Hillel at Binghamton began in 2001, but there was a Jewish presence on campus for many years before that. When the old lounge was being cleaned out for the move to Hillel's new home in the New Union, people found papers from 1949 that mentioned a Jewish Friendship Society. This eventually became the Jewish Student Union (JSU), which was an independent student group until the seventies, when the Student Association (SA) began to fund religious groups. The Jewish population on campus flourished,

• Foster Jewish education and awareness

• Strengthen community and identity as uniquely Jewish and universally human

• Promote the values of pluralism, tikkun olam, Israel, and Jewish Peoplehood