a broad 
range of people different than 
they would have known in their 
own communities. This kind 
of push for diversity results 
in launching more educated, 

sophisticated individuals into 
the world, he explains.
“So, I saw this as not just 
important to educate, to get 
more Jewish students, I saw this 
as part of the education of the 
student body,
” he says. “
And I 
want it to keep growing. I want 
those Jewish students to contin-
ue to come to Michigan State.
”
Dr. Sherman Garnett, former 
dean and current professor at 
MSU’s James Madison College, 
says he was very interested in 
the program, which gave the 
university access to Jewish 
Studies scholars and wove aca-
demics together on important 
issues from the start. 
 “It’s one of the things I really 
delighted in being able to be a 
part of during the 20 years I was 
Dean of Madison,
” he says. 
Garnett was dean when the 
project to attract more Jewish 
students got off the ground, 
and says he has watched it grow 
into a positive force for Jewish 
Studies education and Jewish 
quality-of-life issues on campus. 
He points to the expansion of 

the Institute’s programs as well 
as Jewish Studies activities, 
endowments for Yiddish speak-
ers, additional money for study 
abroad, interest in Israeli inno-
vation and science, and more. 
“
All of these things that hap-
pened created a bigger footprint 
for Jewish students,
” he says. 

JEWISH IDENTITY
When Elaine and Michael 
Serling’s two daughters, now in 
their 40s, attended Michigan 
State, Elaine says they, as par-
ents, saw the world was chang-
ing. The Serlings felt a need to 
help give students an avenue for 
Jewish exploration for genera-
tions to come.
“Michael and I had terrific 
ideas about being Jewish. We 
came at it from different ways, 
but this is the same idea, seeing 
how to get the generations to 
continue,
” she says. “Michigan 
State was going to be a place to 

The Serling Institute 
sponsors an Israeli Film 
Festival each year.

The Serling Institute 
features frequent events, 
like this upcoming one on 
reproductive rights.

Dr. Amy Simon, Elaine and Michael Serling, and Dr. Yael Aronoff at an event at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

