Facilities

The Ben Schulman Center for Jewish Life provides a number of facilities and services for Vanderbilt students. The ground floor of the building houses Grins, pronounced “Greens,” a Kosher vegetarian cafe. This restaurant has a menu that changes daily and is on the Vanderbilt Dining Dinner Plan. The menu includes wraps, daily changing panini, entrée, soup, and sides, as well as their famous cookies!

The first floor also includes our student lounge and assembly hall. The student lounge is used by those looking for a place to study, watch TV, or just hang out because of the comfortable furniture.

The large multipurpose space doubles as a sanctuary and performance venue. It features a movable ark containing two Torah scrolls, a grand piano and a raised stage. Using this stage, Vanderbilt Hillel has hosted plays, lectures, movie screenings and concerts.

The second floor of the building houses a classroom, offices and a library. The upstairs library contains hundreds of donated books on a broad range of Jewish topics. This space provides a quiet location for students to study when the ground floor is busy.
may participate in Hillel.

The Vanderbilt Jewish community contains a diverse spectrum of Jews, and we strive to provide a home away from home for every student. With the founding of the Ben Schulman Center for Jewish Life, the establishment of a Jewish Studies program, the creation of a kosher, vegetarian cafe, and the hiring of a campus rabbi, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of Jews attending this school.

In 2005, Vanderbilt's Jewish student population rose to almost 700 students, approximately 10 percent of the undergraduate population. This is a far cry from the 3 percent levels seen just a few years ago. Read about us in the Tennessean and in the Atlanta Jewish Times.