University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto visited the home of Mark and Tammy Switow on Tuesday, April 14, to talk about the university to local Jewish high school students and their parents.
Capioluto, who is Jewish, brought along a freshman from Long Island, NY, Alex Rosenzweig, to describe campus life. Rosenzweig is double-majoring in mechanical engineering and Jewish studies, and is active in Hillel at UK.
Capilouto said he believes that it’s important for students to have a spiritual home on campus, and he even hosted a group of students who wanted to light candles for Chanukah in December. Rosenzweig said that while everyone else was cramming for finals, a few Jewish students wanted to commemorate the holiday, but for safety reasons weren’t allowed to light candles in their dorms. So Capilouto hosted them at his home in the center of campus.
Capilouto stressed that UK strives to be welcoming to people of all faiths and the faithless. He ended the program with a message to students that the choice of where to attend college should be about which school is the best fit for the individual. “I’d love to see you at UK, but I want you to choose what’s best for you.”