Samuel Judah, Class of 1816: Rutgers' First Jewish Graduate

Abstract

J E W I S H presence on the Rutgers campus began early in the nineteenth century, just a quarter century after Queen's College was established by the Dutch Reformed Church. The name of Samuel Judah appeared in the Trustees' Minutes Book as one of five graduates in the Class of 1816.1 His diploma, in an antiquated vernacular, was dated Kalends of October 1816. There was no indication at all that Judah was of the Jewish faith—only genealogical records confirm this. While little information can be found concerning his college years, it is known they were followed by a distinguished law career. It would be sixty-four years before another Jewish student matriculated at Rutgers. Jews on any colonial college campus were rare indeed. There were approximately i ,8oo Jews in all of America in 1790, and by the time Judah had arrived at Rutgers the figure had only risen to 3,000. There was neither time nor money available for a college education for most of the young men of the Jewish faith. For the few whose families could afford this luxury, acceptance at the early colonial colleges was not always assured, and many chose not to aspire to it. Throughout Europe Jews had seen most University doors closed to them. Oxford in England, for instance, did not grant a degree to a Jew until 1870.2 And in 1819 Nathan Nathans of Philadelphia thought he might prepare for the University of Pennsylvania rather than at Cambridge, where there might be some difficulty about my religion.3 Those Jewish students who succeeded in entering a university in America before 1816—the year Judah graduated from Rutgers—could be counted almost on one hand.