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HEBREW COLLEGE LAUNCHES THE NEXT STAGE IN ITS $100 MILLION CAMPAIGN The Hebrew College community learned one basic lesson this fall: if you travel to campus on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, be sure to arrive by 9:00 a.m. if you want to find a good parking space.
To create more room and enable the College to fulfill its mandate to apply high-quality academic study of Judaism to the life of the community, Hebrew College is launching Phase Two of a $100 million capital campaign. Phase One, which began with the push for the new campus five years ago, successfully raised $30 million. Now, says President David Gordis, the goal is to raise $70 million over the next several years to achieve three key goals: complete the campus to address current and anticipated space needs, consolidate and strengthen the academic and administrative infrastructure of the College's programs, and solidify the College's fiscal foundation. Reflecting on the mix of challenges and blessings that the College's growth represents, Gordis pulls a blue-bound copy of Mishna from his crowded bookshelf and flips to Pirke Avot 4,27: "Great buildings do not create great institutions," he says. "Nevertheless, it's undeniable that Hebrew College's new campus has energized the institution and been a magnet for both College and community activity. This Phase Two campaign, which will complete our campus—both physically and substantively—is an exciting and vital undertaking." To solve the immediate space shortage, the College is leasing the first floor of Farwell Hall at next-door Andover Newton Theological School to house the Rabbinical School's Bet Midrash and office space for the Wilstein Institute and Camp Yavneh. The College is also renting classrooms at nearby Mt. Ida College on Sundays for a section of Prozdor classes, using shuttle bus service between campuses. In the meantime, preparation for Phase Two is well underway. Architect Moshe Safdie, who designed the Newton Centre campus, has been retained for the project. Following initial meetings with Safdie and Associates, Columbia Construction Co., as well as legal and project development consultants, the Board of Trustees authorized the College to move forward with planning, schematic drawings, legal work and site testing. Based on a survey of current and anticipated space usage, and the need to maximize effective use of available space on the College's seven-acre site, architects have developed a new model for the campus. Plans under discussion include completing the circular wing of the Cutler-Chafetz building and constructing a curved row of three new academic/office buildings, facing the common, each to include three floors of classrooms, offices and special-purpose rooms as well as two lower levels of parking. On the opposite side of the common, to the left of the Gann Library, would be a fourth academic building. At the common's far end, a 399-seat, sloped-floor auditorium would provide a venue for theatrical and musical performances, films and other special events.
To further enhance parking, a second level would be added to the parking lot behind the Gann Library. New traffic patterns are under discussion, subject to negotiation with the City of Newton. Alternatives for off-campus student housing are being explored as well. Trustee Mark Atkins is chairing the Board Development Committee to assist with the campaign, working closely with College leadership (see profile). In addition, the building committee that oversaw Phase One—Chairman Joseph Michaelson, Edward Guzovsky and Leslie Bornstein Stacks—is supervising the project in collaboration with project manager Stuart Lesser of Johnson, Lesser and Associates. "I'm extremely excited about the prospect of Hebrew College moving forward with the rich array of high-impact programs developed by the College's staff," says Atkins. "And I believe, in the second decade of President Gordis's leadership, that the College is clearly evolving from a prestigious local college of higher Jewish learning to a leading national academic institution of comprehensive, advanced Jewish studies." |
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The reason is simple: A growing graduate student body, the Rabbinical School, Me'ah classes, the Me'ah Graduate Institute, Kol Isha lunchtime seminars, Alumni Chug Ivri and a spate of popular conferences and programs, from the sold-out Wilstein/Brandeis examination of the National Jewish Population Study to the national NETA Principal's Forum—and that's the short list—have electrified the campus. On Sundays when Prozdor, with its 800-plus students, is in session, there's no doubt—Hebrew College is out of space.
, translating, "Don't look at the container, but rather at what it contains."
Below the common on the lower level, the dining hall kitchen would be expanded as well as the student lounge. A new, skylight-illuminated multipurpose space, capable of accommodating 400 people, would extend outward from the lower level of the Auditorium. All sections of the campus would remain connected through the lower level, enabling people to move from building to building without facing the elements during harsh weather.