Regional programming takes center stage this semester, with events in Atlanta, Florida, Maryland, Westchester and Los Angeles.
YU professionals from the Institute for University-School Partnership visited Atlanta, GA, for the North American Jewish Day School Conference in January. The Shabbat of January 13-14, Dr. Scott Goldberg, the director of the Institute, spoke at the Young Israel of Toco Hills and hosted a Q&A session addressing the challenges day schools are facing today and innovative solutions to those challenges.
On January 25, YU alumni in South Florida came together at Euro Café in Boca Raton to discuss 
how to build the local YU alumni network. Graduates from the 1950s through 2010 discussed the value of their YU connections, and how they can leverage those connections to help each other, as well as current and future students. Plans are also underway for professional networking events in Hollywood and Miami, and a YU send-off is being planned for students from South Florida heading to YU in August. If you would like to be involved in these events, or if you have ideas for other ways to strengthen your alumni connection to YU, please email alumni@yu.edu.
Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the David Mitzner Dean of the Center for the Jewish Future, was the scholar-in-
residence at Kemp Mill Synagogue in Silver Spring, MD the Shabbat of February
17. Rabbi Brander spoke about the future of modern orthodoxy, noting the movement’s key challenges. He also addressed the topics of Jewish leadership and reproductive issues. Alumni were invited to a special motzei Shabbat event at the home of Andrea and Nick Muzin ’97YC, ’01E. Laura Goldman ’90SB, who co-chaired the event with Lisa Mellman ’89S, led a discussion of YU ‘Then and Now’ in which alumni from as early as the ’50s shared stories of their time on campus, which were contrasted with the 
present-day experience, represented by current Stern College for Women student Atara Siegel. Rabbi Brander described what’s new at YU and answered questions from the alumni who asked about the enhancement of the undergraduate education, which includes the addition of many new full-time faculty members in the past five years. Alumni were also interested in the changes in the Career Development Center and the expansion of professional opportunities available to students. Rabbi Brander also emphasized the impressive experiential learning opportunities that hundreds of students participate in each year through service learning trips to Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua and across the United States.
An event for Westchester area alumni is being planned for late spring led by Rachel Berger ’88S, ’91C and Ellie Goldenberg ’03SB. To help with this event email birch@yu.edu.
Finally, this spring, YU graduates living in Los Angeles, CA, will be able to participate in the third annual alumni event. More details will be available in future alumni eNewsletters; YU graduates who are interested in serving on the host committee should contact Illana Feiglin, director of alumni affairs, at feiglin@yu.edu for more information.
