President Joel: “The Academic Squeezing is Done”

After the Town Hall meeting at Stern College this past Wednesday, it seems like things are looking up for Yeshiva University.

In his opening remarks to the audience, President Richard Joel announced several new programs taking shape at YU within the next year.

After a long period of construction and limited accessibility, renovations on the Gottesman Library on the Wilf Campus will be finished by November 30th. Complete with open seating to accommodate 380 students as well as meeting rooms to accommodate an additional 160 students, the new library will also feature a women’s beit midrash.

Much to the excitement of Stern College students, there will also be women’s bathrooms on every floor.

In total, the renovations have cost $5 million.

While the new library is sure to be useful for students on both campuses, SCW junior Esti Hirt asked if the university was actively pursuing donors to renovate the Heidi Steinberg library on the Beren Campus.

According to President Joel, the school is seeking a donor to contribute $1 million to a downtown library renovation. He said a meeting had just taken place between major donors regarding the project, but did not indicate any concrete plans to carry it out in the near future.

The president also announced the formation of a computer science major at SCW which will become available next fall.

When asked by Elisheva Rabinovitch, a computer science minor, how the new major will affect those who “didn’t see it coming,” President Joel said that SCW would begin offering more computer science classes as early as this spring.

For those graduating in May, “it’s probably too late,” he said.

Even after these positive reports, one student at Town Hall asked when programs at the university would stop being cut.

“There are no programs being cut,” President Joel assured her. “The academic squeezing is done.”

While the President did mention that there are talks of streamlining YU’s graduate school administration, he assured students that no classes, departments or scholarships would suffer due to financial reasons.

The only exception to this statement is merit-based scholarships for the Honor’s Program. While the university used to offer honor’s students a full ride, President Joel said that funding has now been capped at $25,000 per student.

With regards to the end of his presidential term, President Joel said that the stakes are high for the next candidate. Dr. Selma Botman, Yeshiva University Provost, will be leading a search committee for the next president.

Although students are not invited to participate on that committee, students may be able to express their opinions on potential candidates at future meetings in a town hall format.

Students will have the opportunity to be more actively involved through a new strategic planning committee headed by university Senior Vice President Josh Joseph.

The committee will accept a select number of interested students to serve, and Joseph will speak with The Observer following their first meeting next Wednesday, October 28th with more details.

President Joel urged students to send thoughts and suggestions about presidential candidates to president@yu.edu.