About Columbia/Barnard Hillel
Mission
Columbia/Barnard Hillel empowers Jewish students to explore, define, and celebrate their Jewish identity in ways that are meaningful to them. As a vibrant hub of Jewish life, learning, and leadership, we serve students of all backgrounds, traditions, and approaches to observance.
Our mission is to create opportunities for intellectual, spiritual, and social engagement with Judaism—fostering honest questions, deep conversations, and joyful expression. Through immersive experiences, student-led communities, cultural celebrations, and meaningful learning, we help students integrate Jewish values into every aspect of their lives.
About Us
By encouraging exploration in warm and accepting environments, we invite self-reflection and open dialogue so each student can discover their own path to integrate being Jewish into their life choices and expressions.
While our mission is constant, our methods are defined only by the limits of our community’s imagination. We create experiences and communities focused on social, cultural and educational programs, social action, Israel, and religious life. We draw upon the rigorous and intellectually-exciting environment of Columbia University and New York City.
In a world of abounding choices, we offer a captivating array of opportunities which engage students in all things Jewish– fun and thoughtful– opening the door to transformational experiences. We are passionately committed to enabling our students to meaningfully contribute to the local and global Jewish community, Columbia University, and the world-at-large.
History of Columbia/Barnard Hillel
In 1929, Columbia alumni led by Arthur Hays Sulzberger, Justice Benjamin Cardozo, and Judge Irving Lehman formed the Jewish Advisory Board to support the Counselor to Jewish Students.
The Jewish Advisory Board incorporated in 1971 as the Jewish Campus Life Fund (JCLF) to strengthen and sustain Jewish life on campus. In 1990, the JCLF led a successful proposal to establish a dedicated Jewish center, launching a major capital campaign that culminated in a ceremonial groundbreaking in 1995.
In 1999, Columbia’s Jewish community formally affiliated with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life (Hillel International). The Robert K. Kraft Family Center for Jewish Student Life—named in recognition of the generosity of Columbia Trustee Robert K. Kraft and his family—opened its doors in 2000.
For a closer look at the impact of the Kraft Center over the past two and a half decades, explore our 25th anniversary photo gallery.
