Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
| Motto | Torah U’madda ("Torah and Knowledge/Science") |
|---|---|
| Established | 1886 |
| School type | Private |
| President | Richard M. Joel |
| Location | New York, New York, USA |
| Enrollment | 2,168 undergraduate, 3,191 graduate |
| Faculty | 4,714 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Athletics | 11 (?) varsity teams |
| Homepage | www.yu.edu |
Yeshiva University is a private Jewish university in New York City whose first component was founded in 1886. In 2001, undergraduate enrollment was approximately 2,600. The undergraduate programs operate according to the Modern Orthodox Judaism philosophy of Torah U'Madda - implying "Torah combined with secular studies". It is listed as being amongst US News and World Report's Top 50 America's Best Colleges.
Divisions
The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), a rabbinical school (i.e. its main yeshiva), is an affiliate of the University.
Separate undergraduate programs for men (Yeshiva College and the Sy Syms School of Business) and women (Stern College for Women and the Sy Syms School of Business) combine traditional liberal arts and sciences studies with extensive Jewish studies programs.
Coeducational graduate and professional programs are offered in numerous fields including medicine, at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; law, at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; psychology, at the Ferkauff Graduate School; Social Work, at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work; Jewish studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School; and Jewish education at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.
History
Yeshivas Etz Chaim, a cheder-style elementary school, was founded on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1886. It was the first yeshiva in American, and had little secular studies in its curriculum.
In 1896, to provide a school for Etz Chaim graduates, Yeshivas Rabbenu Yitzchak Elchanan (chartered in 1897 as the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) was founded. The two schools were always close, and they merged in 1915, first as the Rabbinical College of America, but then reverting to the RIETS name; the elementary division was phased out over the course of the 1920's as other schools opened. The first president of the newly-merged school was Rabbi Bernard (Dov) Revel. In 1916, he founded the first dual curriculum high school- the Talmudical Academy (now known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MSTA), blazing a path to what has become the norm in Orthodox Jewish circles.
Yeshiva College was founded in 1928 as an expansion to stem the tide of TA graduates to secular colleges such as New York University (NYU) and City College of New York (CUNY). Later that year, Yeshiva moved to its current location in Washington Heights. (The alternative location was in Morningside Heights, near the current location of the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University.) Yeshiva attained university status in 1946, under its second president, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Belkin. Over the following decades, new divisions were opened, including a women's college, medical school, and others. In 1970, Yeshiva revised its charter to become a secular university, changing the status of RIETS (the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) and its high schools to "affiliates", despite vigorous student and faculty protest. In 2002, Yeshiva again broke with tradition by appointing a layman (someone who is not an ordained rabbi), Richard M. Joel, as its fourth president, again over student and faculty protest, which quickly subsided upon his investiture. Yeshiva currently has over a dozen affiliated schools. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, who served as the university's third president, now serves in the dual position of Chancellor of the University and Rosh HaYeshiva ("head of the yeshiva") of RIETS.