Spring Break
Hillel moves to Fraternity Circle, expects new house to meet needs
Somsopheap Vey
Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
11/09/05 - The University of Rhode Island Hillel, a Jewish student organization, acquired two sections of the old Alpha Xi Delta sorority house to serve for formal meetings, functions and office space Monday.
Hillel was created to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, Hillel Executive Director Amy Olsen said.
"We're in charge of the Jewish Life Activities on campus," President Alex Hershey said. "We're the home for the Jewish chapter."
URI Hillel's offices, previously located in the URI Christopher House at 34 Lower College Road, will be moving to 12 Fraternity Circle.
Hilled moved because the building was not an adequate facility for their programming needs.
"It's just inefficient for the kind of programming that we want to do," Hershey said. "We needed [the facility] to be appealing and we needed it to be appropriate for our organization; 34 Lower College Road wasn't necessarily that."
The house had three offices and two programming spaces. "Although it might be a nice house, for what we needed, we needed more programming space and less office space, and that's not what we had," Hershey said.
Olsen agreed, "It wasn't laid so that people could use it as a gathering spot."
Their new facility suits Hillel's needs. They acquired an apartment to serve as office space for the executive director and the director of Jewish student life, ballroom area for programming space, a kitchen and a meeting area.
"We're coexisting," Olsen said about sharing the house with the current residents, adding that they are currently trying to work on a compromise with the residents in the house.
"We are community service oriented to an extent ... but mostly social," Hillel Programming Chair Mitch Doctor said.
Hillel does attempt to offer an outlet for religious activities. "We try to have, at least twice a month, to have Friday night dinner with service attached to that," Hershey said. "We try to bring people in."
"It's nice to be able to have one facility to ... keep all our things in one place," Olsen said, referring to their past experience using the Memorial Union and other buildings for the programming activities.
The Director of Jewish Student Life Meredith Kaufman said it was a great move.
"I think it's great," Hershey said. "I think it's really going to suit to us well. I am really excited for what it could do for us, this organization."
Hillel was created to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, Hillel Executive Director Amy Olsen said.
"We're in charge of the Jewish Life Activities on campus," President Alex Hershey said. "We're the home for the Jewish chapter."
URI Hillel's offices, previously located in the URI Christopher House at 34 Lower College Road, will be moving to 12 Fraternity Circle.
Hilled moved because the building was not an adequate facility for their programming needs.
"It's just inefficient for the kind of programming that we want to do," Hershey said. "We needed [the facility] to be appealing and we needed it to be appropriate for our organization; 34 Lower College Road wasn't necessarily that."
The house had three offices and two programming spaces. "Although it might be a nice house, for what we needed, we needed more programming space and less office space, and that's not what we had," Hershey said.
Olsen agreed, "It wasn't laid so that people could use it as a gathering spot."
Their new facility suits Hillel's needs. They acquired an apartment to serve as office space for the executive director and the director of Jewish student life, ballroom area for programming space, a kitchen and a meeting area.
"We're coexisting," Olsen said about sharing the house with the current residents, adding that they are currently trying to work on a compromise with the residents in the house.
"We are community service oriented to an extent ... but mostly social," Hillel Programming Chair Mitch Doctor said.
Hillel does attempt to offer an outlet for religious activities. "We try to have, at least twice a month, to have Friday night dinner with service attached to that," Hershey said. "We try to bring people in."
"It's nice to be able to have one facility to ... keep all our things in one place," Olsen said, referring to their past experience using the Memorial Union and other buildings for the programming activities.
The Director of Jewish Student Life Meredith Kaufman said it was a great move.
"I think it's great," Hershey said. "I think it's really going to suit to us well. I am really excited for what it could do for us, this organization."
