PURPOSE
Jewish Studies Center, Inc. (JSC, Inc.), is an independent 501c3 corporation whose primary purpose is to support the College of Charleston’s Jewish Studies Program. We are an independent Board that finds innovative ways to support the Program through fundraising, as a sounding board, and housing. We are nimble, have the ability to act quickly and decisively to allow the program to operate more efficiently and effectively than otherwise.
OVERVIEW
JSC, INC. was created by the College of Charleston and its Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program in 1998 to build a Jewish Studies Center on the College’s historic campus. With the College’s help, JSC, Inc. raised the funds, purchased the land, designed, built, and owned the Center which opened in October 2002 on the corner of Wentworth and Glebe Streets. In 2005, roughly three years after the Center’s opening, the College of Charleston bought the building from JSC, INC. with deed restrictions guaranteeing the Jewish Studies Program significant priority in the building’s use and assuming responsibility for its maintenance. JSC, Inc. has the option to repurchase the property should those restrictions be violated, serving as a guarantor of those restrictions and continuing with its mission of benefiting Jewish Studies.
JSC, Inc. was bequeathed two residences for the benefit of the Program. JSC, Inc. currently owns a townhouse on Queen Street, formerly owned by Professor Beatrice Stiglitz, obm, and a condominium at the Ashley House on Lockwood Boulevard formerly owned by Stanley Farbstein, obm. Both of these properties are on the Charleston peninsula, within walking distance of the College. These homes have housed faculty, administrators, and various guests and speakers who directly support Jewish Studies. They also serve the dual purpose of supporting Jewish Studies and providing modest annual income to JSC, Inc.
Additionally, JSC, Inc. has received significant grant support benefiting a variety of initiatives of the Jewish Studies Program. For example, it played a key funding role in establishing Marty’s Place, it funded the Program Director position for the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina, and it has played a strategic role in attracting excellent faculty and staff to Jewish Studies by providing housing, signing bonuses, and significant help in securing visas and green cards. In recent years it has provided more than $75,000 each year to the operating budget of Jewish Studies, allowing it to operate efficiently and creatively.
GOVERNANCE
JSC, Inc. functions with its own bylaws, procedures, and governance structure, following all the requirements of 501c3 corporations. The Board of JSC, Inc. consists of seven community members with the Director of Jewish Studies and the immediate past chair of its Advisory Board as ex officio, non-voting members. Structurally JSC, Inc. operates independently of the Program but maintains a highly functional and close relationship with it. JSC, Inc. operates with no paid staff and minimal operating expenses.
OUTREACH
For more than twenty years, JSC, Inc. has operated as Jewish Studies’ silent partner, doing important work without any social media or print presence. It has played a pivotal role in developing the Jewish Studies Program but without any significant outreach to the larger community. The Board of JSC, Inc. had decided that it should become more public, informing the community of its strategic role and encouraging the community to take a more active role in its mission. JSC, Inc. believes that a more public presence will enable JSC, Inc. to expand its contribution to Jewish Studies at the College and to the larger Jewish community of South Carolina.
