But Cohen, who ran for a position last November but was not elected, does not see the appointment of leaders as a denominational issue.

"I think it is an excellent new steering committee," Cohen said. "I don't think you can fault the community. It chose the people who are most active."

Andelman says she believes that Cohen was appointed partly to balance the steering committee.

"Of course Shoshana was chosen first on the basis of her qualifications," Andelman says. "But it was also an issue of creating balance."

A Source of Conflict

While members of different minyans cooperate on the steering committed and in day-to-day affairs, in the past few years, the groups have differed over Friday night Shabbat dinners, Tucker says.

For years, both men and women have not sung Kiddush, the prayer over the wine, because singing by women would violate the religious codes of a very small portion of the Orthodox students.

Last year that policy was reconsidered, and reversed, by Hillel Executive Director Bernard Steinberg because of the objections of many of the Conservative, Reform and even some Orthodox Jews.

According to Wilson, the division was basically on denominational lines, although there was some crossover.

"The idea of a religious violation is serious," Wilson says. "There were many in the Orthodox community who were not having their own codes violated, but were unwilling to see the codes of peers violated."

Interim Rabbi Eric Clapper says he does not think the community was divided over the issue.

"I think the community has made a decision to live within Orthodox law," Clapper says. "Both sides have made compromises but neither have sacrificed principles.

Andorsky says he thinks the resolution of the issue indicates that the primary value in the minds of many within the Hillel community is that of pluralism.

"Many Orthodox Jews said that they had a disagreement with the resolution of the issue," Andorsky says. "But they also said that they respect other people's rights, and that they actively wanted a pluralistic society."

But many thought that the decision was not so widely agreed upon within the community, and instead reflected the steering committee's interest in k'lal yisrael or the broad Jewish community.