By Rachel Chiang | Assistant News Editor
While protests at universities across the country have sparked discussion about rising antisemitism in the U.S., Jewish faculty at Baylor find community and support in the newly-formed Jewish Faculty and Staff Association.
As a result of Baylor’s religious commitment, the faculty at Baylor are required to be practicing Christians. However, the only exception to the rule is those of the Jewish faith.
According to Baylor’s Civil Rights Policy, “As a religiously controlled institution of higher education, Baylor is exempt from compliance with select provisions of certain civil rights laws, and Baylor is also exempt from prohibitions against discrimination based on religion. As such, the University prescribes standards of personal conduct that are consistent with its religious mission and values and lawfully considers a person’s religion in the employment context.”
Dr. David Jortner, associate professor of Theatre Arts and graduate program director in the Department of Theater Arts has been a Jewish faculty member since 2008.
“There was a very small group of Jewish faculty here at that time,” Jortner said. “Baylor would officially hire Jews, but they wouldn’t say that they would hire Jews.”
As a result of their low numbers and Baylor’s ambiguous hiring policies, some faculty members had received backlash for their religious identity by other faculty and staff.
Jortner said some of the comments they would receive consisted of others telling them they didn’t belong or shouldn’t be at Baylor.
Subsequently, due to little clarity as to what capacity Jewish faculty were allowed to be involved at Baylor, questions were raised. Could Jewish faculty be chairpersons of their respective programs? Could they head up certain committees and leadership posts?
These questions went relatively unanswered until three years ago when Dr. Stephen Breck Reid, Baylor’s vice provost for faculty diversity and belonging, advocated for Jortner and other Jewish faculty to form the JFSA.
“I really, really appreciated that the university took the initiative to allow us to have an official voice and an official presence,” Jortner said. “There’s a big difference between one professor in the theater program arguing for something and an organization of faculty saying, ‘We speak as one, and this is a concern.’”
Officially chartered early last year, the JFSA has up to 20 members now. While they are still mostly meeting online through mass e-mails and in the process of writing their bylaws, Jortner said they are looking forward as an organization to be advocates for the individuals and to enhance the life of the community.
Jortner said the biggest change he has noticed over the years is the openness and willingness of the current administration in making inclusivity and belonging a major part of their legacy. Some of these changes include job postings with Jewish and Christian openings actually listed.
“I do think there’s a genuine effort, and some of the things I’m personally really excited about is that hopefully the JFSA can continue to assist and serve as a resource for that type of work,” he said.
When conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted in October, Jortner said the university made efforts to ensure their well-being.
“The administration has reached out on several occasions to make sure that we were not facing any antisemitism on campus – that we were still feeling safe and comfortable,” he said.
While the community and administration at Baylor have come a long way, Jortner admitted his opinion of Christians haven’t always been this way.
“I grew up with a very negative view of Christianity,” he said. “Christians were the people that called me ‘Christ-killer’ and beat me up in fourth grade. Christians were the people who defaced my synagogue.”
Jortner said it wasn’t until he came to Baylor and met the people in his department that his opinion changed.
“It was the people in the theater department [who changed that]. I was then and still am fortunate to be surrounded by incredibly caring, really great people,” he said. “I always say that if the world knew of the kind of Christians I work with in the theater department, I would not have that view — that negative view of Christianity I had.”
Provost Nancy Brickhouse clarified that those hired must be practicing Jews, not just those who identify as such, just like any other Christian faculty must be as well. She said the university encourages them and the community in Waco to be connected and engage with each other.
“We’ve always felt like there’s a lot that we hold in common with those of Jewish faith,” Brickhouse said. “All of our faculty, including our Jewish faculty, are well aware that we’re a Christian university, and they support the university in terms of its faith commitments.”
As JFSA continues to establish their presence at Baylor, Jortner said they also hope to ensure the Jewish student population is advocated for too.
“There’s a very small Jewish student population here. They often feel — very understandably — very isolated,” Jortner said. “For the Judaism on the Baylor campus, I would love for us to be able to hold events, bring speakers in and that sort on our future agenda.”
