It is with profound sadness that we share the news that our beloved colleague and friend Dara Goldman passed away last Friday, May 13, 2022. Dara was an Associate Professor of Spanish and the Director of the Program for Jewish Culture and Society. She was also a faculty affiliate of the EUC and a close personal friend of EUC Director Emanuel Rota and his family. A brilliant scholar and mentor, Dara will be deeply missed by her colleagues and students.
 

We would like to share with you the moving obituary that Illini Hillel wrote. Illini Hillel has provided the following information regarding the memorial service and Shiva:

Graveside service and interment will be held on Thursday 5/19/2022 at 2pm in the Jewish section of Mount Hope Cemetery, 611 E Pennsylvania Ave, Champaign, IL. A Memorial service and Shiva will be held immediately after, at 3pm (on Thursday 5/19/2022) at the Cohen Center for Jewish Life (Illini Hillel) at 503 E. John Street, Champaign, IL 61820.

Online participation: A zoom link for the graveside service will be available at a later time on Hillel’s website at http://www.illinihillel.org/dara. The zoom link for the memorial service at Hillel is available here - https://hillel.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMqde-qqzwoEtD9zvsY_ei0Fr4n4QzJBVwr

The family will be holding Shiva and receiving guests at Hillel - The Cohen Center for Jewish Life on Friday 5/20/2022 from 10am-2pm and Sunday 5/22/2022 (exact time will be announced on Hillel’s Website)Her parents will continue a zoom Shiva in New Jersey with exact details to followIn order to protect its most vulnerable members, the family kindly asks that those coming to the memorial or Shiva at Hillel wear masks.

The family will be setting up a scholarship memorial fund in Dara’s memory at the University. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to this fund when it has been set up.

If you would like to leave a memory or condolences for Dara’s family, Melissa Bowles, Head of Spanish & Portuguese, has created a memorial site here where you can do so with text, video, and/or images. It is her hope that by seeing tributes to Dara and the impact she had on so many people, her family will feel at least a small measure of comfort.

Our hearts go out to Dara’s family. 

European Union Center