Credit: DKS Editors

View photos of the performers at Hillel’s free concert.

Hillel finished off its busy two weeks of grand opening festivities with a visit from the 40 Days and 40 Nights College Campus Tour.

The concert was at 8 p.m. Thursday at Hillel’s new home at 613 Summit St. There were also two workshops during the day.

The tour will stop at 30 colleges around the country, and the Kent State stop featured Kevin Minster & Minority Report, Dov, Y-Love and Diwon.

Rahim Mangalji, junior integrated life sciences major played at the concert with Kevin Minster.

“It was fun and nerve-racking,” Mangalji said. “Although the guys in the other bands made it easy because they took us to dinner, and then we hung out at the green room for a little bit.”

Kevin Minster and Minority Report is a band from Kent State consisting of members of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. The other two acts are nationally touring bands.

Eric Braun, a senior computer information systems major and member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, has been to the new student center a few times since it has opened.

“The building is set up perfectly for this,” Braun said. “In the old building we would have never had an event like this.”

Of the two work shops during the day, one was about the Torah in modern music, and they discussed a popular Israeli song. The other discussed the differences between Hebrew and Jewish lyrics.

“It was very interesting to see the correlation between the two,” said Rebecca Carter, junior art history major.

The concert was on a stage on the bottom floor of the building where the Friday Shabbat dinners are usually held.

Emily Lang, sophomore history major, came to the concert because she’s in a class about Zionism in Israel.

“I just wanted to come and check out the building and music since students in my class told me about it,” she said. “The new building is just amazing.”

It was a relaxed atmosphere, and most of the students were talking and dancing to the music.

“I mostly came to support my Alpha Epsilon Pi brothers, but it was awesome to hear some different music too,” Braun said.

Hillel has an open mic night every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. called the chaiPod music lounge.

Contact religion reporter Stephanie Mathias at [email protected].