Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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GYMNASIUM in the presence of thousands of spectatois and wiih representatives o: thirty col- leges and universities assisting in the ceremonies. That date is a memorable one for the students of Yeshiva and the Jews of America. The pioneering students began their work in September of nineteen twenty- eight. Thirty men, gathered from seven states, met their instructors at the West Side Jewish Center on Eighty-sixth Street, where classes were conducted for some months. On December ninth, after the dedication ceremonies were over, the student body and its faculty of sixteen members moved into the newly compleied College quarters. The first President of the faculty, who has occupied that position since the founding of the College, is Dr. Bernard Revel. Dr. Shelley R. Safir was appointed secretary of the faculty, and later became Dean of the College. These leaders lent their greatest efforts to the growth and perpetuation of the new institution. Some of the original members of the faculty — Dr. Drachman, Prof. Ginsburg, Mr. Hurwitz, Prof. Isaacs, Prof. Mead, and Prof. Rhodes — are still with us, and their inspiration has still the zestful vigor of eight years ago. For the first two years, the curriculum was limited in scope. Choice of courses was hardly possible, for the groups were small and the work was for the most part prescribed. It was not until the third year that there were a number of elective courses opened, particularly to juniors. Since that time, the curriculum has been constantly and progressively broadened in the number and variety of courses. Concomitantly with the growth in numbers of the student body — from fifty-two in 1930 and one hundred two in 1932, to one hundred forty-nine in 1934 and two hundred thirteen in 1936 — has come a increase both in the faculty and the number of courses offered by its members. There were but nineteen members of the faculty in 1931, and a startling increase to twenty-nine in 1932. 1935, however, claimed thirty-seven, and we can now boast of a faculty of fifty members. Curricular changes have occurred in two directions. In the first place, the departments already in existence have been expanded to offer more detailed and intensified study in their respective fields — in the social sciences, in art. In music, and scientific and pre-medical studies. Secondly, new departments have been opened, most important of which is the College ' s Hebrew Department. This is MASMID

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Chanukah of nineteen twenty-four marks the first practical step toward the founding of the College. At a banquet held at the hjotei Aster some one hundred twenty-five New York Jews, prominent among whom were Nathan Lamport, Harry Fischel, Samuel Levy, and Otto A. Rosalsky, pledged a total of a million dollars toward the college building fund. The initial impetus provided, events followed rapidly. In May of the following year, a second dinner was arranged — the now famous Million Dollar Dinner — on which occasion twelve h undred men and women each paid a thousand dollar cover charge for the privilege of attending. It was at this glittering and most brilliant affair that the second million was subscribed to the fund. Then the Building Committee, which included Harry Fischel, Meyer Vessell, and Harris L. Selig, went to work in earnest. It acquired the two and a half square blocks on Amsterdam Avenue where the College now stands, and on Sunday, May I, 1927, a gathering of more than ten thousand people crowded the grand- stands to witness the laying of the cornerstone for the first group of College buildings. The structures erected harmoniously combine striking features of early By- zantine, Moorish, and Gothic architecture, and include the Dormitory, Auditorium, and School buildings. The first of these includes apartments for its supervisors, social and recreation rooms, the dining hall, and the infirmary, and accomodates two hundred fifteen students. The Auditorium Building includes a most striking three story auditorium which seats nearly fifteen hundred people, a gymnasium in its basement, and art and science rooms on the fourth floor. The school building houses the Main Library, as well as several departmental libraries, the executive and administrative offices, the synagogue, study hall, the large Science Lecture Hall, biology, physics, and chemistry laboratories, and class and conference rooms. It was not until December 9, 1928, that this group of buildings was dedicated, AUDITORIUM BUILDING MASMID Thirteen

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the first time a formal section for Hebrew studies has been opened In the College, all of whose men had previously carried on their Hebrew work in either the Teachers Institute or the Rabbinical Seminary. With the inclusion not only of intermediate courses in Bible and History but also of advanced classes in Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, we have the material of tradition and the problems of religion offered side by side and in the light of contemporary conditions, bespeaking the filling of ci long and keenly felt need of the modern Jewish student. Activities of an extra-curricular nature have come to play an Increasingly larger part in the life of the student at Yeshiva. The fifty-two students of the first two years were feeling their way along these lines, but confined themselves to more informal types of activity bcause of the limited number of students In the College. Their collective endeavors, not neglected completely, produced each year an Execu- tive Council and a Masmid, and paved the path to be tread by future classes. The year 1930-1931 was an important one in the development of extra-cur- ricular activities. Student Council had now become the central organization spon- soring student activities, and was recognized by the administrative authorities as the official representative and voice of the students. This year saw the beginning of intercollegiate debating and the founding of the College ' s Student Library. For the first time, also, extra-mural athletics made their appearance, and a baseball and basketball team entered competition. Intra-mural games In both these sports were also carried on, and everyone was accorded th e opportunity to indulge in some type of physical recreation. Student spirit was not very strong during those early years and it was not until 1933-1934 that we discover evidence of a real awakening. Its old constitution having been discarded with the rise of new conditions. Student Council proceeded to adopt another and more flexible one. Under this new constitution, the stimula- tion of interest and activity went on apace. The Chess Club successfully entered intercollegiate ' .ompetition. The International Relations Club and the Glee Club were founded. Debating bcame more Important, while all other activities con- tinued a steady growth In strength and popularity. All this development, however, merely riresaged the tremendous boom In RECREATION ROOM MASMID