Message From Our President
Dear Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends,
I am pleased to present to you this Guide to our plans for the upcoming fall semester and reopening of our campuses. In form and in content, this coming semester will be like no other. We will live differently, work differently and learn differently. But in its very difference rests its enormous power.
The mission of Yeshiva University is to enrich the moral, intellectual and spiritual development of each of our students, empowering them with the knowledge and abilities to become people of impact and leaders of tomorrow. Next year’s studies will be especially instrumental in shaping the course of our students’ lives. Character is formed and developed in times of deep adversity. This is the kind of teachable moment that Yeshiva University was made for. As such, we have developed an educational plan for next year that features a high-quality student experience and prioritizes personal growth during this Coronavirus era. Our students will be able to work through the difficulties, issues and opportunities posed by our COVID-19 era with our stellar rabbis and faculty, as well as their close friends and peers at Yeshiva.
To develop our plans for the fall, we have convened a Scenario Planning Task Force made up of representatives across the major areas of our campus. Their planning has been guided by the latest medical information, government directives, direct input from our rabbis, faculty and students, and best practices from industry and university leaders across the country. I am deeply thankful to our task force members and all who supported them for their tireless work in addressing the myriad details involved in bringing students back to campus and restarting our educational enterprise.
In concert with the recommendations from our task force, I am announcing today that our fall semester will reflect a hybrid model. It will allow many students to return in a careful way by incorporating online and virtual learning with on-campus classroom instruction. It also enables students who prefer to not be on campus to have a rich student experience by continuing their studies online and benefitting from a full range of online student services and extracurricular programs.
In bringing our students back to campus, safety is our first priority. Many aspects of campus life will change for this coming semester. Gatherings will be limited, larger courses will move completely online. Throughout campus everyone will need to adhere to our medical guidelines, including social distancing, wearing facemasks, and our testing and contact tracing policies. Due to our focus on minimizing risk, our undergraduate students will begin the first few weeks of the fall semester online and move onto the campus after the Jewish holidays. This schedule will limit the amount of back and forth travel for our students by concentrating the on-campus component of the fall semester to one consecutive segment.
Throughout our planning, we have used the analogy of a dimmer switch. Reopening our campuses will not be a simple binary, like an on/off light switch, but more like a dimmer in which we have the flexibility to scale backwards and forwards to properly respond as the health situation evolves. It is very possible that some plans could change, depending upon the progression of the virus and/or applicable state and local government guidance.
Before our semester begins, we will provide more updates reflecting our most current guidance. Please check our website, yu.edu/fall2020 for regular updates. We understand that even after reading through this guide, you might have many additional questions, so we will be posting an extensive FAQ section online as well. Additionally, we will also be holding community calls for faculty, students, staff and parents over the next couple of months.
Planning for the future during this moment has certainly been humbling. This Coronavirus has reminded us time and time again of the lessons from our Jewish tradition that we are not in full control of our circumstances. But our tradition also teaches us that we are in control of our response to our circumstances. Next semester will present significant challenges and changes. There will be some compromises and minor inconveniences--not every issue has a perfect solution. But faith and fortitude, mutual cooperation and resilience are essential life lessons that are accentuated during this period. And if we all commit to respond with graciousness, kindness, and love, we can transform new campus realities into profound life lessons for our future.
Deeply rooted in our Jewish values and forward focused in preparing for the careers and competencies of the future, we journey together with you, our Yeshiva University community, through these uncharted waters. Next year will be a formative year in the lives of our students, and together we will rise to the moment so that our students will emerge stronger and better prepared to be leaders of the world of tomorrow.
Best Wishes,
Ari Berman
The annual P*LAW Week, sponsored by the Center for Public Service Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, took place from Jan. 19-22, 2021. Though a virtual event series this year, as in years past the proceedings were filled with thought-provoking panels and included a range of discussions that engaged students in the practice of public interest law.
Fifteen panels took place over four days, including such events as For the People: A Call For Progressive Prosecution, In the Trenches: Understanding and Challenging Faulty Digital Forensics, Comparable Crimes, Separate Service: Comparing Criminal Procedure in the UCMJ and Civilian Court, Urban Land Use Through the Lens of Environment Law, Protecting Students’ Rights to a Free and Appropriate Education During COVID-19 and The Value of Diversity in ADR.
“Our incredible student planning team that organized P*LAW 2021 created a truly inspiring series of discussions, addressing a variety of momentous public service issues,” said Alissa Bernstein, director of the Center for Public Service Law. “With 15 panel discussions taking place over four days and multiple sessions registering over 100 participants, it is clear that the Cardozo community continues to be at the forefront of so many efforts seeking to pave the way to a more fair and just society.”
On Jan. 19, students gathered for Abolishing the Police: Getting There and Imagining the World After. Prof. Kate Levine moderated a group of leaders in this movement: Derecka Purnell, human rights lawyer and abolitionist; Prof. Amna Akbar, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; Woods Ervin, administrative coordinator at TGI Justice Project; and Prof. Carlton E. Williams, movement lawyer and activist, and adjunct professor at Cornell Law School.
Panelists discussed the personal paths that lead to this movement and the ways in which they are currently involved in working toward change in law enforcement. “If we do less harm,” said Prof. Williams, “less harm will return.”
Prof. Levine asked pointed and timely questions about the Black Lives Matter movement and what has been called the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, specifically about how those events impact and are impacted by the call to redistribute police funds.
When asked what role lawyers and law students can play in this movement, Ervin replied, “You have to use the framework of size, scope, power and resources of the law (to create change).”
Prof. Akbar added, “It’s not just incarceration or policing, it’s detention and enforcement. The [legal] profession is a central tool to this system. We have to take accountability and create tools to correct [what isn’t working].”
Juvenile Prison: Abolition and Alternatives took place on January 20 and examined racial disparity in youth prisons as well as the harmful effects of the disparity. Panelists on the Juvenile Prison panel discussed the often futile outcomes of sentences in juvenile detention centers and highlighted alternatives they believe are better suited to addressing the needs of underserved youths who fall victim to these systems. One solution discussed was the need for community building programs.
“We need to invest in communities ... and allow communities to identify the sets of support they need,” said Gladys Carrion, senior fellow and attorney at the Columbia Justice Lab. “We need to create pathways to success, and not build more cells.”
Tianesha Drayton, a community advocate for Youth Represent, noted the importance of first creating supportive communities before implementing specific programs. “The sense of community has to be there in order for community-oriented justice to take place.”
Other panelists included Mishi Faruquee, national field director for Youth First Initiative, and Latrice Walker, New York State Assemblywoman (District 55). The panel was moderated by Rebecca Laden, a 1L student at Cardozo.
Drayton talked about the idea that there are neighborhoods in New York City as opposed to communities. There should be more communities where young people feel like they could call someone in the community to step in and offer support/assistance as opposed to calling the cops and risking an escalation of the situation into something more detrimental. “The sense of community has to be there in order for community-oriented justice to take place,” she said.
Carrion said, “There are no lobbyists for children. We are that voice, you are that voice.”
