As Jewish college students look South, some discover a long but overlooked history

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(The Conversation) — For nearly a decade now, news outlets ranging from The Atlantic to the Forward and The Free Press have reported on the increasing number of Jewish students attending college in the South .

This shift is not unique to American Jews. The five states with the fastest-growing number of applicants are all in the South or Southwest. Most American students attend schools in their own state , but Southern institutions have also seen a surge of out-of-state applications, especially from the Northeast .

Although the uptick began before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and the Israel-Hamas war, observers have argued that campus politics now plays a role – particularly for Jewish students, some of whom are avoiding campuses with reputations as hotbeds of activism .

Many Americans seem surprised by the idea of Jewish students drifting south. I direct the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston and am co-authoring a book about the city’s history of East European Jewish migration. If I had a nickel for every time someone responded to my…