Terry and Sam D. Roth at the Hillel House at Ohio University (OU) in 1961
Submitted by Ohio University Hillel
Ohio University (OU) Hillel has received a $500,000 donation from long-time supporters Sam D. and Terry Roth, of Youngstown, Ohio. The donation is earmarked for improvements to the Hillel building at 21 Mill Street in Athens, Ohio. OU Hillel hired RVC Architects, Inc. to design and oversee the renovations. “One of the main focuses of the renovation is our kitchen,” said OU Hillel Executive Director Juli Goodman. “Comfort and community is created through both making and eating food, so enhancing our kitchen space is a high priority.”
Additional building improvements will include:
– Modifying the entryway to create a new enclosed secure entry.
– Enhancing the sanctuary, including creating a new bimah.
– Updating bathrooms, lighting, flooring, etc. on the 1st and 2nd floors.
– Improving the rear entrance for ADA accessibility.
– Making exterior renovations to windows, woodwork, masonry.
Sam D. and Terry Roth at OU Hillel in May 2024
The work is expected to begin in spring 2025 and be completed in time for the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Donors Sam and Terry Roth met at OU Hillel in 1960. Sam studied business administration and accounting, and Terry majored in education. “I was on the Hillel Board, and they were looking for an editor of the Hillel Highlights, a two-page mimeographed sheet of the doings for the next week,” said Sam. “Terry interviewed for the position. Well, she didn’t get the job, but we started going out and ultimately got married.” Terry recalls a social life that revolved around Hillel, filled with activities, services, seders, teaching Sunday school for the local Jewish community, and “cost” suppers on Sunday nights where you could get sloppy joes for $0.50.
“Hillel made such a great meeting place,” said Terry. “Sam and I found both life-long friends there and each other.”
Sam and Terry raised 3 children in Youngstown and now have nine grandchildren. They currently spend the warmer months in Ohio and winters in Florida.
Sam and Terry decided to make the donation after visiting OU Hillel last spring.
“We want to make the Hillel house a welcoming, comfortable, and safe place for Jewish students at OU and the Jewish community,” said Sam.
With the Roth’s donation, OU Hillel will be kicking off a “Gateway” campaign before the end of the year to raise additional funds for services, meals, and programming. The campaign’s theme is inspired by the iconic OU Class Gateway in College Green and the tradition of placing mezuzzahs on doorposts and gates to mark our homes as Jewish spaces.
OU Hillel serves an estimated 350 Jewish undergraduate students from across the state of Ohio and beyond, as well as 100 Jewish families in southeastern Ohio.
