In March 2026, Michigan Hillel launched its Centennial Celebration: a year-long commemoration of the Jewish organization’s century of existence at U-M. An array of events included a Mega Shabbat Dinner at Michigan Stadium, with care taken to cater to the needs of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform practitioners.
A century earlier, the spirit of Michigan Hillel’s unifying mission predated its existence. The Menorah Society, originally founded in 1906 at Harvard with the Ann Arbor chapter established in 1910, was the first official Jewish student group at U-M. They were followed by the Jewish Student Congregation in 1914 and the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority in 1921 (originally founded in 1909 at Barnard College). These early groups provided religious services and social opportunities for a population lacking local options, including for non-students.
In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel’s work with the B’nai B’rith organization resulted in the establishment of the first Hillel (named after the ancient leader and scholar) at the University of Illinois. Preceded by the University of Wisconsin (1924) and Ohio State University (1925), Michigan Hillel was established in 1926 as the fourth Hillel in the world.
The need to satisfy social and cultural needs, along with religion, was apparent from the earliest days. The Oct. 6, 1927, edition of The Hillel News, the U-M organization’s newspaper, features an impassioned editorial:
“The Jewish student body’s meeting place compares favorably with any of the church guild houses on campus. Make use of it. The best Jewish literature is at your disposal in the Hillel library. A piano and victrola are ready at any moment to entertain. Come around and play bridge, dance or sing. … Get acquainted. Lose ‘that lonesome away-from-home neglected’ feeling at the Hillel Open House. … Make the Hillel a necessary factor in your life and go through your college career with Hillel behind you. GET THE HILLEL HABIT!”
An edition later that month reports on soon-to-begin practices for Hillel’s first musical comedy, featuring a cast of almost 30 students. It also advertises a new outlet for Jewish student writers: The Literary Comment. Over Hillel’s ensuing 100 years, countless mixers, stage plays, organized sports, guest speakers, art exhibitions, concerts, and other social and cultural activities served to bind the community together.
The Centennial Celebration exemplified the organization’s long history of providing space for Jewish social and cultural life as methods of reinforcing solidarity. Michigan Hillel stands poised to produce another century of opportunities, programming, and spaces for Jewish students to learn, create, and share their culture.
Includes information sourced and/or adapted from “Hillel at Michigan, 1926/27-1945: Struggles of Jewish Identity in a Pivotal Era” by Andrei S. Markovits and Kenneth Garner (2016).
Gregory Lucas-Myers, ’10, is the senior associate editor of Michigan Alum.
