ReviewW I N T E R 2 0 0 3 – 2 0 0 4 / H O R E F 5 7 6 4 YUT H E M A G A Z I N E O F

Y E S H I V A U N I V E R S I T Y

SPECIAL ISSUE:

Stern at 50

ALTHOUGH THE PHRASE “WOMEN OF YESH IVA” may seem singular to some,women are both central to all of Yeshiva University’s academic programs and aremajor participants at the faculty, administration, and board levels in the support anddevelopment of the university. The women of Stern College, in particular, have beenbreaking new ground in the education of the Jewish woman for 50 years.

For Yeshiva University, steeped in history and tradition, our ambitions are andhave been no less consequential—to transform the world around us. In 1954, thevisionary leadership of President Samuel Belkin and YU benefactor Max Stern cre-ated Stern College for Women. Stern’s founding was revolutionary, becoming thefirst college in which Jewish women could simultaneously pursue religious and sec-ular studies in a rigorous academic setting. Today, a half century after its maidenclass of 32 students arrived at the one-building campus of 253 Lexington Ave.,Stern’s 1,000-strong student body continues to embody the most enduring qualitiesof Yeshiva University, in an environment that encourages the fulfillment of humanpotential on multiple levels.

The theme for the Stern jubilee is “Five Decades. One Dream.” But its mean-ing is less a reflection of Stern’s illustrious past than a validation of the dynamicgrowth of the college, its campus and its programs, and its proud membershipamong the YU family of colleges. Stern’s vision expands daily and its achievementsare embodied in its new Midtown campus, shared with the women’s division of SymSyms School for Business—a complex of seven buildings covering an eight-blockradius in Manhattan’s historic Murray Hill district, with a superb honors program, alandmark graduate Talmudic learning program, and curriculum offerings and intern-ships that develop continually. Stern’s stature in our communities is anchored andfostered by its 6,000 graduates, who give meaning and life to our most revered val-ues—in their homes, communities, and in professional leadership roles across abroad spectrum of fields.

This year, as Yeshiva University celebrates Stern College’s jubilee anniversary, letus together celebrate the dream and the vision, steeped in the values and principlesof our rich heritage, as we advance new frontiers of learning and creative expression.

RICHARD M. JOEL

PRES IDENT

TheWomen of Yeshiva:Stern College at 50

YESH IVA UN IVERS I TY

REVIEW

YESH IVA UN IVERS I TY

RONAL D P. STAN TON

CHA IRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

RI C HARD M . J OE L

PRES IDENT

DANI EL T. F ORMA N

V ICE PRES IDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT

P E T E R L . F E R R A R A

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICAT IONS AND

PUBL IC AFFA IRS

YU REV I EW

J UNE GL AZER

ED ITOR

N O R M A N E I S E N B E R G

MANAGING ED ITOR

J UDY TASHJ I

CREAT IVE D IRECTOR

CONTR IBUT ING TO TH IS I SSUE :

K E L LY B E R M A NE S T H E R F I N K L E ’ 9 8 SDAVI D HI L L ST ROMCA R A H U Z I N E CHEDY SHUL M AN

PHOTOGRAPHY

YESHI VA UNI VER SITY A R CHIV E S

YU STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS :

NORM AN GOL D B E R GP E T E R R O B E R T S O NV. J ANE W I NDSO R

R O B E R T R . S A LT Z M A N

UNIVERS ITY D IRECTOR OF

ALUMNI AFFA IRS

Yeshiva University Review is publishedtwice each year by Yeshiva University,Department of Communications andPublic Affairs. It is distributed by mailto alumni and friends of the universityand on campus to faculty and adminis-trators. Paid subscriptions are availableat $15 per year.

Editorial contributions and submissionsto “Classnotes” are welcome, but thepublication cannot accept responsibilityfor unsolicited manuscripts or photo-graphs. All submissions are subject toediting. Opinions expressed in theReview are not “official” university policy.

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ReviewW I N T E R 2 0 0 3 – 2 0 0 4 / H O R E F 5 7 6 4 YU

From the President:Stern at 50

Welcome to the RevolutionThe establishment of Stern College for Women marked the first time in Jewish history that the frontiers of advanced Jewish scholarship opened up to women.

Stern through the DecadesSlice-of-life remembrances by alumnae from six decades.

Creating Women of SubstanceDean Karen Bacon reflects on how far Stern College has come,and where it is headed.

Outstanding AlumnaeReflections on their alma mater by some of Stern’s most prominent graduates.

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S T E R N C O L L E G E F O R W O M E N A T 5 0

Welcome to the

Historically, the tradition of yeshiva learning had always been primarily the domain of men.

But in postwar America, a revolution was brewing that would defy convention,

opening up advanced Jewish scholarship to women for the first time.

And Yeshiva University, a flourishing institution by the mid 1950s, was the logical venue.

YU was already an address for growth in the Orthodox world

because of its self-defining philosophy of Torah Umadda.

