Hillel House closes after funding cuts

By Trey Braunecker

A campus organization has had to shutter its meeting space because of budget issues.

The Hillel organization, also known as The Foundation for Jewish Life on Campus, has provided Jewish college students a Registered Student Organization to help establish a tight-knit community while emphasizing Judaism for more than 90 years, according to its website. However, Carbondale’s Hillel chapter was denied the funding needed to keep it from operating because of the organization’s budget cuts.

Located near campus, the house is a place where Jewish students could meet to connect with other Jewish students on SIU’s campus.

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Melissa Schwedel, a university Hillel chapter organizer, said funding became an issue because of Hillel’s decreased recession budget, as well as the organization’s size.

“I think it is mainly the economy,” said Schwedel, a graduate student in public administration from Buffalo Grove. “Not many organizations have much money to begin with, so it needs to be rationed out. That means bigger Hillel chapters are getting more funding because they have more membership and participation.”

Hillel’s inadequate marketing also made it harder for the university’s Hillel chapter to present the RSO to the student body, said Torin Hopkins, a senior from Highland Park studying physiology and  a university Hillel chapter organizer.

Hopkins said Jewish RSO university funding is difficult to obtain, especially for a campus located so close to the Bible Belt.

“Years ago, some people had the idea to buy the house in expectation that participation would keep growing for the house and the economy would pick up,” he said. “Unfortunately for the student body, it is not something we can afford right now.”

Hillel has not had the presence other RSOs have established because the Jewish community is not strong on campus, Hopkins said.

“The fact is, we do not have a lot of Jewish students on campus,” he said. “Losing Hillel means the Jewish students here on campus will not feel like they are at home at an environment where they can be open about their Judaism.”

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With such a diverse university community, Hopkins said it can be hard to come into contact with other students who share the same religious beliefs. The Hillel House not only introduced Hopkins to fellow Jewish students, he said, but it also helped him find a place to practice Judaism without prejudice.

“Coming out and saying you’re Jewish in a place like this is not really the most comfortable thing to do,” Hopkins said. “Living in the dormitory, I did not tell anybody I was Jewish until I had to, and when that came out I was called the Jew on my floor the entire year.”

He said religious identity can be an issue on campus, where Christianity has a greater population.

“When you come to college, you want to be part of a group where you can create a new image for yourself, and it needs to be one where you can feel comfortable about yourself and your background, especially if it involves religious practice,” he said.

With the loss, the university’s Jewish students will lose the solid student community and many traditions they practiced, said Jeanette Grosman, a Hillel chapter organizer.

“The Hillel House has always been a place for students to meet on Friday nights and have Shabbat services and dinner, and on Jewish holidays we would gather there,” she said.

Although the house is closed, Schwedel said Carbondale’s Jewish community has been supportive.

“The community has been fantastic,” Schwedel said. “They love when students attend their services and are involved with their programs, but they are much older than the students here.”

Schwedel said the house loss also means students will not have access to specific services such as preparing kosher meals or having peers who can relate to classes and school.

Even without the house, Carbondale’s Hillel chapter is still determined to make a difference for Jewish students, he said.

“It is not that the culture will not continue, but it makes it a lot harder when you do not have a specific place for students to come together,” he said.

 

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