2008 Woodie Awards
Now We're Talking
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Editorials
- Page 1 of 1
They say that when he was speaking at campus Hillels across the country that Yeshiva President Richard M. Joel's audience could see it coming from miles away. Whenever a speaker would shrewdly dodge a question or offer an answer that had nothing to do with the inquiry posed to him, Jewish students at Maryland, Penn and UCLA would exclaim "that speaker pulled a Richard Joel." No different here, when he became the fourth president of Yeshiva University, members of the YU community would flock to his speaking engagements hoping to witness first hand just how talented our President was in, well, not saying much at all.
That has all changed this year. In two open forums - one at the inaugural Shabbat this semester and recently at the President's Town Hall Meeting on the Wilf Campus - President Joel has not felt the need to cleverly evade difficult questions. Instead, as all those in attendance can attest, President Joel looked the questioner in the eye and delivered clear and honest answers. When a question on yoetzet halakha was raised, the President confidently eschewed his politically sensitive response, thought for a second, and then said what he felt: "In case you didn't understand," he concluded, "That's three sentences of no." In fact, at that Town Hall Meeting, when the President could not answer specific questions on YC's curriculum or IHP's wireless network systems, he turned to address the relevant administrators in the crowd and kindly challenged them to give straight responses, too. More importantly, this shows that the President trusts himself that he appointed the correct people to help run this University.
The new outlook on public speaking may have something to do with the contract extension he received last year, but we believe it's something more profound. As more scaffolding comes up and down, and faculty and staff are hired, a picture of a grander Yeshiva University is emerging. No longer dogged for being a non-rabbinic leader or just an expert of informal Jewish education, the President feels more comfortable sharing his visions and believes that others want to share these dreams as well.
Just as amid the copious verbiage one was able to find answers to questions this time around, so too, one can see the future of YU emerging amidst all the changes in the University. The talking of enabling and ennobling has turned into more than just a cute catchphrase, but a reality that President Joel has created here at Yeshiva.
Without political restraint, the President has begun to speak his mind and undaunted vision. And more than ever, we're listening.
That has all changed this year. In two open forums - one at the inaugural Shabbat this semester and recently at the President's Town Hall Meeting on the Wilf Campus - President Joel has not felt the need to cleverly evade difficult questions. Instead, as all those in attendance can attest, President Joel looked the questioner in the eye and delivered clear and honest answers. When a question on yoetzet halakha was raised, the President confidently eschewed his politically sensitive response, thought for a second, and then said what he felt: "In case you didn't understand," he concluded, "That's three sentences of no." In fact, at that Town Hall Meeting, when the President could not answer specific questions on YC's curriculum or IHP's wireless network systems, he turned to address the relevant administrators in the crowd and kindly challenged them to give straight responses, too. More importantly, this shows that the President trusts himself that he appointed the correct people to help run this University.
The new outlook on public speaking may have something to do with the contract extension he received last year, but we believe it's something more profound. As more scaffolding comes up and down, and faculty and staff are hired, a picture of a grander Yeshiva University is emerging. No longer dogged for being a non-rabbinic leader or just an expert of informal Jewish education, the President feels more comfortable sharing his visions and believes that others want to share these dreams as well.
Just as amid the copious verbiage one was able to find answers to questions this time around, so too, one can see the future of YU emerging amidst all the changes in the University. The talking of enabling and ennobling has turned into more than just a cute catchphrase, but a reality that President Joel has created here at Yeshiva.
Without political restraint, the President has begun to speak his mind and undaunted vision. And more than ever, we're listening.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ezra Sutton
posted 11/05/07 @ 4:33 PM EST
So true, and beautifully stated.
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