REVOLUTIONB Y J U N E G L A Z E R

Stern College student

Navah Rosensweig

Sura (Schreiber) Katz YH,’58S

n the heels of victory in World WarII, the 1950s in America seemed atime of prosperity and great possi-bilities. An urge to build andexpand was impelled by the hopeof a more stable world.

For Jews, rebuilding was an im-perative after the Holocaust, and this

country seemed a safe haven in which to create anew theinstitutions of Jewish learning destroyed in Europe. In thepostwar period, Jews worked assiduously to cultivate Jewishscholarship, on the very soil that European Jewry had oncedeemed a Torah wasteland.

Historically, the tradition of yeshiva learning had alwaysbeen primarily the domain of men. Butin postwar America, a revolution wasbrewing that would defy convention,opening up advanced Jewish scholar-ship to women for the first time. AndYeshiva University, a flourishing in-stitution by the mid-1950s, was the log-ical venue. YU was already an addressfor growth in the Orthodox worldbecause of its self-defining philosophyof Torah Umadda.

The notion of an organized university-level program for women that incorporated advanced Jewishstudies did not materialize in a vacuum. There were, after all,existing women’s colleges. And YU had established the prece-dent for amalgamating general academics and Jewish studiesunder one roof in 1928, when it founded Yeshiva College formen. The university later applied the same formula to thegirls’ high school it opened in Brooklyn in 1948. In 1952, theuniversity subsumed the Hebrew Teachers Training Schoolfor Girls, begun by the Mizrachi Organization in 1928, andreopened it as Teachers Institute for Women. (Central, YU’sgirls’ high school in Manhattan, opened in 1959.)

Still, as Dr. Leo Jung, spiritual leader of The JewishCenter and then professor of ethics at YC, once lamented,

“For years we have been playing the melody of Judaism inAmerica on a defective instrument. For generations somestrings have been missing and the symphony has lacked full-ness and harmony.” Absent was the participation of Jewishwomen—other than as individuals—in the intellectual life ofJudaism. Hence the revolution, which gained momentum in1954; that was when YU’s second president, Dr. SamuelBelkin, convinced his good friend Max Stern to support thestart-up of a school to replicate the Yeshiva College experi-ence for women.

A Natural OutgrowthDr. Belkin, an authority on rabbinic and Hellenistic litera-ture, sought to expand and develop Yeshiva University. Under

his leadership, several YU schools andprograms were established, includingthe Harry Fischel School for HigherJewish Studies, Institute of Mathema-tics, boys’ and girls’ high schools inBrooklyn, a Community Service Divi-sion, and a School of Education andCommunity Administration. The cam-pus also expanded physically. In Dr.Belkin’s presidency, YU acquired its firstadditional property since it had arrivedin Washington Heights in 1929. In

1950, the university charter was amended to authorize grant-ing Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Dental Surgery de-grees. This opened the way for establishing a medical school,today’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine—another of Dr.Belkin’s dreams.

Dr. Belkin, who had a daughter, had another dream: awomen’s college. He often spoke with Mr. Stern about the idea.Max Stern, a German émigré who was YU Board of Trusteesvice chairman at the time, was president of Hartz MountainProducts—he arrived in the US in 1926 on the same shipthat carried his first shipment of canaries—and also thefather of a daughter. A visionary philanthropist, he felt heowed much to his adopted country. As a Jewish communal

S T E R N AT 5 0

Dr. Samuel Belkin

O

Max Stern

“For years we have been playing the melody of Judaism in America on a defective instrument.”

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leader and president of the former Hebrew Teachers TrainingSchool for Girls, he understood that a college for Jewishwomen at Yeshiva University was a natural outgrowth of itshigh school for girls and its Teachers Institute for Women.

“My loyalty to traditional Judaism, my interest in Jewishand general scholarship, and above all, my desire to give theopportunity to young women and young men to receive anintegrated education in divine wisdom and human knowl-edge, I owe to my parents,” he said at a dinner feting him forhis contribution of $500,000 toward the founding of SternCollege for Women, named in honor of his parents, Emanuel

and Caroline. The gift represented the largest single contri-bution to the institution in its then 58-year history.

During Passover 1954, Dr. Belkin and Mr. Stern decidedto open Stern College the following September, as YU’s 12thschool. The two walked the length and breadth of midtownManhattan seeking a suitable site, and found it in the MurrayHill section: Packard Junior College, 253 Lexington Avenue,at 35th Street, a school of commerce that was going out ofbusiness. Very quickly—seemingly overnight—the two menshaped their idea into a concrete college program. Dr. Belkindecided that, unlike Yeshiva College where Jewish studies

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First graduating class, June 1958 Seated (from left): Joan Philipson, Brooklyn, NY; Debra Roth, Atlantic Beach, NY;

Saralie Zeitz, Bronx, NY; Roberta Miller, Baltimore, MD; Joanne Klein, Brooklyn; Max Stern; Dr. Samuel Belkin; Sura Katz, Kew Gardens, NY;

Audrey Katz, Brooklyn; Eva Osterreicher, Jersey City, NJ; Faith Celnik, Miami Beach, FL

