The College of Idaho has received a second $200,000 gift from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to expand the endowment for a new lecture series exploring contemporary Jewish issues.

The endowment gift for the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation Lectureship in Judaic Studies – which brings Jewish dignitaries and public figures to campus to speak about tolerance, diversity, history and current events – strengthens an initiative establishing the College as a center for Jewish studies in the Intermountain West. In October, the lectureship brought distinguished legal scholar Laurie L. Levenson to campus for a discussion of Jewish law and ethics.

The Foundation and its chair, C of I alumnus Ray Neilsen ’88, were major supporters of the College’s recently completed $2.2 million initiative to fund the first fully endowed chair in Judaic studies in the Intermountain West.

Neilsen, a co-trustee of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, said the lecture series will complement the work of that new faculty member, who will begin teaching at the College in fall 2014.