I wrote an editorial my freshman year for the Davidsonian saying that I thought that [the mandate that all trustees be Presbyterian] was anachronistic. If Davidson purported to be a liberal arts institution that truly invited scholarship and community from around the world to participate on campus, they can’t do that and not invite non-Christians to be part of the history and the future of the school– which is what they’re saying to me if I can’t be a trustee. And so, that and the backlash I faced was really my first Jewish experience here.
Cintra is an alumna of Davidson College who graduated with the class of 1999. Cintra majored in English with an Asian Studies concentration, graduating cum laude and with high departmental honors. She was president of the Union Board, a writer for the Davidsonian, editor of Libertas magazine, and a member of the Council on Campus & Religious Life. She served on the Union design committee. She graduated with membership in Omicron Delta Kappa and Who’s Who. She was the recipient of the Charles Lloyd writing award. She also was a Cornwell Scholar and a Watson Prize finalist. She studied in China and was a student participant in the Alumnae Coeducation Reunion in 1998. She lives in Denver, Colorado where she works as a manager of Race Street management, a family office/investment company. In addition to managing investments, she is the secretary/treasurer of the Singer Family Foundation and is responsible for both the grant making process and investing the corpus. She was the first Jewish alumna appointed to the Davidson College Board of Trustees. Cintra is a member of the Investment Committee, the College and Community Relations Committee and the Student Recruiting, Enrollment and Scholarships Committee.
Summary: Cintra Pollack recounts her Jewish background and her experience as Jewish student at Davidson College. She speaks of the isolation she often felt as one of the few Jewish Students at Davidson College. She shares experiences ranging from writing an op-ed addressed at Davidson’s exclusionary Board or Trustees policy, finding a Jewish community studying abroad in China, inklings of antisemitism at local bars, strengthening her faith through grieving the death of a close friend. She addresses the lack of institutional support Davidson provided to Davidson students during the late 90’s in context of her experience as a current Jewish board of trustee. She also discusses the complex entanglement of antisemitism and the BDS movement on college campuses.
