Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft announces $10 million gift for Brandeis center for Jewish Life

Brandeis University will build a new home for Jewish life on its campus with a $10 million gift from New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft.

The Robert K. Kraft Family Center for Jewish Life and Leadership is expected to open in spring 2028 after renovations are complete, according to a statement from Brandeis. The new 28,000-square-foot facility will house Hillel, which supports Jewish student life and community on campus.

“Brandeis University’s longstanding commitment to excellence, belonging, and Jewish traditions and values has shaped generations of leaders,” said Kraft, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group. “The Kraft family has always been proud to support Brandeis, and I am pleased to strengthen the work of the university and create a Hillel on campus to help educate and inspire students to carry forward the university’s mission.”

The donation from the Kraft Family Foundation is the cornerstone of a $25 million fundraising campaign for Brandeis Hillel that has raised more than $21 million. Nine additional early leadership donors have contributed a combined $9.5 million. Those donors include the Beker Foundation, the Meyer G. Koplow and Ellen Goodstein Koplow Foundation, trustees Dan Jick, Marty Kupferberg and Cindy Shapira, and Hillel at Brandeis Chair Jim Shane and his wife, Rosalie Ripaldi Shane, whose gift helped launch the project.

The center will include meeting spaces; a beit midrash, or house of study, designed for collaborative learning; and flexible event spaces for conferences and public programs. University officials said it will serve as a bridge between undergraduate and graduate Jewish leadership development and position Brandeis as a national and international gathering place for scholars, students and communal leaders. All students will be welcome at the center, the university said.

Kraft’s gift extends a family relationship with Brandeis that spans three generations. Myra Kraft, Robert Kraft’s late wife and a 1964 graduate, was a university trustee and received an honorary doctorate in 2012. Her father, Jacob Hiatt, a businessman and philanthropist, was also a trustee and received an honorary degree in 1977. The couple’s son, Joshua Michael Kraft, a Boston civic and philanthropic leader, served as a trustee as well.

Earlier Kraft family gifts endowed the Myra and Robert Kraft Chair in Arab Politics, the Robert and Myra Kraft Professorship in Christian Studies and two scholarship funds. In 2019 Kraft won the Genesis Prize and used it to establish the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, which works to combat antisemitism and other forms of prejudice.

“Robert Kraft and the Kraft family have a remarkable legacy at Brandeis,” said Arthur Levine, president of Brandeis. “We are also deeply grateful to the alumni and friends whose generous support, vision and leadership are making this historic project a reality.”

Students said a dedicated building would consolidate Jewish life that is now spread across campus.

“I’m so excited for the new Hillel building so that Jewish life can finally have an expansive hub on campus,” said Ollie Small, a junior and student president of Hillel at Brandeis. “I love the magic of all of our Jewish spaces on campus, and it will be so fulfilling to have one central place where everyone can stop by, grab a nosh, and share our dreams for what our community will look like.”

Rabbi Seth Winberg, Hillel’s executive director, said the campaign reflects broader momentum. “The Jewish community is showing up for Brandeis right now, and it shows,” he said.

Brandeis was founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian university rooted in Jewish values and open to all.