The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will open the country’s first university-affiliated housing option for Jewish students in the fall,  reported The News-Gazette on Friday.

The Illini Chabad property, a former fraternity house, will be available to both Jewish freshmen and upperclassmen, though non-Jewish students can live there as well. It is made up of 32 two-bedroom suites, study rooms and more. Illini Chabad Executive Director Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel said plans are being finalized to build a Jewish synagogue in the building.

Residents will have kosher-meal options, housekeeping services, and a complimentary snack and beverage bar. The cost to lease a bedroom is $12,200 for August through May. Six of the rooms have already been leased, said the site’s manager.

The $7.7 million funding campaign for the building included $4.8 million in donations, Tiechtel told The News-Gazette. He added that “we are excited about the whole new level we are going to create with the housing.”

The news comes after two antisemitic incidents took place at the school in February and last month’s announcement that the school has created an advisory council to combat antisemitism on campus.

In 2020, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the university’s handling of antisemitic activity at its school.