Feb 4, 2004 -- Dear Friends,

As I pass my six-month mark as president, I want to reflect with you on my sense of excitement and potential (and exhaustion). I’ve just returned from spending time in Israel as part of a deans’ trip, meeting with most of the 700 students spending their first YU year studying in Israel. Apologies to all who came at the same time as I did, as I no doubt brought the rain.

I found a sense of excitement and commitment in our sons and daughters (including our son Noam, studying at Shaalvim), who are having a wonderful time of study and growing. I watched as our gifted admissions professionals and Deans Bacon, Adler and Snow met with hundreds of students and interviewed more than a hundred candidates for our coveted Outstanding Scholars awards. We have never encountered more high quality students, and sense of excitement toward returning to YU.

In addition to the pleasure of addressing the students at nine schools, I did a lot of listening. I heard the dreams and hopes of our children. I also heard their concerns about what they hope to find upon their return to YU, and want to ensure they won’t be disappointed. They seek to return to places of quality and warmth, and we are determined to meet their expectations.

I went as recruiter-in-chief, reinforcing the notion that their Israel study is an investment in their future, one that needs to be capitalized upon by several more years of Jewish study, and higher learning at YC, Syms, and Stern. I also spoke with the heads of the various schools, sharing common strategies, and speaking of our plans to be fuller partners in the future, offering supplemental programs to our students on the S. Daniel Abraham Israel program.

I was warmly hosted by President Moshe Kaveh of Bar-Ilan University, spending a day with him, his senior administration, and our shared trustee, Mordechai Katz. Our agenda included exploring areas of academic collaboration, and venues where we can build a special relationship.

Life proceeds with much activity in our constellation of schools. Our Hanukkah Dinner witnessed the announcement of the naming of the midtown campus as the Israel Henry Beren Campus, and of our $400 million capital campaign surpassing its goal ahead of schedule.

The rhythm of university life is bracing—I will seek to give you snippets of it over time. This month, twelve Yeshiva College and RIETS students conducted a ten-day, government-sponsored tour throughout Germany, where they visited historic German Jewish sites, met with members of the Bundestag and the various German political parties, and with YU rabbis who are in the vanguard of leadership of the new German Jewish community, estimated at 140,000-strong.

My family spent last Shabbat on the Wilf Campus with hundreds of students and members of the RIETS faculty. The spirit and warmth of this community is one I hope to share with you over time.

At Einstein, on the Resnick Campus, development of the Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine in the Harold and Muriel Block Research Pavilion is well underway, as we are finalizing the 100-year lease with the City of New York on the Van Etten hospital land, approved by the City Council in August. The architectural plans are being finalized as well, and the actual construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of this year.

As the Stern College Jubilee celebrations continue, Esther and I had the pleasure of hosting members of the Stern faculty at President’s House for brunch. As the new kids on the block, Esther and I were overwhelmed by the quality and commitment of the faculty, young and seasoned. When we speak of an academic community, we have much to learn from the Stern College community.

Much the same could be said of the terrific law school faculty. Dean Rudenstine hosted me at a lunch with faculty at Cardozo (obviously, I’m eating too regularly). In addition to picking up worthy factoids (our Bar pass rate was just reported as the third highest in the NYC area, together with Columbia and NYU), we had a wonderful discussion about possibilities of faculty collaboration, across schools of the university in both sharing teaching and shared research. More wonderful challenges for Academic VP Mort Lowengrub to explore.

On the undergraduate level, we are inaugurating an experimental program of graduate leadership fellowships. We’re going to select, through a competition, up to ten graduating seniors as leadership fellows for next year. These students will be assigned to various offices as full-time young professionals, working directly with a dean or department head. They will receive both a stipend and housing, and will participate together in a graduate seminar on institutional leadership led by Wurzweiler Dean Sheldon Gelman. Not only will we benefit from these young people’s energy, enthusiasm, insight, and commitment, but we hope they will get a wonderful professional and learning experience, and might even see a future in these fields. We will shortly publish the full list of benefactors who are establishing each of these fellowships on a three-year trial basis.

Finally, and tragically, YU shared in the grief of the Butler family as we marked the passing of Mikey Butler. Mikey struggled with his health for all of his 24 years, but managed to spend his life, with the unbelievable support of his parents and family, living fully, inspiring others, serving as a role model and friend to thousands. Dr. Lamm traveled to Pittsburgh last year to award Mikey his degree in a special ceremony. Hundreds of our students journeyed to Pittsburgh to pay their respects and hundreds more gathered on campus for a memorial service. The lesson of this son of Torah Umadda is clear to all who knew him or knew of him. As became the family mantra, he fully embraced life and humanity, and celebrated both “day-by-glorious-day.” May his memory be a blessing.

I will continue to share with you my growing excitement in dealing with the extraordinary array of faculty, students and professionals that comprise this special place. There are many communications vehicles by which we tell our story. I urge you to check our new home page www.YU.edu regularly. It is updated with worthwhile university news, and will be expanded over time.

I invite you to join me in the remarkable journey that is Yeshiva University.

Esther joins me in wishing you health, fulfillment, and peace.