Standing (from left): Evelyn Hertzberg, Baltimore; Rosa Leah Hirsch, San Francisco, CA; Gilda Wohl, Brooklyn; Marilyn Bell, Chicago, IL;

Rachel Rosenberg, Danville, VA; Judith Ochs, Toronto, Canada; Anne Rosenbaum, North Bergen, NJ; Ruth Solomon, Philadelphia, PA; Barbara Gross,

Brooklyn; Dvora Abramson, Bronx; Beatrice Cyperstein, Bronx; Rosalie Rabinowitz, Brooklyn; Tamar Fromer, Tel Aviv, Israel; Pearl Edelman,

Newark, NJ; Bryna Miller, Baltimore; Eva Dier, Newark, NJ

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were divided into separate, distinct divisions, Stern wouldhave an integrated department accommodating all levels, frombeginners to advanced, within one framework. Also, he ap-pointed Dr. Norma MacCrury, then dean of SkidmoreCollege, to advise him on building a liberal arts and sciencescurriculum. She recommended that, for the first year at least,Stern model first-year courses after Yeshiva College.

With the September 14 opening date looming, Dr. Belkinhired YC assistant math professor Mrs. Cecile Feder to be-come the Stern registrar. The first freshman class comprised32 students—representing 14 states, Israel, and Canada.Many of the students took up residence on two floors of theWindermere Hotel, on West End Avenue. That first year,classes met in the midst of construction of a library, cafeteria,offices, and science labs (science was not taught that firstyear). Most instructors were borrowed from Yeshiva College.

“Most of the students then did not plan to further theireducations [beyond college] or pursue a professional career,”said Dr. Louis Feldman, Abraham Wouk Family Professor ofClassics and Literature, who had been teaching full-time atthe uptown campus. He became an instructor at Stern in1955, and Dr. Belkin’s daughter, Linda, was one of his stu-dents. “For the most part, students planned to get marriedand take care of families,” he said. “Nobody ever mentionedthe idea of graduate school, not even in Jewish studies. Theysimply wanted to be well-educated, knowledgeable, and well-informed.” Others described the students as “naïve” and“wholesome,” many with parents who were “petrified of hav-ing their daughters in New York City.”

In 1955, Dan Vogel (soon to be Dr. Vogel), Yeshiva Collegeassistant registrar and English instructor at Stern, replacedMrs. Feder as registrar and became de facto dean. In 1957,YU was preparing for a review from the Middle StatesAssociation of Colleges and Secondary Schools, one of sixmajor regional accrediting associations, and it was then thatDr. Belkin named Mr. Vogel acting dean, a title he acceptedon condition that Elizabeth Isaacs, wife of YC dean andchemistry professor Dr. Moses Isaacs, be named Stern’s firstdean of students. Also in 1957, Esther Zuroff began workingat Stern, first as switchboard operator, then as a secretary. Shewent on to replace Mrs. Isaacs as dean of students andremained in that position until 1987.

“These were the years all of us were learning about SternCollege—its potential, status, and requirements,” said Dr.Vogel, who was appointed to the full deanship in 1962 and

50TO COMMEMORATE Stern’s founding and first year of existence, a

Jubilee Committee chaired by Dr. Sharon Herzfeld ’88S and Dr. Susan

Ungar-Mero ’87S planned a slate of events that began November 2 with

a Family Day at the Puck Building in Manhattan. Festivities included

games, music, and food, and were geared to alumnae with young

families. President and Mrs. Joel (the event honorary chair); Marjorie

Diener Blendon, Stern board chairman; and Dean Bacon attended.

Also planned is a lecture series February–December 2004 on

topics of Jewish interest by Stern alumnae and others who have distin-

guished themselves in related fields. The series includes a presentation

February 29, under the Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence

Program, by David Makovsky, senior fellow and director of the Project

on America, Israel, and the Peace Process at the Washington Institute;

a lecture titled “Breaking New Ground: Orthodox Women in the 21st

Century” by Shani Taragin, lecturer at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and

Rivka Lubitch, an Ohr Torah Stone legal advocate for women seeking a

get (halakhic writ of divorce); and will end with a lecture by Sylvia

Barack Fishman ’64S, assistant professor of contemporary Jewish life

and sociology of American Jews in the Near Eastern and Judaic studies

department at Brandeis University and codirector of the Hadassah

International Research Institute on Jewish Women. She will speak on

challenges facing the contemporary Orthodox Jewish family.

Israel alumnae and women students will gather next May 28 for

a celebration at the Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem; and a

Jubilee Dinner is planned for next fall. Celebrations will culminate with

a retrospective exhibit at Yeshiva University Museum next fall, high-

lighting Stern’s history through photography, memorabilia, and text.

As we go to press, other events are in the planning stage,

including a Jubilee Back-to-School Day in December 2003;

a young leadership seminar in spring 2004; and an international

conference in November 2004, “Between Rashi and Maimonides:

Themes in Medieval Jewish Law, Thought, and Culture,” sponsored by

Stern’s Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies and the Leonard

and Beatrice Diener Institute of Jewish Law at YU’s Benjamin N.

