Muslims, Jews, and Religious Visibility on American College Campuses

Abstract

The institutional accommodation of Muslim religious practice has posed a challenge to American college campuses. The installation of footbaths (used by Muslims to wash their feet before prayer) at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, in 2007 drew heated protest, as did Harvard University’s decision to grant Muslim women’s request for women-only gymnasium hours in 2008. At the same time, the presence of spaces in which Jewish students can practice religious rituals has not raised similar questions about the separation of church and state on these same campuses. This is because historical differences in the immigration experiences of Jewish and Muslim communities in the United States have meant that Muslims and Jews negotiate group identity differently on campuses. The overt nature of anti-Semitism on American campuses in the early twentieth century meant that Jews in higher education found ways to protect religious observance and promote group advocacy without relying solely on university funds. Today, privately funded Jewish groups such as Hillel are able to create spaces for Jewish religious observance without needing to use university funds to do so. Conversely, the relatively new presence of Muslims in institutions of higher education and the steep rise in anti-Muslim sentiment since the attacks of 9/11 have meant that Muslim student groups formulate methods of advocacy on campuses that appeal to the protection of institutional structures.