Local man is among donors who expanded Hillel at Alfred University
Thanks to the support of the Alfred University board of trustees and the school’s president, Mark Zupan, the Melvin H. Hillel House at Alfred University has completed a major expansion and renovation to serve its growing Jewish student population.
Financial support for the renovation was spearheaded by three members of the Alfred University board, lifelong friends from the class of 1969: Eric Bershad, who grew up in Verona and now lives in North Caldwell, as well as Gene Bernstein and Jeff Mauer of Great Neck.
Locally, the Bershad family, Eric and Susan and their children, Philip and Andrea and Jeffrey and Marisa, and their grandchildren, support the Friendship Circle in Livingston. In 2023, the Friendship Circle honored them for their support. They were longtime members of the Pine Brook Jewish Center and are very active in support of Mogen David Adom and the Federation of Palm Beach County.
The Melvin H. Bernstein Hillel House is celebrating its 75th year at Alfred University. It provides Alfred’s Jewish students, faculty, and administration an enriching Jewish residential and cultural experience. Hillel House hosts Friday evening Shabbat dinners during the school year, services for all major holidays, and a monthly bagels-and-lecture series. Hillel House was given a Torah scroll, and a Jewish faculty adviser serves as the religious leader to conduct services.
Melvin Bernstein was a mentor to Gene Bernstein and Eric Bershad during their Alfred days. Mr. Bernstein chaired the school’s English department, and in the absence of a rabbi, served as religious leader and shared holidays together.
The floor-to-ceiling renovation includes two new kitchens, an enlarged dining room and meeting room, a library, a few new bedrooms and bathrooms to serve the students living at Hillel House, and major structural improvements.
University President Mark Zupan has been very supportive of Jewish student life at Alfred. He was one of the first college presidents in the United States to sign onto the Wall Street Journal editorial condemning the October 7th Hamas attacks.
Located on a 60-acre campus in Western New York, about four hours from Manhattan, Alfred University is best known for its school of engineering and its top 10 ranked school of glass material science; the College of Art and Design, with its top 10 ranked MFA program; the business school, and the College of Liberal Arts. Alfred is one of only 15% of universities with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
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