High rent levels in The Commons have forced Hillel, a prominent Jewish group on campus, to move its office to a smaller space within the privately owned complex.
The Commons is owned and operated by the development company First Amherst, which rents space to various UB groups, including the UB card office and many restaurants and businesses.
According to Andrea Jacobs, executive director of Hillel and a UB graduate, Hillel couldn't afford to continue to rent out the space.
"We had to downsize so that we were renting more affordable space, but we didn't want to leave campus," said Jacobs. "It's great being here, it's just very expensive."
First Amherst refused to comment on the rent levels for North Campus.
Jacobs said that finding affordable space on campus is a controversial issue with some groups and that in general, campus religious groups have a hard time affording space on campus.
"It's hard to stay here if you don't have solid funding. If you rely on donations, you really don't know if you'll make rent each month," Jacobs said.
Ruth Kleinman, co-president of Hillel and a senior psychology and sociology major, said staying on campus was much more important than the issue of rent and funding.
"Being on campus is very important to us. This is an organization that serves students, and we need to be on campus to do that," said Kleinman. "The other thing is that North Campus is so isolated from the community as it is, so students don't really go off-campus. If we moved off-campus, we really wouldn't get students participating in Hillel."
Jennifer Hankin, Hillel's vice president of marketing, agreed with Kleinman.
"I wish we could've kept the bigger space, but we're lucky we were able to retain space on campus with the available funds," said Hankin, a senior communication major. "It would be a disservice if we moved off-campus. Students aren't used to leaving campus, so they wouldn't come. Basically, Hillel would cease to exist at that point."
According to Tslil Shtulsaft, a senior history major and Hillel student leader, the group considered moving off-campus last year but decided that the move would not be convenient to students and Hillel participants.
"There are so many positives to staying on campus, and it's just very important to us," Shtulsaft said. Plus, it's necessary when trying to get new members to have that visible presence. If we moved, we would have a severe membership drop."
Despite the fact that the new office space is smaller, some members feel that the move will be advantageous because the new office will be more visible to students walking through the union. Their old space, suite 210, is set back in the Commons complex, while the entrance to suite 203 is along the path of student traffic.
"The space is more visible, so people are more likely to see it and be interested, bringing more students in," said Hankin. "A lot of people don't really know what Hillel is, so I think this will help."
Kleinman explained that like their old offices, this space is open to all students.
"The space is smaller, but it still has the campus feel to it," said Kleinman. "People can come in and hang out during the day and even come in at night and study.
