Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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A Decade oj Yeshiva The concept of a Jewisli Collct;e of liberal arts and sciences existing in the midst of a traditionally orthodox Yeshiva was a much cherished ideal in the hearts of Jewish leaders who felt the need for such an institution as early as the closing years of the last century. For a nuniher of years the dream seemed to be mere wishful thinking, only to I ' Lcome realizeci some ten years ago when Yeshiva College was founded. The Yeshiva ' s Theological Seminary has been preparing students for the rabbinate lor some (ifty years. As time went on the students who were receiving their rabbinic training at the Theological Seminary on the East Side of New York City, grew acutely aware of the demands of their American environment. For adequate and efficient leadership in Jewish communities of this country, it was realized by the students that a well grounded education in secular as well as religious studies was necessar) ' . In 1906 a petition suggesting the introduction of English courses was drawn up and submitted to the Board of Directors, yet another ten years elapsed before a high school was instituted. The initial and most formidable barrier having been destroyed, a strengthened desire arose to found a higher .school of secular learning which could supply more than the fundamental processes of secular education. The need was clearly articulated at the first graduation exercises of the high school when Dr. Bernard Revel, President of the Rabbinical Seminary, emphasized the important requirement a college would meet in the preparation of the graduates by supplementing their rabbinical studies with studies in liberal arts and sciences. The courageous vision of our president did not tinj many supporters. The col- lective body of American Jewry very cautiously foresaw the seemingly insurmountable difficulties the plan entailed and were wont to treat the question apathetically. But the dream was too inspiringly vivid to perish without any effort, and when Peter W ' iernick and Rabbi M. S. Margolis joined hands in carrying aloft the banner of an indestructable notion, its practicability became everywhere apparent. 1 9 a » Seven

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MASMID STAFF ISADORE MILLER, Editor-in-Chief EDITORIAL BOARD JEROME WILLIG SIDNEY GREENBERG JEROME B. GORDON NATHAN LEVINSON HERBERT RIBNER HERSCHEL SCHACTER flik ' Vffin MORRIS A. LANDES . 1. 9.T11U EUGENE MICHALY Six ASSISTANTS ZEV GOLDSTEIN ALBERT LEWIS SAM ADELMAN CHARLES ELKIN ALLAN MIRVIS

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The years 1924 and 1925 witnessed the staging of two banquets at which prominent American Jews, amongst whom were Harry Fischel, Nathan Lamport, Samuel Levy and Otto A. Rosalsky, contributed two million dollars towards the college building fund. Several thousand people crowded Amsterdam Ave. on May 1, 1927 to witness the laying of the cornerstone for the college buildings. On December 9. 1928, the buildings were dedicated in the presence of thousands of spectators with representatives of thirty colleges and universities assisting in the ceremonies. The structures erected combine attractive features of Byzantine, Moorish, and Gothic architecture, and include the Dormitory, Auditorium, and School buildings. MASMID MAIN BUILDING The first of these accommodates two hundred and fifteen students and contains apart- ments for the supervisors, an infirmary, social and recreation rooms, a spacious cafeteria and dining hall, and offices for student activities in the basement. The Auditorium Building consists of an auditorium seating close to fifteen hundred people, a gymnasium and locker room in the basement, and art and science rooms on the top floor. The school building includes class and lecture rooms, well equipped biology, chemistry and physics laboratories, the Yeshiva Library, as well as several departmental libraries, execu- tive, administrative and student activity offices, teachers ' rooms, synagogue and study hall. It was a small group of thirty pioneering men from various parts of the country that composed the first college student body, beginning work in September of 1928 under a faculty of sixteen men. Dr. Bernard Revel became the first President of the faculty, the post he still occupies, while Dr. Shelley R. Safir was appointed secretary of the faculty and later was promoted to the position of Dean of the College. These leaders combined their greatest efforts for the growth and perpetuation of the new institution. The small number of students during the early stage of the school ' s development did not allow for an extensive curriculum. Gradually, however, as the student body grew to a total which is today seven times its original size, the faculty more than trebled and the curriculum was correspondingly expanded. It is expected that many new changes will take place under Professor Moses Legis Isaacs, newly appointed Assistant to the President. There have been two trends in curricular development. One has been in the direc- tion of enlarging the already existing departments to offer more detailed and intensified Eight