When Rebecca Roffe walks proudly across the commencement stage to receive her diploma from Binghamton University in Upstate New York, she will be filled with gratitude—not only for having reached this milestone, but also for being able to celebrate it on a day that is suitable for her and her family.
Roffe will be one of 48 students participating in Binghamton University’s first-ever alternative graduation ceremony for Jewish students on Friday morning, May 18.
Roffe, of Skokie, Ill., earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and is headed for Hofstra Law School. Ordinarily, she would have graduated with her fellow science students on Sunday, May 20. This year, Shavuot occurs on Sunday and Monday, making it complicated for observant Jewish students and their families to participate. To avoid traveling on Shabbat and the holiday, which is prohibited by Jewish law, families would have needed to come up on Friday and remain in Binghamton until Tuesday.
Last summer, Rabbi Aaron Slonim, executive director and senior rabbi at the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton, learned that all eight of the university’s 2018 graduation ceremonies were scheduled for the weekend of Shavuot.
“As I fielded calls from anxious parents, I felt strongly that I had to help make this joyous event less stressful for these families,” Slonim told Chabad.org. Having heard from fellow Chabad rabbis that other colleges had arranged alternate graduations, Slonim approached Binghamton’s president, Dr. Harvey Stenger, to propose that Binghamton do the same. “I was overjoyed and deeply grateful when he responded positively and put the pieces in place to make this happen.”
Cheryl and Irv Stein of Buffalo, N.Y., will arrive in Binghamton on Thursday night, May 17, and join their daughter Mariah at a dinner sponsored by Chabad. On Friday, after Mariah receives her B.A. in Human Development, the family will return to Buffalo in time to observe Shabbat and Shavuot.
“Upon seeing the original date for graduation, I was disappointed and surprised,” said Cheryl Stein. “I am so impressed at how the college has been so accommodating, thanks to Rabbi Slonim making them aware of our needs.”
A Sign of Solidarity
At Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., where Rabbi Shmuly Lieberman is co-director of the Chabad Jewish Student Center, students and their parents asked the administration to reschedule both the undergraduate and law school graduation ceremonies, which coincided with Shavuot. Both Hillel and Chabad echoed the students’ concerns. Rather than reschedule the ceremonies, the university agreed to offer an alternative graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 22. Approximately 30 students will participate. “Some of the participants even include students who wouldn’t necessarily observe Shavuot but wish to show solidarity with their fellow Jewish students,” reported Lieberman.
Rockland Community College, part of the State University of New York, in Suffern, N.Y., also responded to concerns raised about commencement falling on Shavuot. The college typically holds one ceremony, scheduled this year for Sunday, May 20, the first day of Shavuot. Rabbi Dov and Shevy Oliver, co-directors of Hillel of Rockland, which is affiliated with Chabad on Campus, approached the administration. “We are gratified that RCC’s senior administration was receptive to our proposal to accommodate observant Jewish students by offering an alternative graduation ceremony,” said Shevy Oliver. The alternative graduation ceremony will be held on Thursday evening, May 24; about eight students and their guests are expected to attend.
The ceremony at RCC, similar to alternative graduations at other colleges, will mirror the college’s standard commencement ceremony. Graduates will wear caps and gowns, and receive their diplomas from the provost, and the college president will address the graduates and guests.
On the West Coast, California State University Northridge (CSUN) will hold its first alternative graduation this year on Tuesday, May 22. Rabbi Chaim Shaul Brook, co-director of Chabad at CSUN, explained that it is a commuter school, where students live off campus and need to drive to graduation, precluding observant students and guests from attending the ceremony on Shavuot.
“The university has been amazing in wanting to accommodate observant Jewish students,” said Brook. “Months ago, Dr. Jody Meyers, coordinator of Judaic Studies, explained the dilemma to the administration and they understood right away.” About 40 students are signed up for CSUN’s alternative graduation, including students earning doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees. The ceremony is jointly sponsored by the university, the Judaic-studies program, Chabad and Hillel, and will include a post-ceremony reception.
One Grad, Three Rabbis
While it’s nice to have a crowd at events, each person constitutes an entire world, according to the famous Talmudic dictum: “He who saves one life has saved a whole world” (Sanhedrin 4:5).
Indeed, the University of Rochester held an alternative graduation on Wednesday, May 16, for just one student, Jacob Niebloom, who earned a B.S. in computer studies and a B.A. in business. Months ago, when he realized that Sunday’s commencement coincided with Shavuot, Niebloom himself approached the university administration to ask for an alternate ceremony.
“They were very supportive, and even though I had hoped other students would participate, the university was very willing to do it just for me,” he said. During his sophomore year, Niebloom, of Livingston, N.J., on a quest to fill in missing gaps in his Jewish education, became close to Rabbi Asher Yaras, co-director of the Rohr Chabad House at University of Rochester.
“I’m very proud of Jacob for standing up for what is right, even if it is not necessarily the most convenient. Students often have a dream of what their graduation will look like, but Jacob knows what’s important,” said Yaras, who attended the alternative graduation along with Rabbi Nechemia Vogel, co-director of the Kessler Family Chabad Center, and Rabbi Ari Kilimnick of nearby Congregation Beth Sholom, as well as Niebloom’s parents and grandmother. The family is looking forward to the next big milestone in Niebloom’s life; he is getting married on 12 Tammuz, June 25, to Talia Rosenstrauch, also of Livingston.
And one person can make a world of difference. Rabbi Michoel Danow, co-director of Chabad Lubavitch at Leeds in England, reports that one of the Jewish students who attends Chabad convinced the Leeds College of Art to change the date of an exhibit of work by graduating students from Shabbat to a weekday.
In Binghamton, Amanda Nussbaum of Teaneck, N.J., who will receive a B.A. in economics and hopes to work in data analytics, expressed her gratitude for Chabad. “I feel totally taken care of by Chabad,” she said. “They worked out everything about graduation before we even knew about it.”
“They always go above and beyond to help us,” she continued, “and they’re even making a fancy dinner for us and our families the night before. Chabad being here is a huge part of the reason I chose Binghamton. And just like I felt cared for by Chabad as soon as I arrived here, I’m leaving college with the same feeling about Chabad.”
Start a Discussion