Scope and Contents

Oral history interview with Julia Miller, Davidson College class of 2011. In the interview Miller discusses being invited to participate in the STRIDE orientation program and how prior to that interaction she had not considered herself a minority student, her involvement with the student organization Hillel, the advocacy and support of Dr. Neil Lerner and Rabbi Shields, as well as how her personal understanding of Jewish identity evolved while at Davidson College.

Scope and Contents

Oral history interview and transcript with Karl Plank conducted on April 9, 2019. Dr. Karl Plank recounts the evolution of the Religious Studies department since his hiring in the early 1980s, the types of students who have been attracted to courses that deal explicitly with Judaism, and his experience of being “read” as Jewish because of the courses he teaches.

Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Reverend Robert "Rob" Spach, Davidson College chaplain. The interview recording and transcript is split into two parts. In part 1, Reverend Spach speaks about his time as a student at Davidson. He talks about the Religious Studies Department in the early 1980s and the religious organizations on campus at the time including student-led groups and the college chaplain’s office. He goes on to describe coming back to Davidson as the College Chaplain in 1993 and his...

Scope and Contents Oral history interview and transcript with Ronald Linden conducted on March 15, 2019. Ron Linden describes applying for a professorial job at Davidson College in 1976. He speaks about the interview process and the discussion he had with College President Samuel Reid Spencer about Linden’s Jewish faith and how the Davidson bylaws only permitted Christian teachers. Linden recounts his surprise when he received a job offer that was subsequently rescinded and his shock when the incident made...

Scope and Contents Oral history interview and transcript with Ruth Ault conducted on February 22, 2019. Ruth Ault describes her Jewish background prior to Davidson College: raised in Conservative Judaism and being in non-Jewish communities, like Pomona College and the University of Utah. Ault recounts her interview process for Davidson College in 1979, as the first hired Jewish professor at Davidson, and the college’s Presbyterian tradition and bylaws. She recounts how her arrival to Davidson was received by...

Scope and Contents Oral history interview and transcript with Sara Gebhardt '98 conducted on March 1, 2019. Sara Gebhardt recounts her experience going from a largely liberal, diverse, and pluralistic environment in the suburbs of Washington D.C. to Davidson, which felt “20 years behind.” While at Davidson, she was a member of the field hockey team, studied abroad in Spain, and wrote for Libertas. During her sophomore year at Davidson, she wrote an editorial in the Davidsonian objecting to students’ erecting...

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a Davidsonian article describing the creation of the Jewish Student Union, flyers for JSU-sponsored events, an invitation to Passover Seder, and correspondence with the members.