2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: Editorials
To the Editor:
The recent US News ranking, putting Yeshiva in the second tier at 52nd, confirmed that the direction that YU's undergraduate schools are headed is dangerous. However, I believe I have finally understood why the administration is forging its current path. The themes currently being pushed at YU, such as public service, a diversity of academic offerings, and campus life, are extremely similar to those that pushed NYU "from a good regional university to an exceptional and selective national university" in NYU's presidents own words. The logic goes: why can't we bring those great values to the Jewish community through YU? The rebuttal is simple: the other part of why NYU rose is because thousands of students are attracted to the prospect of spending 4 fun-filled years in Greenwich Village, arguably one of the "coolest" places to go to school in the country. No one will come to YU with that incentive, for the simple fact that there's simply only so much "fun" you can have in Washington Heights on a single-gender campus with lots of Orthodox people. What people will come to YU for is the same thing they have always been coming for: to learn Talmud intensely while being heavily involved in Jewish community service, and gaining a secular education "good enough" to land a good job or admission at the nation's top graduate schools. This is no longer an argument about "Yeshiva vs. University;" its about the integrity of the institution as a whole-if the administration continues on this path, why would any person capable of earning admission to a top 20, 30, even 40 university consider attending YU?
Adam Felsental
SSSB '04
RIETS '08
NYU Law '10
To the Editor:
RE: USNWR Ranking Drop
In the forty-five years since I graduated, Jews have made strides in gaining senior managements positions in major American corporations.
Orthodox Jews have also benefited from this trend.
Yu's ranking among the top fifty colleges gives YU graduates a leg up in corporate personnel departments.
The recent US News ranking, putting Yeshiva in the second tier at 52nd, confirmed that the direction that YU's undergraduate schools are headed is dangerous. However, I believe I have finally understood why the administration is forging its current path. The themes currently being pushed at YU, such as public service, a diversity of academic offerings, and campus life, are extremely similar to those that pushed NYU "from a good regional university to an exceptional and selective national university" in NYU's presidents own words. The logic goes: why can't we bring those great values to the Jewish community through YU? The rebuttal is simple: the other part of why NYU rose is because thousands of students are attracted to the prospect of spending 4 fun-filled years in Greenwich Village, arguably one of the "coolest" places to go to school in the country. No one will come to YU with that incentive, for the simple fact that there's simply only so much "fun" you can have in Washington Heights on a single-gender campus with lots of Orthodox people. What people will come to YU for is the same thing they have always been coming for: to learn Talmud intensely while being heavily involved in Jewish community service, and gaining a secular education "good enough" to land a good job or admission at the nation's top graduate schools. This is no longer an argument about "Yeshiva vs. University;" its about the integrity of the institution as a whole-if the administration continues on this path, why would any person capable of earning admission to a top 20, 30, even 40 university consider attending YU?
Adam Felsental
SSSB '04
RIETS '08
NYU Law '10
To the Editor:
RE: USNWR Ranking Drop
In the forty-five years since I graduated, Jews have made strides in gaining senior managements positions in major American corporations.
Orthodox Jews have also benefited from this trend.
Yu's ranking among the top fifty colleges gives YU graduates a leg up in corporate personnel departments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
john durant
posted 9/05/07 @ 5:34 PM EST
"I would, therefore, exhort the Commentator to undertake a major investigative reporting job to determine why we fell out of the top fifty. The Commentator should interview USNWR staff and get a comprehensive view of the criteria and formulas used in the ratings. (Continued…)
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