1950s Timeline

Expanding Diversity

Through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Jewish life on campus and in Blacksburg steadily grew. As more students came to Blacksburg from beyond Virginia, there were also more Jewish students and faculty, and Hillel was established. Hillel, as it is now, was a place for Virginia Tech’s Jewish community to gather and support Jewish life and values.

The campus as a whole was changing as well; African American students and, later, female students joined the campus. In 1953, Virginia Tech admitted the first African American student, Irving Peddrew III, serving as a landmark moment for racial justice at Virginia Tech. In the 1950s, women began to steadily integrate into the university, with no more than one hundred female students at first.

The growing diversity at Virginia Tech throughout this time period was integral to the university we see today.

In 1953, Virginia Tech admitted the
first African American student, Irving
Peddrew III, servingas a landmark
moment for racialjustice at Virginia Tech.

Voices from Shoah

After the Holocaust, Jewish refugees from Europe resettled all over the world – including here in Blacksburg. Among members of our campus community in the 1950s were at least two survivors of the Holocaust:

“I was the first Holocaust survivor to study at VPI, from 1947-1951. Throughout my years there, I was the only Jewish coed in Hillcrest Hall, where all women were then housed. I never met antisemitism on campus, but I did meet a lot of ignorance. Most of the coeds had never met a Jew before me and had definite misconceptions. Throughout my four-year stay, I worked in the dorm dining room as a waitress three times a day, seven days per week. Because I did not attend church and have a number tattooed on my arm, I attracted immediate attention. When I explained that I was not a Christian but a Jew, I found very baffled and confused coeds who asked questions such as why was I a waitress, since all Jews were rich; where was my jewelry, since all Jews had lots of that. I felt I was a good ‘ambassador’ for the Jewish people, and I was able to change this stereotypical Jewish image in the minds of most of the coeds. There were some less pleasant consequences of being Jewish at VPI. Representatives of most Blacksburg churches came to my dorm room, uninvited, trying to save my soul. While I could not spare that time from my studies, I almost always treated these people with great courtesy, never rushing them, and later discreetly disposing of the assorted literature and New Testaments which they inevitably forced on me. My husband and I are involved in a Holocaust education program, which takes place every April for one week in a small liberal Christian college in a suburb near us. The program is going into its fifth year.”

 – Gerda Nothmann Luner (‘51)

“I arrived in Blacksburg in the fall of 1963 from Israel. My wife and my two small children joined me about two months later. I came with little knowledge of English and with a formal educational background of five grades of elementary schooling from Poland. Otherwise, I ‘graduated’ from several campuses, including the infamous Plaszow [concentration] camp mentioned in ‘Schindler’s List,’ Mauthausen, and St. Valentin. The VPI community, faculty, and staff did not know of my background. Nevertheless they were wonderfully helpful in making our years in Blacksburg some of the best in our lives.”

Nathan Gutman ( ‘66)

Hillel at Virginia Tech does Reading of the Names annually for Holocaust Awareness Day where students and community volunteers read over 5,000 names out of the 6 million that lost their lives in the Holocaust.

Students pass out white roses in honor of the White Rose Society, a non-violent resistance group consisting of college students and their philosophy professor from the University of Münich.

Among Many Faiths on Campus

With a growing curiosity for religion and faith on campus, Virginia Tech began hosting a Religious Emphasis week in 1953. The week was centered around diverse religious education, with a number of discussions, forums, sermons, and meetings with religious leaders from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant communities. The B’nai Brith Hillel Club sponsored the event, and the national office of Hillel arranged a visit from a rabbi to participate. One of the goals of the event was to help students understand the other faiths represented on campus. This was important to Jewish students, who occasionally were asked by their peers where their horns were – a question based on a myth that Jews have small horns (this theory was based on a mistranslation of a Hebrew word in the Torah). Each event included large audiences of diverse faiths and there was particularly high attendance for Jewish speakers and discussions. Due to the budding Jewish presence at Virginia Tech, students began to notice and take interest in Jewish practices on campus.

Joining the Hillel Movement

By 1 951, a total of 40 Jewish students began to call Virginia Tech home. Organizing what was then called “the Lord Reading Club”, a small group of Jewish students met each week at Squires Hall for services and religious events. Even without the leadership
of a rabbi, students continued to keep Judaism active and alive on campus.

In 1952, the club became affiliated with B’nai B’rith Hillel, took that name, and began to look more like it does today. Many alumni of Virginia Tech’s Hillel program reflect back on their involvement, including Martin Alman (‘52).

“Before being stationed in Germany during the start to the Cold War, I attended many Hillel events as a Virginia Tech student,” said Alman. ”Each of the 40 Jewish students on campus would show up to Hillel at least once, some routinely, and some only on high holidays when a traveling rabbi would lead services.”

 – Martin Alman (‘52)

Antisemitism

While the Jewish community on campus was beginning to flourish, Jewish students still faced hurdles in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Dr. Seymour “Sam” Stein, reflected back onto a time when he experienced antisemitic treatment on campus. Stein had become the target of indifference towards Jewish students from his classmates and thesis professor. Out of fear of an antisemitic motivated attack on his lab
equipment or experiments, Stein slept in the laboratory to keep constant watch. Even with this adversity, Jewish students were not shy about confronting any type of exclusions or discrimination.

Our Leaders Then, and Today

As Hillel grew on campus, Jewish students needed proper leadership. Ben Abramowitz and Mayer Levy (‘55) served as key organizers for Hillel at this time and filled the roles of supervisors. Abramowitz, who entered Virginia Tech at age 16, was an active student athlete and a member of the Corps of Cadets. Levy was a Biology student interested in medicine and philanthropy work. Through Hillel, Abramowitz and Levy developed as leaders and focused on bringing people together. This skill came in handy after their time on campus. Levy served as a US Navy aviator and aircraft carrier pilot and Abramowitz served for 28 years in the Army. Both Abramowitz and Levy remain regular contributors to Jewish life at Virginia Tech today. Levy is the founder of the Levy Family Judiac Studies Endowed Fund, a regular supporter of Hillel. In 2017, Levy was inducted into the Virginia Tech Hall of Distinction for his leadership and support for the university. Abramowitz continues to give back to his community as a professor at the University of Central Florida, where he started the first business ethics class, and as the President of the synagogue where he was the lead individual in building a new place of worship, and through his volunteering as a Guardian Ad Litem, where he helps foster kids find permanency in their lives.

New Recruits, Fresh Funding

As Virginia Tech Hillel began to expand in the mid to late 1950s, the organization grew from a small handful of students to around 30 active members. Led by Gerald Elkan (‘58), Hillel’s student leaders would search through incoming freshman lists to identify possible Jewish recruits. And with a growing interest in Jewish life on campus, our Hillel was granted a $200 budget. With this funding, President Elkin and other members of Hillel would purchase kosher wine and cake to serve after services to spur attendance. They also used some of the funds for buying surplus, small prayer books originally designed for American armed services – these were small because they were designed to fit in the pockets of soldiers during World War II.