Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 17 text:

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

Page 16 text:

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

Page 18 text:

every direction and in every activity which occurred during the next year, 1934-35. For the first tinne there appeared a student newspaper, integrating and express- ing student opinion. The student body became more highly organized through the efforts of a progressive Student Council administration, and more articulate Through the medium of the Commentator. It evinced a greater interest in current social and Jewish problems, and the policies formulated in the Commentator pro- voked considerable comment in Jewish and literary circles. The formation of a Concert Bureau, Cooperative Store, Loan Fund, Employment Bureau, Art Club, Dramatic Society, Math Club, and hiealth Club, the organization of Student Forums and of the Mizrachi Youth organization, the addition of tennis and indoor baseball to the list of officially conducted sports — cap a seven year period of development, and symbolize the existence of a new and vigorous spirit among Yeshiva men. The activities of the present year, toward the close of which this history is being written, have tended in the main toward the consolidation and expansion of what has been already accomplished. The pages to come are devoted to a chronicle of this period, and they express most vividly the life of our school and of its students. The history of Yeshiva Is still in the making, and we can hardly attempt at the present time any evaluation of our own accomplishments. We must rather wait till we may view them from the perspective of years. Yeshiva has conceived it a primary duty to make Its contribution to general cultural progress and adult education. The Scripta Mathematica, which made its first appearance in 1932, Is the first in a series of scholarly journals planned by the College. The year 1935 Is memorable for the impressive series of lectures delivered in conjunction with the Malmonides Octo-Centennlal, when the rostrum of our auditorium was occupied by such celebrated Jewish men of letters as President Revel of Yeshiva, Professor Harry A. Wolfson of hlarvard, and Professor Alexander LItman and Dr. David I. Macht of Yeshiva ' s faculty. In the fall of nine- teen thirty-five and through the first part of this year, several series of lectures on subjects of general and Jewish interest, as well as a number of extension courses In collaboration with Young Israel, were conducted In the Metropolitan area by prominent members of the Yeshiva College faculty, achieving worth-while success and Inspiring widespread response from both Jewish and non-Jewish circles. Sixteen MASMID