Rice Celebrates jewish Studen Center

Rice Celebrates jewish Studen Center

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
April 22, 1999

Students, alumni, members of the Rice administration and leaders from the Jewish
community gathered April 15 to celebrate the new Ida and William Zinn Hillel
Student Center at 1700 Bissonnet. The reception was co-hosted by Rice and the
Hillel Foundation.

Speakers included Rice President Malcolm Gillis; Marvin Woskow ’50, president
of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston; Karol Musher, president of the
Hillel Foundation of Greater Houston; and Rabbi David Moss, Hillel’s executive
director.

At the event, Hillel member and Lovett College senior Jane Tavyev noted that
the Houston branch of the national Jewish student organization Hillel, "has
been able to grow and blossom because we now have a space for meeting our social,
cultural and religious needs. And with its central location, this building allows
us to meet with Jewish students from other Houston campuses." Tavyev noted
that Hillel offers something for every Jewish student at Rice, "from the
scholar to the schmoozer."

Among those in attendance from Rice were Jordan Konisky, vice provost for research
and graduate studies, and Zenaido Camacho, vice president for student affairs.

Jews and Jewish cultural activity at Rice have a legacy as old as the university.
Emanuel Raphael, the son of a prominent Houston rabbi, helped take the lead
in selecting Rice’s first president, Edgar Odell Lovett, and the two men became
close friends, recalled Gillis in his remarks at the reception.

Gillis noted that three years after Rice opened, a Menorah Society was established,
and since then a variety of academic programs exploring Jewish religion and
culture have been offered in various academic programs, including the Department
of Religious Studies, the Department of History and the Center for the Study
of Cultures.

Said Gillis: "While a close analysis of Rice history reveals many close
ties between the Jewish community and Rice University, there were also times
when the university might have moved further, faster to make the campus a comfortable
home for Jewish students. Knowing this, I strongly encouraged the support of
board member Kenneth Oshman, upon learning of his intention to support this
new Hillel Foundation Student Center, a place where Jewish students might meet
to strengthen their faith and associations.

"Since this magnificent center opened a little over one year ago, thanks
to the support of Ken Oshman and others, your programs and events have gone
a long way toward meeting these goals. Rice University, working hand-in-hand
with the Hillel Foundation, is providing the opportunity for a campus Jewish
experience comparable to that at Ivy League colleges and benefits all Rice students,
staff, faculty and alumni."

Rabbi Moss noted that Rice Hillel has reason to celebrate "exciting programs
that link young Jewish men and women with each other and with their Jewish pasts
and Jewish futures." Musher described the Hillel Center as a place where
students could enrich their lives as Jews "spiritually, intellectually
and socially."

On display was a model of a Torah ark for the Hillel Center, designed by Cine
Ostrow and Meredith Elbaum, graduate students at the Rice School of Architecture.

Music was provided by Shepherd School of Music students.