A proposed new building on West Campus, expected to open in summer 2027, will provide a dedicated home for a student organization that helps students connect and develop their Jewish and religious identity.

“This new home will provide a physical and spiritual place to gather, engage, worship and learn in a comfortable, dedicated environment,” said Dr. Steven Grinspoon ’83, who along with his wife, Winifred Grinspoon ’83, made a significant gift to support the facility and the Steven K. and Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center for Jewish Community at Cornell, formerly known as Cornell Hillel. “Cornell has a vibrant Jewish community, often dispersed across a large campus. Creating a home will further tie the community together and provide a new outlet for open engagement and expression.”

The organization’s growth and success over the last quarter-century was seeded by the vision and investment of the late Bernard Yudowitz ’56. In 1998, the Yudowitz Center for Jewish Campus Life was created in recognition of a gift from Bernard and Evelyn Yudowitz ’56 to support Hillel, and the new building will include recognition of the couple.

“We remain grateful for the generosity of the Yudowitz family,” said Rabbi Ari Weiss, CEO of Grinspoon Hillel. “Their commitment to Cornell’s Jewish student community has been inspired and unwavering.”

The proposed new Grinspoon Hillel center, at 722 University Ave., will feature a kosher café, lounge, classrooms, study rooms, administrative offices, ritual spaces and a multipurpose event space with a porch terrace.

Under the proposal, Grinspoon Hillel will own the building and lease the land from the university, with a groundbreaking scheduled for spring 2026. The group has raised more than $34 million, which covers the cost of the building, and hope to raise another $20 million to fund building care and programming.

“With this building, Cornell joins the ranks of other Ivy League schools in having a standalone Hillel center on our campus,” Weiss said. “This will be more than a building: It will be a home for the celebration of Jewish life and culture.”

Emma Steinberger ’28, Grinspoon Hillel development intern and chair of freshman engagement for the group’s executive board, said she’s excited to see Jewish and non-Jewish students use the building when it opens during her senior year. 

“Hillel has allowed me to have a community and meet a lot of people,” she said, and also to bring some of my non-Jewish friends along and have them experience my community and see everything it’s about.”