Brandeis University and Hillel at Brandeis announce major initiative to strengthen Jewish life on campus
Renovation of former Kutz Hall underscores Brandeis’ historic mission and investment in the Jewish future
May 16, 2025
In a landmark development affirming its founding mission, Brandeis University has announced a major partnership with Hillel at Brandeis to renovate a former administrative building into a new, state-of-the-art Center for Jewish Life. The 28,000-square-foot building will become the permanent home for Hillel, anchoring Jewish life in the heart of campus. This project reinforces the university’s founding mission — to create a university where Jews could thrive, free of discrimination — by centering Jewish belonging.
Brandeis and Hillel were founded in the same year — 1948 — with a shared vision of expanding access to higher education, and nurturing Jewish leadership and scholarship. For decades, Hillel has been the spiritual and communal heart of Jewish life on campus, providing support, education and community to thousands of students, and serving as a resource to faculty and staff. The new center will build on this legacy, offering students an immersive and impactful experience during a formative period in their lives.
Originally built as the university’s first student center in the late 1950s and later converted to administrative use in the 1970s, Kutz Hall now sits vacant. Its transformation will provide Hillel with its first permanent home at Brandeis.
“Brandeis was founded as a university where Jewish students and scholars could thrive,” said Brandeis University Interim President Arthur Levine. “This is a milestone moment for us. The new Hillel building is critical to our advancement as a university rooted in Jewish values and committed to community and excellence.”
Hillel at Brandeis worked with the award-winning firm Bruner/Cott Architects to design the renovation, following months of focus groups and interviews with students, faculty, alumni and campus partners. The concept design for the building includes gathering and event spaces, student lounges, a café and kitchen, a Beit Midrash, a rooftop deck and offices for Hillel staff and educators. Kosher dining will remain in university dining halls, while the new facility will become the home base for Shabbat and holiday meals, celebrations and services.
“This center is about empowering students to become confident, connected Jewish adults,” said Jim Shane, G’26, chair of the Hillel at Brandeis Board and a leader in this initiative alongside his wife, Rosalie ’66. “When students have a space where they feel safe, supported and grounded, they can grow into the kinds of leaders our communities need.”
Sheri Gurock ’99, P’25, an accomplished lay leader and Executive Director of The Beker Foundation, will serve as chair of the capital campaign to support the new center.
Brandeis alumni serve in leadership roles across the Jewish communal world — as rabbis, educators, top nonprofit executives, US ambassadors and philanthropists. The new center is designed to fortify that pipeline by fostering meaningful communal experiences, service, learning and leadership development on campus.
“This is a statement about who we are and where Brandeis is going,” said Rabbi Seth Winberg, Hillel’s Executive Director, who also serves as Senior Chaplain at the university. “Students today need more than programming — they need community, mentorship and a place to call home. This renovation will give them more of that.”
In addition to enriching student life, the new center will enable Brandeis to host Jewish leadership conferences and summer convenings, further strengthening the university’s role as a hub for communal thought and innovation.
The renovation is the centerpiece of a $25 million Campaign for the Future of Jewish Life at Brandeis, which includes capital and endowment support to sustain Hillel’s impact for years to come. Construction is expected to begin once fundraising milestones are met.
