Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

oriented towards going to other countries and helping Jewish communities. This missionhas previously brought alumni to Cuba, Israel, Argentina and more.Similar to ∑AM policy on partnerships, ∑AM does not officially attend anyparticular conferences. It has previously tried to attend the NFTY conferences, as theorganization earmarks two university scholarships for NFTY students. NFTY, the NorthAmerican Federation of Temple Youth is the youth group organization for the Reformmovement. Previously it has attended both Chabad and Hillel conferences. Additionallyit has attended many of Jewish Federation of North America's General Assemblies. Thestaff did not discuss secular conferences during our interviews. While they do notspecifically attend certain conferences annually, the staff is open to attending the variousJewish organizations, and the fraternity's foundation sponsors the Developing LeadersInitiative, a scholarship that affords young leaders in the fraternal organization theopportunity to attend conferences that help with leadership development, and "developsfuture leaders of the North American Jewish community." 191 Unlike the other twoorganizations, ∑AM is conscious of the different role that it plays for the Jewishcommunity.The partnerships and conferences that fraternities choose to support serve asbarometers of their Jewish commitments. AEPI and ZBT are conscious of theirimportant roles as Jewish fraternities. ZBT differs in that it also sees the significance ofinspiring the entirety of its constituency, sometimes found outside of the Jewish sphere.It is mindful that the fraternity is comprised of men of all religions, and hopes to makeeach member feel that he is an equal member of ZBT. Sigma Alpha Mu, rather than191 "Foundation Funded Programs," Sigma Alpha Mu, Foundation Funded Programs, accessed April 28,2011, http://sam.org/foundation-funded-programs.61