Hundreds of students, parents and faculty joined together yesterday to celebrate the dedication of Penn's new $12 million Hillel building, Steinhardt Hall. "We have the people, the program and now we have the building," said College sophomore Rachel Rosenthal, Hillel's student education chairwoman... (click for more)
Despite an unusually cold day and a shortage of seats, a group of 500 students, community leaders and university officials attended the Oct. 23 dedication of the University of Pennsylvania Hillel’s Steinhardt Hall, which offers a kosher dining hall, a large auditorium and a beit midrash.
Michael Steinhardt, a philanthropist and alumnus who contributed $2.5 million toward the initiative, and University president Judith Rodin praised Penn’s Jewish community and the $12-million project it now boasts... (click for more)
The firm of Jacobs/Wyper Architects, LLP has completed the new Hillel, Steinhardt Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. The firm is the recipient of Hillel’s Design Excellence Award of $25,000 for its superior services. At 36,500 square feet, it is the largest Hillel building of any college or university in the country, serving over 6,000 Jewish students at Penn Hillel and also as the headquarters for Hillel of Greater Philadelphia. The building is designed not only to respond to the needs of the Jewish student community but as an open and friendly place of meeting, socializing and dining for all Penn students.
Located on 39th Street, between Walnut Street and the campus’s beloved Locust Walk, the building enlivens a formerly dormant part of the Penn campus. In massing and materials, Hillel is linked to Penn’s prevailing architectural traditions, while the irregular rhythm of a “pleated” etched art glass corner on the southwest façade breaks its classical symmetry and creates a modern counterpoint to the historic red brick. The two story art glass was designed by Denise Amses and Chris Cosma, New York-based glass artists selected through an invited competition.
Hillel provides the only kosher dining facility on campus in addition to activity rooms, a library, an auditorium, a Beit Midrash (Hebrew-language study center and library) and offices. The building accommodates six separate Sabbath services on weekends, close to 250 students per daily meal and up to 350 after Friday evening services.
After four months of operation, the building has been met with rave reviews by students, faculty and community members.
