Penn State Hillel’s Gutterman Family Center for Jewish Life open in downtown State College
More than 100 members of the university and local community — some sporting suits and ties, a few T-shirts — gathered Friday to celebrate the ribbon cutting for Penn State Hillel’s new Gutterman Family Center for Jewish Life in downtown State College.
The 15,000-square-foot-space, with floor-to-ceiling windows, serves as the home base for Penn State Hillel, a Jewish student organization that’s part of an international foundation. The sunlight-filled interior at 180 S. Garner St. features lounge space, meeting rooms, event spaces, staff offices and a monumental staircase that can double as auditorium seating.
One official described it as the Jewish version of Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center. Others said it already felt like home.
“Hillel has undoubtedly become my second home at school — especially now that it’s basically in my apartment building,” Hillel student leader Emily Rosen joked, drawing laughs after alluding to the fact the center is part of the same structure as student high-rise The Maxxen.
Developers of the high-rise financed a majority of the center’s two-floor construction in exchange for part of the real estate that Penn State Hillel owned there. Other funds came from donations, such as a $3 million contribution from the Gutterman Family, whose name graces the new center.
Penn State Hillel was previously located solely in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. It will still have some offices there but wanted to expand since it previously boasted just 1,400 square feet for about 5,000 Jewish students on campus.
“We value that relationship very deeply, and we’ll maintain that going forward,” Penn State Hillel executive director Aaron Kaufman said about Pasquerilla. “At the same time, with thousands of Jewish students on campus, that simply wasn’t enough space.
“With the difficult climate for Jews in America and around the world these last number of years, it’s important for students to have a space that is comfortable and welcoming and feels sacred. And that’s what we’ve created.”
Various university leaders, trustees and community officials attended Friday’s grand opening. State College Mayor Ezra Nanes — the borough’s first Jewish mayor — issued and read a proclamation for the center’s opening. University President Neeli Bendapudi gushed over the articulate student leader, turning to the parents and grandparents in the audience and quipping, “If you have more, please send them.” And Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International, praised Penn State Hillel for engaging more than 700 new students since the summer — more than twice as many as usual.
The interior’s mostly white walls and blue carpets reminded visitors they were just a block off-campus. And a Nittany Lion mezuzah, a decorative ornament affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes, hung near the entrances.
“I can say I hear from so many people how Hillel has been such a valuable partner in enhancing the Penn State experience — and you’ve heard, whether it’s academic excellence, whether it’s social justice, whether it’s ethical leadership or a sense of belonging,” Bendapudi said during Friday’s ceremony. “So that gives me great joy. And what a spectacular place this is. ... You want to talk about warm, loving, inviting — I cannot think of a better space.”
While Penn State Hillel offers a number of opportunities to Jewish students — such as microgrants, birthright trips to Israel, holiday services, etc. — it also organizes some outreach for all students. The best-known example, which is often posted in online parents groups, includes the “Chicken Soup Hotline,” a student-led, volunteer initiative that delivers hot matzo ball soup to sick students at no cost.
Kaufman, who’s served Penn State Hillel since 2007, said it’s been rewarding to see the progress of the organization. And, toward the end of the ceremony, he said he looks forward to seeing what further good would come from it in the future.
“As Hillel the Elder once said, ‘A single candle can light a thousand more without diminishing itself,’” Kaufman added. “The Gutterman Family Center will help us light the candles of thousands and thousands of Jewish students who will spread that light throughout our community, our country and the world.”
Although the ribbon cutting and grand opening officially occurred Friday, the building opened to students in April in time for Passover, following a pandemic-related construction delay. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
