He wouldn’t be the first person you’d expect to run into at Hillel.

Affectionately nicknamed “Pat Wuberg” by Jewish friends, senior Pat Wu has been a Student Government Association vice president, involved in many student groups, and an SGA presidential candidate in the past four years — and involved in Jewish life through it all.

Darren Schneider, the 2001-2002 Jewish Student Union president and a former SGA legislator, noticed Wu attending SGA meetings as an at-large student.

“I wasn’t in office then, I just went to the meetings and Darren Schneider took it upon himself,” Wu said. “I was just sitting in the meetings ... and he came up to me after a meeting once, and he was like, ‘So I noticed you come to SGA meetings a lot. Do you want to get involved?’ And I was like, ‘I’d love to – tell me what to do.’”

Schneider invited Wu to Friday night services and JSU events. Wu remembered noticing the community’s welcoming atmosphere. His interest in Judaism stems from a general interest in unquestioning faith.

“I’m interested in religion, not as a major or anything, but I’ve always had an interest in religion because I don’t believe in one,” Wu said. “I guess I’d be agnostic. But my interest in religion comes from people being able to have faith in something, like, bigger than themselves. Like, the fact that you don’t need proof to believe.”

Wu said he has learned about inclusiveness from the community.

“All it takes is that first step. You need to reach out to someone else first,” he said. “When they program, they don’t say, ‘What can we do for the Jewish community?’ They say, ‘What can we do for the Maryland community using our culture and experience and stuff like that?’”

Wu said the Jewish community recognizes that it can benefit by interacting with non-Jews.

“They realize that it’s not about their trying to impose their faith on someone else but giving people awareness and access to it,” Wu said. “They make the effort to invite you to understand more about them, and at the same time, they’re understanding the type of person you are. I think a lot more student groups on campus could learn from the Jewish community by taking those strides.”

Last spring, then-SGA vice president of administrative affairs and then-JSU vice president Sarah Rubin gave Wu a certificate naming him an “honorary Jew,” which he keeps in his room. He is proud of the certificate but has some apprehension about the title and being called by his nickname.

“I’m actually afraid of offending other people in the Jewish community; that’s the one thing I fear from it,” Wu said. “But I personally feel very connected, it’s like a personal touch when my Jewish friends say that, ‘cause it’s almost like making me part of their community. For me personally, it makes me very proud to be part of such a positive group on campus.”