Cardozo School of Law. YU scholars from throughout the United States

and from Israel will participate.

For more information, please contact Joan Apple, director of devel-

opment for Stern, at 212-340-7863 or apple@yu.edu; or the Office of

University Alumni Affairs at 212-960-5373 or alumdesk@yu.edu.

Check the YU Web site frequently for Stern Jubilee news and events

(www.yu.edu/news).

S T E R N A T 5 0 • Y E S H I V A U N I V E R S I T Y R E V I E W

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served until 1967. “Those on the staff whohad a perspective of Jewish history werekeenly aware that Stern College for Womenwas an absolutely new phenomenon in theeducation of Jewish women.”

As the school grew, majors were developedin English, history, psychology, sociology, math,

biology, chemistry, and pre-med. Dvora (Abram-son) Petroff ’58S became the first Stern graduate

to go on to medical school. Building a faculty alsobecame crucial. Dr. Belkin shouldered the responsi-

bility for Jewish studies at Stern, and those he broughtto the faculty included Dr. Shlomo Eidelberg ’52B and

Prof. Noah Rosenbloom ’39I,R,B to teach Jewish history,Rabbi Howard Levine for basic Jewish studies, and Rabbi SaulBerman ’59Y,B,R for Jewish texts. Dr. Vogel engaged the gen-eral studies faculty, including Dr. Marcel Perlman ’56Y and Dr.Jules Greenstein for psychology, Dr. Doris Goldstein for histo-ry, Dr. Eleanor Ostrau for political science, Dr. Carole Silver

1960Rebecca (Tausig) Berlin ’69S

“I remember when we moved from the Prince George

Hotel to Brookdale Hall [1965]. One of the most

memorable events for me was our first Hanukkah

there, when certain rooms were blacked out and

others were lit up to display the shape of a menorah.

We danced and sang in the streets.”

1950“Being in a small, pioneering group created special bonds with both fellow

students and the school that have lasted through the years. Dorm life at the

Hotel Duane on Madison Avenue—for myself and the other small group of

out-of-towners—was a most wonderful part of the Stern experience. New

York students invited us to many happy Shabbatot, and, coming from a small

Jewish community, I could never get over the sight of a full shul with so

many shomrei Shabbos families in one place.”

Dorothy (Gewirtz) Berman ’59S

Stern through the decades

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S T E R N AT 5 0

and Dr. Morris Epstein for English literature,and Natalie Lookstein Schacter for sociology.

“In the beginning, Stern women tradition-ally majored in education,” said LaurelHatvary, an English professor who arrived atStern in 1960. She was instrumental in insti-tuting the Shaped Major, which gainedacceptance when the administration beganallowing students to take courses at the near-by Fashion Institute of Technology. Sternstudents could thus create majors not yetdeveloped at Stern.

Throughout the 1960s, “there was a broad-ening of career options for women and acorresponding broadening of choices for Stern students,” saidprofessor emerita of mathematics, Dr. Miriam S. Grosof, alsoat Stern since 1960. “By the seventies, Stern was very careerfocused—in step with women’s education in general.” Whileteaching was still a popular profession for Stern graduates,

they were also pursuing law, medicine, den-tistry, and business.

Stern’s growth during the middle years wasshepherded by Rabbi Norman E. Frimer, pro-fessor of ethics at Stern who served as deanfrom 1967 to ’68, and Dr. David Mirsky ’42Y,dean from 1968 to ’77. Dean Mirsky, profes-sor of English and dean of admissions at YU,came to Stern in the midst of a $10-millionexpansion program that included construc-tion of an 11-story building at 245 LexingtonAvenue—with 38 classrooms accommodating1,200 students—that would connect to theexisting structure, itself undergoing a $1.5-

million renovation. Academically, he revamped the curricu-lum to make Jewish studies more relevant and to includemore general studies electives. More than 600 students thenattended Stern, and he knew they differed in many ways fromtheir predecessors.

Elizabeth Isaacs

1970Ellen (Blau) Pearlman ’78S

“I worked the switchboard [in Brookdale Hall] and was able to

give people fair warning on blind dates. I remember stuffing

ourselves with linzer tarts from the machines at two a.m., hiding

the toaster ovens when Mrs. Millner [in charge of housekeeping]

was around, [housemother] Bessie! Running to rallies at the UN

or Waldorf, doors decorated for engagements.”

Dr. Miriam Ambalu ’86S

1980“One of the most memorable things during my years at Stern was the

campaign to save Anatoly Sharansky. Attending the demonstrations and the

constant reminders during class hours with Rabbi Avi Weiss, meeting and

hearing Sharansky’s wife—though I was from Afghanistan and could

especially relate to her plight, I thought the campaign was taking too much

class time. Now I think it was a great awakening to being politically aware

and concerned about others. We are part of a bigger community.”

