Illinois Governor J B Pritzker Helps Dedicate Major New Chabad Campus House

Hundreds of students, alumni, faculty members, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries from around the United States, and local and state officials gathered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to take part in the grand opening of its new 27,000-square-foot Jewish student center and dormitory.

“We created this space as a hub for inclusion, education and ‘pro-semitism,’ ” said Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, who together with his wife Goldie, are the directors of Illini Chabad. The Tiechtels paid homage to those who laid the groundwork for the Chabad—from the founders of Illinois’ Jewish community, who arrived in Champaign just after the Civil War, to the numerous donors such as George and Pamela Rohr, who assisted with the purchase of the building.