Cornell and its various Jewish groups have joined together to provide the framework for a more vibrant community for Jewish life on campus, including campus-wide kosher dining, Susan H. Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, announced.

The new partnership represents a coming together of the Yudowitz Center for Jewish Campus Life-Cornell Hillel and the Center for Jewish Living. The partnership is non-denominational and strengthens the living options, dining options and places of worship for Cornell's Jewish community. Its goal, Murphy said, is to enhance the Jewish experience of Cornell students in four areas: spiritual development, cultural development, education, and social activities.

"This is a major step forward in enhancing Jewish life at Cornell," Murphy said. "I am especially pleased to report that the university, for the first time, has formally embraced a Cornell Dining multicultural kosher meal plan for students who prefer that option. This partnership is the result of several years of hard work and dedication by current students, faculty, staff and alumni, and I want to thank them for their efforts on our behalf." Key to the partnership, Murphy said, is the newly incorporated Cornell Jewish Life Fund (CJLF), the umbrella organization with which the university is working directly. CJLF is made up of students, alumni and community members.

Under the new arrangement, one of the Jewish community's most basic needs, full kosher dining options, will be available at dining halls across campus, as well as at the kosher dining hall, under the Cornell Meal Plan. The Jewish community and Cornell Hillel will work with the Orthodox Union (OU), a nationally recognized, New York-based organization that provides religious guidance for Orthodox communities and kosher eating establishments nationwide. Campus Life has contracted with New York-based Flik International Corp. for kosher food preparation and serving operations, beginning this fall.

"This was a group effort including the Center for Jewish Living, Cornell Hillel and Cornell Dining," said Peggy Beach, head of marketing for Campus Life. "We feel confident that the needs of many of our Jewish, Muslim and vegetarian students will now be better met."

Flik operates the kosher food program at a number of schools and universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Ramaz School and the Jewish Theological Seminary. "We're very excited about being awarded the Cornell contract," said Flik spokesperson Rick Emery. "We are committed to improving both the quality of the kosher food at Cornell and the variety of offerings."

Rabbi Avi Scharf, who arrived on campus in August, 2000, is working with Orthodox students to meet their spiritual needs. He also is performing the mashgiach/supervisory duties required under Orthodox Jewish law to ensure the proper preparation and serving of kosher food.

"Before Rabbi Scharf's arrival, for the past 13 years, student volunteers performed those duties," Murphy said. "And while we greatly appreciate the effort and commitment of those students, their academic responsibilities often conflicted with their management duties. This new arrangement will permit them to focus their energies on their academic and spiritual lives as well as on social and cultural programming for the community."

Joe Regenstein, professor of food science and a faculty member who was active in helping to formulate the new partnership, applauded the administration's efforts. "'Keeping Kosher' is an integral part of daily life for many students of the Jewish faith," Regenstein said. "This is an integral part of their religious life, and the absence of widely available kosher food on campus has made being a kosher-observant Jew at Cornell more difficult than it ought to be. The current administration is to be congratulated for working diligently to change this situation.

"Having kosher meals more widely available should make it possible for more Jewish students to select Cornell as their campus of choice and to fully participate in campus life," he said. "The new plan is also being designed to meet the needs of many other groups, and we look forward to a vibrant multi-cultural kosher program that will help integrate many different and diverse groups of students into the mainstream of campus life."

Rebecca Schaefer, who graduated in May 2000 and was a co-president of CJL, helped draft the proposal for enhanced Jewish life at Cornell. "The new partnership among the Center for Jewish Living at Cornell and all of its partners, in Ithaca, New York, Jerusalem and beyond, represents a brilliant step forward for Cornell," Schaefer said. "For the first time in its history, the university will have an infrastructure to support the needs of a strong, vibrant, active Jewish community. As kosher food, Jewish programming and an extensive list of Jewish educational classes become more readily available, I expect only increased growth and strength of Jewish life on campus."