Sometimes it felt overwhelming that I had to play it up. In situations talking to parents or donors or whatever, I felt like I had to show how incredible it was to be Jewish on campus and that took a toll on me emotionally in a really serious way.
I, and everything I was embodying, was important for Davidson. Davidson gave me a lot, but I was always aware of the way that my story was giving to the school.
Summary: Arielle Korman discusses her background growing up Jewish in New York, including her synagogue, music, and education. She contrasts the rich religious community she had to her experience of Jewishness at Davidson College, which was more focused on active education, leadership, and community building. Korman talks from her perspective as a former student leader: the events she held, promotion of Jewish student life, but also her struggles with the images of Davidson as (or not as) a place for Jewish students and being a community figure. Her leadership also challenged the Jewish student community to take a stance on Israel-Palestine and called for housing that accommodates students who keep kosher. Korman discusses her intersectional identities, and in relation to tokenization, reception, and self-reflection. She also recounts figures within the Davidson College community who were sources of support. In addition, Korman talks about the 2015 production of the Fiddler on the Roof, Spring Festival, and Summit on Jewish life on campus. She discusses the lack of support and space for students who identify as religiously Jewish at Davidson. Finally, Korman talks about her response to the neo-Nazi doxxing at Davidson College in 2018 and the subsequent antisemitism training she co-hosted with Dylan Goodman on campus.
