Mar 27, 2006 -- While Yeshiva University’s undergraduate men’s school, Yeshiva College (YC), geared up for its 75th anniversary, the student newspaper began chronicling its history through a section that resulted in the publication of a unique book: My Yeshiva College: 75 Years of Memories. The volume is a collection of personal essays by former students, faculty, and friends of the school that was the precursor of Yeshiva University. Zev Nagel, editor-in-chief of The Commentator from 2004-2005 and editor of the book with YC student Menachem Butler, realized that many students were not aware of their college’s illustrious history. “We launched a section called YUdaica – a play on the acronym for Yeshiva University (YU) and Judaica – during 2004-05 to inform students about YC’s impressive legacy,” Mr. Nagel said. Interest in the section was not limited to the immediate Yeshiva College ‘family’. Some of the most renowned names in Modern Orthodoxy agreed to participate, thereby making a statement about the interconnectedness between the university and the broader world of contemporary Judaism. YUdaica was also a catalyst in reuniting long-lost friends who rediscovered one another by reading about their friends in The Commentator. “The Commentator’s online readership exploded, quadrupling during the nine months the series ran,” said Menachem Butler, president of the Student Organization of Yeshiva who served as YUdaica editor. “Some of the authors chose to employ a more scholarly approach but this volume in its entirety should be appreciated as memory rather than academic history.” In his introduction to the book, YU President Richard M. Joel wrote, “This volume represents snapshots of the richness and breadth of Yeshiva College, and the energy and excitement that characterize the Yeshiva College experience. Each generation of students faced their own challenges and distinct pressures, yet in each generation the rigorous intellectual pursuit of excellence in both Torah and madda (general studies) shone forth to mold the Yeshiva College student.” President Joel and Joshua L. Muss, Yeshiva College board chairman suggested that the students publish the collection of essays in a commemorative volume. Six months later My Yeshiva College was released. “There is a remarkable synergy between the Judaic and secular faculty that captures the hearts of YC’s students,” said Mr. Nagel. “The challenges we face today are very similar to those we had 50 years ago. Students need to be aware that they are part of Yeshiva University’s history and should live it and study it.” Many of the authors are respected academics within and beyond the college, prominent communal leaders as well as Torah scholars. Among the authors whose writings appear in the book are well known and respected members of the modern Orthodox community including Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, the Joseph H. & Belle Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University who wrote the afterword, the Hon. Abraham D. Sofaer, formerly a U.S. judge in the Southern District of New York and currently the George P. Shultz Distinguished Scholar and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford, and Michael Broyde, professor of law at Emory University.