Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Are you Jewish? Because it’s not whether people are bowing to a crucifix that’s the issue for some people (obviously not everyone).

Think about your least favorite politician or celebrity and imagine if a picture of that person was in every single classroom— and rather than argue with me about the analogy just try to learn something from it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Are you Jewish? Because it’s not whether people are bowing to a crucifix that’s the issue for some people (obviously not everyone).

Think about your least favorite politician or celebrity and imagine if a picture of that person was in every single classroom— and rather than argue with me about the analogy just try to learn something from it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Are you Jewish? Because it’s not whether people are bowing to a crucifix that’s the issue for some people (obviously not everyone).

Think about your least favorite politician or celebrity and imagine if a picture of that person was in every single classroom— and rather than argue with me about the analogy just try to learn something from it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Are you Jewish? Because it’s not whether people are bowing to a crucifix that’s the issue for some people (obviously not everyone).

Think about your least favorite politician or celebrity and imagine if a picture of that person was in every single classroom— and rather than argue with me about the analogy just try to learn something from it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's hard enough being in a minority (Jewish), why send your child to a school where they will be a super-minority when there are so many other excellent options? Would never send our Jewish kids to BC, ND and the like

Serious question. Not trying to be insensitive but: How is it hard enough being Jewish in America? I went to a normal northeast umc k-12 that was 40%+ Jewish and there didn't seem to be too many Jewish people that were oppressed. Many are now successful in business, law, and a few (including A-list) famous names in Hollywood. Now my public school district (and all the many other school districts in the area) may have been a outlier, I guess...??? But I've also met quite a few Jewish people in different parts of the country, including parents of kids at school and on athletic teams, and they also seem to be super normal and not paranoid. In fact, I have met very few over the years (<1%) that have had their heads on a swivel. How can it be that so many mainstream Jewish people think they're oppressed or unwelcome, or is it just a vocal few? Yes, there have been a handful of incidents but not more than AA, Hispanics, and Asians have have encountered. I'd think America was the safest country for Jewish people in 2024 (or even historically, some historical racism notwithstanding), including Israel under Netanyahu. I can't help but imagine if other minorities such as AA lived their lives with this much paranoia even though they can't hide their day to day existence.

Not Jewish but I also went to a high school with a very large Jewish presence and my closest friends were Jewish (and I am a BC alum saying they'd be welcome there). I can tell you that as Jewish adults in the current world environment - my high school friends are highly affected - MUCH more than when we were in high school (80s). There has been a stark increase in anti-Semitic incidents in this country (and in the DMV too) over the past decade and obviously the Oct 7 attack and its aftermath are huge. This includes those who have supported a two-state solution for decades and do not agree with Netanyahu's policies. Similarly affected are Jewish family members and Jewish friends I met as an adult.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

I noted this because others comments about a "crucifix being present" was so off base to how that plays out in day to day life in a classroom. It had zero impact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's hard enough being in a minority (Jewish), why send your child to a school where they will be a super-minority when there are so many other excellent options? Would never send our Jewish kids to BC, ND and the like

Serious question. Not trying to be insensitive but: How is it hard enough being Jewish in America? I went to a normal northeast umc k-12 that was 40%+ Jewish and there didn't seem to be too many Jewish people that were oppressed. Many are now successful in business, law, and a few (including A-list) famous names in Hollywood. Now my public school district (and all the many other school districts in the area) may have been a outlier, I guess...??? But I've also met quite a few Jewish people in different parts of the country, including parents of kids at school and on athletic teams, and they also seem to be super normal and not paranoid. In fact, I have met very few over the years (<1%) that have had their heads on a swivel. How can it be that so many mainstream Jewish people think they're oppressed or unwelcome, or is it just a vocal few? Yes, there have been a handful of incidents but not more than AA, Hispanics, and Asians have have encountered. I'd think America was the safest country for Jewish people in 2024 (or even historically, some historical racism notwithstanding), including Israel under Netanyahu. I can't help but imagine if other minorities such as AA lived their lives with this much paranoia even though they can't hide their day to day existence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.

We had divestment protests and encampments in my day. Protests are part of the social justice movement and wouldn’t be out of place on campus.

And the crucifix comment is odd. Not revered? Do you think Catholics kneel before every cross? I’m not sure if you’re an alum, but if you are, this is a big misreading of Catholic religion and culture.

I think anyone of any faith would be welcome at BC. I think BC is still pretty provincial - I wouldn’t send a trans kid there for example. But generally welcoming. But spending 4 years on a Catholic campus and not being open to learning about Catholic culture seems weird to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are quite a few Jewish professors at BC, & the area surrounding the campus is heavily Jewish. It’s just not the type of place where antisemitism would be condoned.

Many of the Catholic students there come from ancestry (Irish, Italian, Polish, Hispanic etc) which was harassed. It would be considered very very uncool to turn on Jews there.

No way, Irish-Italian bro culture can be pretty ignorant.

Anonymous wrote:Because it's hard enough being in a minority (Jewish), why send your child to a school where they will be a super-minority when there are so many other excellent options? Would never send our Jewish kids to BC, ND and the like

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC is a very welcoming place - not super diverse admittedly (neither are most towns in metro Boston, by the way). The community and camaraderie are excellent. Jesuit education is great for lifelong learners and they care about fostering students to become good people who will graduate and live a life that is compassionate to others and helps others. Lots of school spirit for sports. Non-Catholic alum.

Will add here that political or social activism is not part of the school culture at BC. Never a single protest or rally in the time I was there. The student body is predominantly (and selected to be) outgoing, well rounded, open minded kids who do well in school but also have other interests.

Yes - I [b]believe there were crucifixes in classes. They are not huge, they are not revered...they are just there. I didn't feel impacted by them any more than I would feel affected by a mezuzah at every entrance. To me these are no different than having churches, mosques, synagogues in my community.

Via education and my career, I have been part of several college communities. The Jesuit ones at BC and Georgetown were the most explicitly open and welcoming - facing head on the acceptance of all (and with no religious rhetoric - the Jesuits are all about education and learning and caring for each other and the world). At other secular institutions, there was far less care for community and acceptance - only reactionary (and sometimes lack of) responses to "incidents". Little guidance on having students leave with a moral compass.

OP - if your DC loves BC - please let them consider it.

The most salient point made of any of the PPs is how you (and your child) feel about dating outside of your faith and how religious they will want to be. If attending regular services is important, Brighton and Brookline will provide a selection of synagogues and congregations that should be easy to attend using the shuttle, T, or even walking. Newton Campus also has multiple within walking distance. Your child will not be surrounded by many Jewish students but I'm sure they will find them via Hillel.

On that point - reach out to BC Hillel and find some students to talk to. I guarantee you will find students willing to share and gush about their school. It's that sort of place.