Maryland Hillel Opens New Home for Jewish Student Life
For nearly 90 years, the University of Maryland (UMD) Hillel has been a place for Jewish students to celebrate Shabbat, spend time with friends, explore traditions, and find belonging on campus. Now, with the opening of the Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Hillel Center for Jewish Life, students have nearly 40,000 square feet to continue building community.
To celebrate this new chapter, Jewish students and alumni, Hillel staff, campus administrators, and community members, including University President Darryll J. Pines Hillel International President and CEO Adam Lehman; Maryland Hillel Board of Directors President Ross Charkatz; Michelle and Howard Rosenbloom and their family; alumna Sandy Bobb; alumni Phyllis and Leonard Attman; and Maryland Hillel CEO Rabbi Ari Israel, gathered this week for a ribbon-cutting ceremony as the center transforms programming for more than 6,000 Jewish students on campus. The new building doubles Hillel’s previous space and dramatically expands its ability to serve one of the largest Jewish campus communities in the country.
“The Maryland Hillel community is renowned for the vibrancy of its Jewish life, which comes from our students and staff,” said Rabbi Israel. “This center, which was built on the original site of Maryland Hillel from nearly 80 years ago, gives our community the space that their work deserves. I am looking forward to all of the joy that our new home will bring to future generations.”
Maryland Hillel has been part of campus life since 1938, welcoming generations of Jewish Terps and creating opportunities for students to explore Judaism on their own terms. The new two-story center builds on that history with support from generous supporters like the Morningstar Foundation and the Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds. The center offers spaces for students to connect, study, celebrate, and unwind each week. There’s a new kosher dining hall, complete with a pizza oven and frozen yogurt machine, as well as a cafe and outdoor terrace. Students looking for a quiet place to work can settle into one of seven study rooms, the Beit Midrash, or library. The building also features a lounge, game room, stage, and three multipurpose rooms, the largest of which can accommodate nearly 500 people.
The doors to the new center opened at the start of the semester, and since then, students have been turning the building into their home away from home. During their first weekend in the new space, a record 700 students gathered for Shabbat — an early glimpse of the many celebrations to come.
For Mia Mikowski, a fourth-year student who sits on Maryland Hillel’s board of directors, the new building reflects the strength of Jewish life on campus. “Being a Jewish Terp means being part of a community that shows up for each other, and I’m grateful every day that I get to be part of it,” Mikowski said. “I can’t wait to see the friendships and the memories that get made here, for my class and all those who come after.”
Beyond serving the campus community, Maryland Hillel regularly brings Jewish students together from colleges across the country for events such as the National Hillel Basketball Tournament and the Northeast Hillel A Cappella Competition. With larger gathering spaces, the new center will offer more ways for Maryland’s Jewish students to welcome others from across the Hillel movement.
“With one of the largest and most active Jewish student populations in the country, Jewish Terps deserve a best-in-class Hillel building, with the size and diversity of spaces that matches the diverse needs and interests of Jewish students in College Park,” said Hillel International President and CEO Adam Lehman. “It’s wonderful to see Maryland Hillel creating exactly that kind of new home for Jewish students on campus, where they can build new relationships, deepen their Jewish identities and grow as leaders.”