Announcement Reverses Last Year’s Rejection of Rabbi’s Application
In a move that raises questions about the relationship between Chabad and Hillel at one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, a Chabad rabbi’s application to become an affiliated chaplain at Princeton University was approved by the school’s Office of Religious Life in May. The approval came a year after a similar application by the rabbi was rejected over concerns that such a move would prove damaging to the Center for Jewish Leadership, Princeton’s Hillel.
The Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Eitan Webb, joins Princeton Hillel’s Rabbi Julie Roth along with 13 leaders from various Christian denominations, a Hindu, and a Muslim as affiliated chaplains at Princeton. Chaplains are officially sanctioned by the University but receive no funding.
According to Alison Boden, Princeton’s dean of religious life since June 2007, Webb’s original application for chaplaincy was mainly denied over fears that factionalism would hurt the Jewish community. “There is a small Jewish population at Princeton, and if there are several organizations it will make a small community smaller,” said Boden.
Compared to other Ivy League institutions, where Jewish students often make up as much as a quarter of the population, Princeton has few Jews. According to Hillel.org, 650 of Princeton’s 4850 undergraduates are Jewish.
In an April 2007 letter to The Daily Princetonian, written a month after Webb’s initial application for chaplaincy was denied, Hillel’s Rabbi Roth explained that her organization thought it should be the central Jewish organization on campus. “Our board is aware of the support that Rabbi Eitan and [his wife] Gitty Webb have among the Chabad student group,” Roth wrote. “[T]he Chabad student group is welcome to affiliate with the CJL. [I]f Chabad does not desire such a relationship with the CJL, and if the University decided to recognize Chabad as an independent chaplaincy, it should do so in a manner that does not diminish the central and leading role of the CJL as the official Jewish chaplain at the University.'”
Rabbi Roth was unavailable for comment.
Some students objected to Hillel’s position. A March 2007 letter to the Princetonian from the Chabad Student Board argued that, “Anybody who cares about sustaining and accepting a pluralistic community at our University should be troubled by the exclusion of Webb and Chabad.”
In the year after the initial rejection, Dean Boden continued to consider the possibility of recognizing Rabbi Webb. “I talked to parties involved in the campus Jewish community. There was a diverse set of opinions,” said Boden, “Some protested and some didn’t.” In May, her office announced that Webb had been accepted as an affiliated chaplain.
“I think it’s good to have different theologies on campus,” said Boden. “People have to find the one that fits right for them. It’s good to offer people choices.”
For Rabbi Webb, his appointment as a chaplain came as a validation of his work. “Recognizing Chabad as a chaplaincy formalizes the relationship between the Jewish community and Princeton, and it enhances the diversity of Jewish representation,” he said.
Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, the President of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, says that Chabad emphasizes the development of close relationships with host universities. “Becoming a chaplain is part of being part of the university structure,” said Schmidt. “[It’s] part of a process. It’s not a political move.”
Chabad organizations have struggled on many campuses to gain recognition from host universities. At Tufts University in 2005, Chabad’s campaign for official recognition was delayed because the University felt it would duplicate Hillel. Recognition at Columbia University was held up for similar reasons.
Webb, like any Chabad shaliach, rejects the idea that the presence of a Hillel obviates the need for a Chabad house. “Chabad looks beyond the denominational labels and views each Jew as equally important and relevant,” he said. “Many students find a comfortable home in the unconditionally accepting atmosphere at Chabad.”