9

“Today’s students are gradually changing, coming from farmore diverse backgrounds, and are exposed to greater stu-dent participation in high school, where most of SCW’s stu-dents come from—even in Jewish schools student participa-tion is greater today,” Dr. Mirsky wrote in 1972, adding that“SCW is not trying to direct students, but we are suggestingthat they see themselves much more as preparing for careers,and using their undergraduate education to go on to graduateeducation.”

Stern students were also becoming savvy in areas beyondacademics.

“One of my special memories from my days at Stern tookplace when war broke out in Israel in 1967,” recalled Gail(Aranoff) Sanders ’70S. “The tremendous sense of unity wefelt with Klal Israel was all-encompassing. I remember girlslined up to use telephones, begging their parents to let themgo to Israel to help out. I remember taking to the streetstogether with all the girls at Stern to collect money for Israel.We held out open bed sheets right on 34th Street and people

kept throwing money into them. We went door-to-door col-lecting money. We divided up Manhattan and rang doorbellsof apartments with mezuzahs. Everyone responded gener-ously.” In 1973 Golda Meir spoke at YU, and Susan (Adler)Gotlieb ’74S, then a Stern student council member, remem-bers it as “the experience of a lifetime.”

In 1975, Dr. Belkin stepped down after 32 years as presi-dent of Yeshiva University. (At the request of the Board ofTrustees, he assumed the position of chancellor—the first inthe university’s history. He died eight months later.) WhenDr. Norman Lamm ’49Y,B,R became president in 1976, hisfirst appointment was to fill the Stern College deanship leftvacant by David Mirsky’s retirement. He named Stern alum-na and Class of ’64 valedictorian Karen (Kermaier) Bacon,PhD, an assistant professor of biology at Yeshiva College. Herselection, in fall 1977, heralded the beginning of a new era atStern in which students were more demanding about thekind of education they wanted and the goals they set. DeanBacon, combining an emphasis on academic excellence, ad-

S T E R N AT 5 0

1990“During finals week, many of us would storm Kinko’s around the

corner from Brookdale Hall at all hours of the night to photocopy

notes that we were missing to study for our exams. My usual

attire during these middle-of-the-night trips was a flannel night-

gown, furry pink slippers, and sometimes a jean jacket.”

Esther (Finkle) Hollander ’98S and BRGS student

2000Judy (Horn) Goldgrab ’01S and BRGS student

“If I were to pick a single word to describe the cultural milieu

of Stern at the beginning of our current decade, it would defi-

nitely be ‘renaissance,’ a notion that spans Jewish learning,

academics, technology, and political advocacy. And attesting

to the rebirth of communal concern, Stern students declared

an intimate bond with Israel

through participation in Operation

Torah Shield II and the

Washington Rally, standing

together for a common cause.”

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ministrative leadership, and commitment to religious values,became a role model for them.

“I can still picture her as a student. I remember when shewalked down the stairs holding a million books. She was verybright, very serious,” said Mrs. Zuroff, who worked with DeanBacon for a decade.

Years later, the Monique C. Katz Dean has earned theunequivocal respect of her faculty, many of whom speak ofher in glowing terms. “I’ve watched her over the years. She’sgained a sense of herself and of her strengths. She is phe-nomenal in supporting women’s identity and women’s val-ues,” said Professor Hatvary.

“She has been instrumental in developing Stern College.She made the faculty an effective community and has creat-ed and nurtured a community in which people feel comfort-able. The ambiance at Stern is an open one. It’s collaborative.Her faculty trust her,” said Dr. Grosof.

A New EraConcomitant with the advent of Karen Bacon was the rise inpopularity among young women of the post-high school expe-rience in Israel. In rapidly increasing numbers, young womenwere returning from abroad after a year or more of advanced

Jewish study and seeking to continue their learning. Stern,with its newly reconfigured Rebecca Ivry Department of JewishStudies, was ready for them—“with a catcher’s mitt,” quippedDr. Ephraim Kanarfogel YH, ’77Y,R,B, department chairmanand E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History. Core and ad-vanced programs, tracks, and faculty were already in place.

The phenomenon of women learning at yeshiva in Israel—and the proliferation of women’s programs there, at least twoof which were started by Stern alumnae—is directly linked tothe revolution of women’s Jewish education, which in turn islinked to Stern, explained Dr. Kanarfogel. Still the only schoolof its kind after 25 years, in the 1980s Stern attracted thisnew breed of students and met their expectations by broad-ening and enhancing the Jewish studies curriculum, he said.

The effort launched what Dr. Kanarfogel calls “revolutionphase two” in advanced Jewish studies at Stern, today mak-ing it the largest department of its kind for undergraduateJewish studies—for men or for women—in North America,with 85 courses, approximately 1,000 students, and close to50 full- and part-time faculty members.

Enter YU’s role in revolution phase three: the GraduateProgram for Women in Advanced Talmudic Studies, a YeshivaUniversity program that began at Stern in 2000. With the

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A Campus Growsin Midtown

253 Lexington Avenue

Brookdale Residence Hall

50 East 34th Street

245 Lexington Avenue

1970

19651954

The department is the largest of its kind for undergraduate Jewish studies

—for men or for women—in North America.

