About Hillel
General Information
The Helene G. Simon Hillel Center serves as the center of Jewish life at Indiana University. For the past
15 years, Indiana University Hillel, and by extension student life at IU, has experienced a transformation
from an organization focused solely on religious observances to a vibrant hub of diversity and
educational programming and services, which impacts almost 35,000 students from across the state of
Indiana.
IU Hillel is a pioneer and leader in the field of student diversity work. The organization recognizes the
holistic benefit of communities working together in order to embrace and learn from diversity, the
organization works extensively on multi-cultural and diversity-focused programs for the entire Indiana
University student and administrative community. Fostering a sense of community in an academic
environment is linked to students’ success and ability to continue moving forward in their learning
aspirations. These goals are directly driven from the organization’s central mission and are achieved
through working with other student cultural groups on collaborative programming, to creating diversity
workshops for residence hall staff, to working with the university to pioneer innovative racial incidence
response teams that immediately respond to any crimes of hate on the IU campus.
Indiana Hillel strives to be a "Jewish home away from home" for students attending IU. The building is
open from 9:30am-9:00pm during the week, 9:30am-Shabbat on Friday, and 12:00-8:00pm on Sunday to
provide ample opportunity for students to utilize the facilities. IU Hillel has a student office, free wi-fi, a
pool table and a full Cybex workout circuit, as well as lots of comfortable couches to relax on. Hillel also
has an open refrigerator policy for student to grab a snack or a to-go box.
Brief History
The IU Hillel Foundation was founded on this campus in 1938. Since that time, it has grown to be the
flagship Hillel in the state of Indiana. Through the generosity of private donors and in memory of Helene
G. Simon, the current home of Indiana Hillel was dedicated in 1993. With the new building, Indiana Hillel
continued to grow and prosper. The success of the program was recognized in May of 1995 when Hillel:
The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life officially accredited Indiana Hillel. The program and building now
serve over 4,200 Jewish students on the Indiana University Campus.