Pitt’s new Jewish alumni group holds first event

For Karen Gal-Or, life is sometimes all about the timing.

The University of Pittsburgh alum had been thinking about organizing a Jewish alumni group even before the Anti-Defamation League gave the university a “D” on its annual antisemitism report card, citing the lack of just such a group as one of its determining factors.

“I reached out and was put in touch with Nancy Merritt, who is the vice chancellor for alumni relations, and she said that it was great timing because she had also been looking into building something like this,” she said.

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Gal-Or had been reaching out to organizations and leaders like Chabad at Pitt Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein and Hillel JUC Executive Director and CEO Daniel Marcus about trying to build a network in support of Jewish students and alumni.

Once the university said it was interested in the creation of the group and agreed to provide some funding, Gal-Or spoke with Marcus who helped select a date — June 29 — for its first event, which was billed as a Pitt Alumni Jewish Reunion.

Rothstein helped secure a location — Our Giving Kitchen in nearby Squirrel Hill — and Gal-Or helped promote the reunion.

Nearly 65 people registered for the event.

“I was really excited to see a lot of younger people, which shows they’re still engaged,” Gal-Or said. “There were a lot of recent graduates, some graduates from my era. I graduated in 2006.”

Jewish students have had a difficult time on college campuses across the country, Gal-Or said, which was part of impetus for the creation of the alumni group.

“As they are navigating the sort of hostility and isolation of antisemitism, they shouldn’t feel alone,” she said. “I thought now was a great time to create a network of alumni to provide moral support and other tangible resources like mentorship, job connections, advocacy and Shabbat dinners.”

Jewish student life has been on Gal-Or’s mind for some time.

Last year, she said, an event was organized on campus where the names of those murdered during the Holocaust were read.

“I really wanted to make sure there were members of the community and Jewish alum who were there, so I reached out and a few went, but it wasn’t as many as it should have been,” she said.

Gal-Or said that if students are taking the time to create these events, they should be supported by Jewish faculty and alumni.

The hope, she said, is that this is the first step in building a community around the students, so they understand there is a group of graduates who care about their security and want to see them flourish at Pitt.

Chabad at Pitt’s Rothstein said that there was a lot of positive energy at the initial reunion, something that will benefit everyone in the long run.

“The more the alumni feel they have a relationship with each other and with the current students, they’ll feel better and more connected to the university,” he said.

Jewish alumni, he said, enjoyed their experience at the university, which he called a “beautiful place to be a Jewish student. I love the fact that the university is working towards making it even better.”

His hope is that the new Jewish alumni group will allow former students to return to the school and see all that it still has to offer.

In fact, Rothstein said, there’s a synergy present on the campus.

“Dan Marcus says all the time, ‘The tide rises all ships.’ I think anyone that looks at Pitt Jewish life — the support from the university, the collaboration between Hillel and Chabad, it’s par excellence. None of us are struggling,” he said.

The Jewish alumni group will now be a part of that experience, he noted.

Marcus said that he appreciated the opportunity for Hillel JUC to be a co-sponsor of the event.

“This is a manifestation of the outstanding relationship between the university, Hillel and Chabad. It’s an example of how we can work together to benefit Jewish student life and be one community of Pitt Jewish alumni,” he said.

Pitt’s Merritt said that based on the initial reunion and conversations she’s had with Pitt alumni, “There is definitely a desire to be part of a Jewish alumni affinity network, not just to connect with fellow Jewish alumni but to support current Jewish students at Pitt.”

The university has many different ways for alumni to interreact, Merritt said, but noted that whenever there is an opportunity to “convene around a specific interest or identity, and there are opportunities to help students like them, alumni get inspired to get engaged.”

The Jewish alumni group, she said, is supported by the senior leadership at Pitt, including Chancellor Joan Gabel.

Marcus said the reunion, was a “wonderful event” and a positive first step and is looking forward to future activities.

To that end, Rothstein is already thinking of what comes next.

“We’re going to try to pull off an alumni Shabbat soon,” he said.

For Gal-Or, the reunion was simply the opening salvo for a group she wants to see expand and grow.

“I hope that it becomes bigger than me,” she said.

Those interested in participating in the Pitt Jewish Alumni Network can learn more by emailing alumni@pitt.edu. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.