1 2

involvement of the AVI CHAI Foundation, thetwo-year full-time graduate program forwomen in Talmud and Torah she-Be’al Peh(Oral Law) offers students beyond collegecontinued study of Talmud and talmudic liter-ature in a serious setting. Current enrollmenthas reached the maximum of 20 students,mostly Stern alumnae.

“The establishment of this graduate pro-gram places Stern College for Women andYeshiva University yet again on the cutting edge in providingadvanced Jewish studies for women at the highest level,” saidDr. Kanarfogel, program director. He noted that many of itsgraduates take positions as Jewish studies teachers at highschools and post-high-school programs in the US and Israel.

To make Stern an even more attractive choice to high-achieving young women, in the ’80s, YU began heavily invest-ing resources to further academics at Stern. The effort includ-ed a merit scholarship program that offered awardeesenhanced cultural enrichment and mentoring. As the programbecame effective in the 1990s, YU developed the S. DanielAbraham Honors Program at Stern, a multifaceted endeavorthat today offers students “exceptional challenges and extraor-dinary opportunities,” Dean Bacon said. The Honors programfeatures leadership training, individual mentoring, a seniorthesis requirement, and innovative summer courses and re-search opportunities in the US and abroad. Many students inthe three graduating groups so far have opted to explore the-

sis topics that combine general and Jewish scholarly interestsbecause they have gained the analytical skills to do independ-ent research in both areas.

In 1995, Anne Scheiber, a retired civil servant previouslyunknown to YU, died and left $22 million to the university,most of it earmarked for educating Jewish young women. Hergift inspired a two-pronged approach to attract a greater num-ber of high-achieving students interested in the sciences,already an especially strong discipline at Stern: undergraduatescholarships that, together with other awards, can finance upto full tuition; and graduate scholarships to cover up to fouryears of full tuition for Stern students entering YU’s AlbertEinstein College of Medicine.

Further expansion of Stern’s science curriculum camewhen YU launched Chem 2000, a project to renovate andrefit all chemistry labs at the Midtown Campus with sophis-ticated equipment that puts the school at the forefront ofundergraduate science education. Nobel Laureate Dr. Roald

Jerome and Geraldine

Schottenstein Residence Hall

119-121 East 29th Street

Geraldine Schottenstein

Cultural Center

237 East 34th Street

215 Lexington Avenue

36th Street Residence Hall

151 East 36th Street

1995

1997

1999

2000

Stern student Nechama Gottlieb (left) marching

in the NYC Salute to Israel Parade, last May,

with alumnae Rachel Shtern ’03S,

Sara Brodsky ’03S, and Shira Miller ’03S.

Hoffmann, the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of HumaneLetters at Cornell University and a YU visiting professor inthe 1990s, said the new labs rank among the best undergrad-uate facilities in the country.

Dean Bacon said, “We also began renovations of the biol-ogy department with the creation of a cell and molecular biol-ogy lab and two research labs, and totally computerized ourphysics lab. Students now have an unparalleled experience interms of equipment and the one-on-one attention they needto maximize their training as future scientists.” That invest-ment has paid off. Midtown Campus applicants to medicalschools and health-related graduate programs have more thanquadrupled in 30 years, and acceptance rates consistentlysoar far beyond national averages.

In law, too, Stern students far surpass national acceptancerates into graduate programs. In the past decade, acceptanceshave often approached 100 percent, and many Stern appli-cants enter the country’s most prestigious institutions,

including YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.Statistics like these, Dean Bacon says, reflect the academicquality of both the school and its students. “Our institution isall about text and ideas. It’s about teaching and learning andhow that transforms a personality,” she said.

In a new century and under a new university administra-tion, Dean Bacon continues to steer a course of academicexcellence. To assist in her efforts, YU established threenamed professorships at Stern last spring—the Doris KukinChair in Molecular Biology, the David and Ruth GottesmanChair in English, and the David and Ruth Gottesman Chairin Political Science—bringing to 60 the number of full-timeStern faculty members, up from 40 in 1977, when DeanBacon took the helm.

Also up is the number of students. This year, nearly 1,000women study at Stern, representing 35 states and 20 coun-tries, and an additional 311 women are in Israel as part of theS. Daniel Abraham Israel Program. In 1977, the total figurewas 509 students. To accommodate and anticipate growth,Yeshiva University has been acquiring more property inMurray Hill, Manhattan. Within the last eight years, two new

dorms, a cultural center, a new academic center and yet-to-be-designated building have dramatically enlarged the campus.

Moving forward from the unparalleled growth of Sternover the past 50 years, Dean Bacon feels energized by thevision of the future that YU’s new president Richard M. Joelhas articulated. She says she is particularly interested in hisworldview, and in his “nuanced understanding” of young peo-ple in America today.

“He has a sense of what’s going on at college campuses

everywhere because he was so intimately involved with stu-dents [during his tenure as president and international direc-tor of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life]. Ithink that’s going to be very important to us as we recruit stu-dents and faculty, as we plan new facilities, and as we expandour public image,” she said.

