Schwarzman Donation Will Not Include Abington High School Renaming
A previously announced $25 million gift private equity magnate Stephen Schwarzman made to the Abington School District included the renaming of Abington Senior High School to Abington Schwarzman High School, according to a pledge agreement adopted by its school board. But after news of the arrangement broke last week, pressure from parents forced the dropping of the new name.
Schwarzman, who is Blackstone’s chairman, CEO and co-founder, announced the gift several weeks ago. He graduated from the high school in 1965.
The gift will fund a new science and technology center at the high school and renovations to the original 1956-era building.
Challah for Hunger CEO Named Schusterman Fellow
Challah for Hunger CEO Carly Zimmerman was named one of 26 fellows by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
The fellowship is an 18-month leadership development program that “aims to enlarge the pool of top nonprofit talent capable of addressing evolving challenges and opportunities in the U.S., Israel and beyond.”
Challah for Hunger is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit “that inspires young people to ‘bake a difference’ through challah baking, advocacy and philanthropy.”
Zimmerman is a member of the Women of Vision’s grant committee, an UpStart trainer for the Tribe 12 Fellowship and board chair of the Jewish Farm School.
Local Collegiate Apparel Provider Partners with Hillel International
Philadelphia-based College.Ink said that it was named the apparel supplier to Hillel International, the world’s largest Jewish student organization.
The company said it would provide online storefronts for Hillel merchandise at 15 campus affiliates across the country; that will grow to more than 150 stores over the next year. Penn State is among the initial participants, with online storefronts coming soon to the University of Delaware and the University of Pittsburgh.
British Student Suspended for Trying to Force-feed Ham Pizza to Jewish Peer
A private school student was suspended for trying to force a 15-year-old Jewish student to eat a slice of ham pizza, the Bristol Post reported.
The incident occurred at Clifton College in Bristol, which is in southwest England. The incident happened in December, but wasn’t reported until late March.
The paper reported the Jewish student “suffered psychologically,” but remains at the school, along with the suspended student. The length of the suspension was unknown.
The paper said “insiders” reported that the suspended student “was on the periphery of another incident at the school a number of years ago where a pupil — who was later expelled — wore a Nazi costume.”
Nearly All Israeli Jews Celebrate Passover
About 97 percent of Israeli Jews were to either host or participate in a Passover seder, according to a survey of 3,000 people by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), JNS.org reported.
In a 2013 Pew study, just 70 percent of American Jews had participated in a seder the previous year.
“The Passover seder of Israelis has remained a highly traditional Jewish ritual,” JPPI senior fellow and sociologist Shlomo Fischer said.
About 25 percent said they uphold traditions like a Passover seder because the “Torah says so.”
