Marcus Challenge aims to raise $1 million for Penn State Hillel

University Park, Pa. -- Long-time Penn State benefactors Harold and Inge Marcus have established a $500,000 challenge grant to encourage fundraising for Penn State Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Student Life.

The Marcus Challenge will match on a dollar-for-dollar basis gifts that are made to the newly created Penn State Hillel Enrichment Endowment. Penn State Hillel must raise $500,000 from other donors by Dec. 1, 2006, to receive the full challenge gift from the Marcuses. The goal is to fund the Enrichment Endowment at $1 million.

Income from the endowment will help support the executive director's position and new programming, as well as provide unrestricted funds for use as determined by the Hillel board of directors.

"We believe that this challenge gift will bolster Penn State Hillel's fund-raising capacity and provide social, cultural, religious and educational activities for Jewish students, faculty and staff," said Harold Marcus, a member of the University's class of 1949.

Penn State Hillel has been an important part of the Jewish campus community since its creation in 1935, according to Executive Director Tuvia Abramson.

"At that time, there were only 400 Jewish students at Penn State," Abramson said. "Today there are more than 4,000. It is a thriving, diverse and ever-growing community, and we are grateful to the Marcuses for taking a leadership role in establishing this challenge, which will help us keep pace with our growth and aspirations."

A Brooklyn native, "Hal" Marcus earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Penn State and went on to have a distinguished career in that field before entering the real estate business. He currently heads two real estate development and management companies, based in Olympia, Wash. Inge Marcus, a native of Denmark, holds degrees in biology and health sciences.

In 2003, Penn State named the Marcuses Philanthropists of the Year in recognition of their extraordinary support of the College of Engineering and Penn State Hillel. The college's Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering also is named in their honor.

All outright gifts and pledges made through Dec. 1, 2006, to the Hillel Enrichment Endowment will be eligible for matching funds from the Marcus Challenge.

For further information about the Marcus Challenge and Penn State Hillel Enrichment Endowment, contact Kenneth Cutler, director of University programs, at kmc2@psu.edu or 814-865-3283.

For further information about Penn State Hillel, contact Tuvia Abramson at Hillel@psu.edu or 814-863-3816.