As the revolution enters its next half century, students atStern can build on the achievements of their predecessors.Said senior Rachel Horn, “Graduates’ hopes of institutingchange in their communities and creating committed fami-lies have turned into calculated expectations.” Ms. Horn,coeditor-in-chief of the Observer, the student newspaper atthe Midtown Campus, adds that not only has Stern shapedthe face of the Jewish community through its students andalumnae, but “the school has had an impact on society atlarge because of the accomplishments and contributions ofthose who have passed through its doors.”

President Belkin and Max Stern would have been proud.

KELLY BERMAN, DAVID HILLSTROM, CARA HUZINEC, AND HEDY SHULMAN

CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE.

“Our institution is all about text and ideas. It’s about teachingand learning and how that transforms a personality.”

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David S. Gottesmanchairman emeritus,

YU Board of Trustees

“I joined YU’s Board of Trustees in

1979. By the time of my election as

chairman in 1993, I had a feeling that

Stern College was destined for big

things, but needed a little help to get there. Karen Bacon has been

a superb dean for over twenty-five years. Under her guidance the

school has steadily strengthened its curriculum and grown in

academic excellence—far beyond what anyone could have expected

on the basis of its limited resources. I am proud to be among those

whose help has accelerated the pace of these advancements.”

E. Billi Ivrymember, YU Board of Trustees

and SCW Board of Directors

“Whenever I visit Stern College, I am

struck anew by the caliber of the

students—their intelligence, their thirst

for knowledge and their enthusiasm to

participate in secular and Jewish life. These young women are our

future leaders and future mothers. Their educational experience at

Stern College enables them to pursue career goals and participate

in Jewish life, and, most important, to instill Jewish values and

ideals in their children.”

Marjorie Diener Blendenmember, YU Board of Trustees

and chairman,

SCW Board of Directors

“The high level of Jewish studies we

afford our students, and the way the

liberal arts curriculum encourages

independent thinking while underscoring the values and beliefs of

our Judaic heritage, provide our young women with the ability to

meet the challenges of life in this modern, chaotic world.

Supporting them through scholarships and providing them with the

best of professors and facilities that foster their intellectual and

spiritual growth is the best investment I can make in our future.”

Though her list of achievements has since been

expanded, Stern’s Monique C. Katz Dean still fits

that description. Her unique blend of talent and

personality is reflected in the impressive institution

that her alma mater has become. Recently,

YU Review sat down with Dr. Bacon to discuss her

understanding of Stern’s role in an ever-changing

world, and her expectations for its students as they

prepare to meet it. The following is an excerpt.

… a brilliant girl

dedicated to and

diligently pursu-

ing studies in

biology, [and]

modest to a point

that makes us smile.

In addition to the

many extra hours she

spends in the lab, she has

chaired forums, the Pesach products sale, the junior

book sale, and a chagiga committee. Awarded a

National Science Foundation grant and nominated

for a Woodrow Wilson fellowship, she impressed

classmates and teachers with her quiet zeal for work,

her integrity, and her seriousness of purpose. Karen,

however, is not impressed with herself and therein

lies her special charm.

The entry under Karen Kermaier’s

name in Kochaviah 1964,

the Stern yearbook, describes the

former Los Angelena as:

What role does Stern Collegefor Women play in the Jewish

world today?On a certain level we are challenging the Jewish world toreconsider old assumptions about women’s education. Is ahigh-school-level Jewish education enough for a woman?While the Jewish world still ponders that question, an ever-increasing number of young women are choosing SternCollege as the place to continue their education. They areexcited by the idea that their heritage has something com-pelling to say about their future and that they can be activeplayers in the interaction between past and future by contin-uing to engage in Jewish textual study.

What makes Stern students unique?In large measure our students make choices based on theirconviction that they have a responsibility to the next genera-tion as well as to their own. We see this all the time. Somegraduates choose to go into Jewish education specificallybecause they want to teach others the values of TorahUmadda, which they internalized at Stern. Our women findtime for community service, even with a heavy academicload. Once they graduate, helping the community is a con-sistent theme in their lives, whether they’re physicians,lawyers, businesswomen, or psychologists. The dual curricu-lum at YU doesn’t allow for a lazy way of life. It makes stu-dents question the value of what they’re doing. It’s not allabout “me.” It’s about “me helping you.”

As the first female dean of Stern College and the firstwoman to address the Orthodox Union National Conven-tion, how do you encourage students to be trailblazers?I’m not sure I have to do anything actively to encourage themanymore! Stern women have very few feelings of limitations.They believe they can do it all—family, community, andcareer. They are surrounded by like-minded women who be-lieve that they will be there to help each other in the future,whether it’s with career networking or child care. They also

believe that the men in their lives are going to enable them toachieve these goals. Our women socialize with men fromYeshiva College and Sy Syms School of Business. All aregrowing up in an environment of Torah Umadda, living aTorah way of life in a contemporary world.

