Las Vegas Brandeis University women's group expands

Chapter founded 10 years ago with 12, now has 500 members

Advertisement

Its acronym -- BUNWC -- can be as confusing as some vanity license plates, but that hasn't stopped the group from expanding.

The Brandeis University National Women's Committee Las Vegas Chapter is celebrating its 10th year.

What began with 12 women now has a membership of more than 500.

Credit the influx of new residents for making the group's numbers swell so quickly. The oldest member is 90, the youngest in her early 50s.

It's not just the ladies who make up BUNWC. There are plenty of men, roughly 100 of them who call themselves The MOB, or Men of Brandeis.

There are as many misconceptions about BUNWC as there are activities for members.

While Brandeis University was originally founded so Jewish men and women were not barred from college by a quota system, BUNWC members do not have to be Jewish.

Members do not have to pledge donations, nor do they have to participate in a set number of activities.

"This isn't one of those one-meeting-per-month things," said Arlene Zonder, Summerlin resident and founder of the local chapter.

Its main focus is to donate to the university, which is well-known for its medical and scientific research.

Zonder said the scholarship aspect is one she's particularly proud to support.

Lori Barnes has been a member for about nine years. She joined for the intellectual stimulation and social aspect.

"It offers life-long learning, an adult education (arm), and I like that," she said.

Zonder said she remembered being a young wife in San Jose, Calif., where she first heard of the club. She was curious about the organization, but between working and raising a family, life always interfered.

"I thought these were ladies who only dressed up and attended luncheons," she said. "I didn't think I'd fit in."

Then, all too soon, she and her husband, Arthur, found themselves in empty nest mode, donating items to various charities as they down-sized their lives.

Zonder contacted Brandeis to pick up the couple's collection of books. She ended up accompanying her volumes to the Brandeis book depot and was soon sorting and marking books alongside the other ladies. She said she never felt so welcomed and accepted.

She joined the group and was soon very active in it.

Five years later, when she moved to Las Vegas, she decided to start a chapter here.

Her husband was the local committee's first male member.

Since its inception, the Las Vegas BUNWC chapter has earned the coveted Louis Award, named after Brandeis University's namesake, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

The award recognizes the chapter's outstanding efforts to raise funds for the libraries, recruit members and provide quality educational programs for its membership.

It also has won two Outstanding Chapter of the Year awards.

BUNWC offers members unlimited study/interest groups after paying a $36 annual fee.

The list of groups includes Women in the Bible, Jews in the West, several reading/book groups, film study groups, Broadway musicals, canasta and bridge,

Meet the Professors (featuring faculty member from UNLV), Lessons from the Torah, History of Nevada, Handwork and Cooking and Impressionist Art.

"The one that's the most fun is called 'On the Town,' " Zonder said. "They went to the behind-the-scenes ballet rehearsals, to the Holsum art lofts. They're always doing something interesting."

The chapter also is involved with community service projects like collecting canned foods for those in need.

This year, the Las Vegas chapter's goal is to send $42,000 to the headquarters.

Membership is $35 a year.

For more information, e-mail to bunwc@brandeis.edu or call (888) 862-8692.