What contribution do you see Stern playing in OrthodoxJudaism as you and others push for greater inclusion ofwomen?For centuries, women’s role in Judaism was more passive.They learned by imitation how to run a family and conductthemselves as Jews. Stern is contributing another element: acommitment to studying text as a way of living a Jewish lifeand of transforming a personality—your own, your family’s,and the community’s. As our women become more visible intheir communities, they’ll be called upon for leadership roles.Their input will be valued because it will be based on sub-stantive thinking arising from the study of Jewish philosophy,history, laws, and rituals. Stern is helping to create women ofsubstance. How they use their knowledge to help strengthenour community remains to be seen.

How would you like the world to see Stern College at its100th anniversary celebration?I’ve always said this institution is revolutionary. It’s just thatwe were very low-keyed about it. Because of that, we weregiven the freedom these past 50 years to excel. Now is thetime to be more open about our accomplishments and ourvision of women’s education. The world will remember Sternfor making many other women’s Jewish educational programspossible because we established the model. Stern began in ahighly developed, Western country where women had accessto a world of educational possibilities. That our studentschose Torah study with its attendant rigors, along with theirgeneral education and career preparation, reinforces the mes-sage that this is for women everywhere and always. We havebeen an enabler for other institutions and we have been apacesetter. We intend to continue in both roles.

Creating women of substance

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An interview with Dean Karen Bacon, the first recipient of the Yeshiva University Presidential Medallion “for her historic and loving dedication to Stern College for Women.”

Leah Laiman ’67SWriter for major TV soap operas

“My English teacher, Dr. Morris Epstein, would come to class every

Monday with the ‘Arts & Leisure’ section of The New York Times and

ask the students what cultural events they attended over the weekend.

He encouraged us to use Manhattan as our campus. He was a great

influence on me, and I began going to the theater every week. Eventu-

ally I got a master’s from Hunter College and began writing plays.”

Holly (Quint) Pavlov ’71SFounder, Shearim College of Jewish Studies for Women,

Jerusalem

“Stern College changed my life. Growing up, my exposure to Torah

education was from the Conservative perspective. Stern was my first

experience with Orthodox people. Dean Norman Frimer took a personal

interest in me and nurtured my development as a person and as a Jew.

I am where I am today because of Stern, and I am immensely grateful.”

Suri Kasirer ’80SLobbyist

“I gained my critical thinking skills at Stern, especially in my classes

with Rabbi Saul Berman and Dr. Haym Soloveitchik. They taught me to

look at texts and analyze them. It was a difficult period for Israel during

my years at Stern. There were many debates in the cafeteria, and

I made many friends who shared my passion and political viewpoint.

I learned what can be done with advocacy, and the people who wanted

to make a difference were the ones with whom I connected. Those

people have become successful in their fields and I’ve maintained

those relationships to this day.”

Sylvia (Barack) Fishman ’64SProfessor of Contemporary Jewish Life, Brandeis University

“Being at Stern was a happy time in my life. I had brilliant, attractive,

and interesting professors who were role models for me. They led me to

believe we could do it all. Laurel Hatvary, my English professor, and

Doris Goldstein, who taught intellectual history, made great impressions

on me. Also, Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, who taught political theory, and

Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, the great Jewish scholar, taught English and

had an impact on me as well. I am from a small town in Wisconsin.

Stern was special because I found a supportive peer group of girls like

myself. We still keep in touch.”

Outstanding Alumnae

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Rochelle (Majer) Krich ’69SBest-selling author of 12 novels

“I had great teachers and formed wonderful friendships that continue

to this day. I had incredible encouragement from my English teachers,

particularly Dr. Morris Epstein and Laurel Hatvary. My writing and

English classes helped prepare me for life as a writer. The Traumatic

Society (drama club) was great fun and I enjoyed dorm life at the

Prince George Hotel and the proximity to the 42nd Street library.”

Eva (Frost) Kahana ’62S1991 YU honorary degree recipient, Robson Professor of

Humanities, Chair of Department of Sociology, Director of

Elderly Care Research Center, Case Western Reserve

“I had a wonderful experience as a political science /history major

in studying with Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, who was my teacher and

mentor. Prof. Doris Goldstein also taught history, and she too was

a major intellectual influence. They both inspired me not only to get

good grades but to achieve something as a scholar.

“I was an immigrant from Hungary and had difficulty with English.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein, my English professor,

gave me an A because he believed that it was ideas that mattered.

It was truly a ‘golden age’ since there were some great scholars

who taught at that time.”

Within weeks after the September 11 attacks, Midtown Campus students

performed the mitzvah of shemirah, which stipulates that a Jewish body or its

parts must never be left unattended. In shifts over Shabbat throughout the school

year, volunteers remained with unburied body parts found at Ground Zero and

held by the NYC Medical Examiner’s Office. There they recited tehillim (psalms)

in view of the trucks containing the body parts and earned the admiration

of police, medical examiners, and body escorts. The selfless efforts gained the

students national and international attention.

(From left): Jessica Russak,

Judith Kaplan, and Jessica

Moore were among the Stern

students who performed the

mitzvah of shemirah.

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9-11 and the Mitzvah of Shemirah