Rabbi A. Bruce Goldman said yesterday that a legal challenge was being planned against a decision that his appointment as Jewish student counselor at Columbia University would not be renewed when it expires next June 30. He said he considered the decision a “reprisal” for his support of the student revolt at the university last spring. Rabbi Goldman also said that he felt the decision against renewal of his appointment was connected with an article in the alumni magazine, Columbia College Today, which apparently had upset the university’s Jewish alumni by its reference to participation of Jewish students in the revolt. The Rev. William F. Starr, the university’s Protestant chaplain, also was notified on non-renewal of his appointment, Rev. Starr, who called the action a “firing.” was arrested for his direct participation in the student uprising.
Notices of termination were sent to the two clergymen by the agencies which had endorsed their appointment. In Rabbi Goldman’s case, it was the advisory board to the Office of Jewish chaplain, a 55-member group of Columbia Jewish alumni. Rabbi Goldman said the advisory board members were named on recommendation of his predecessor, Rabbi Isidor Hoffman. He added that Rabbi Hoffman had been regularly reappointed for 34 years as Jewish counselor. Notice of the termination of Rabbi Goldman’s appointment was referred to the New York City Commission on Human Rights by Paul O’Dwyer, the attorney who ran for the Senate last November. Mr. O’Dwyer last January filed a complaint of anti-Semitism against the periodical, Columbia College Today, over the article mentioned by Rabbi Goldman. However, Rabbi Goldman said that Mr. O’Dwyer would not be the attorney for the planned legal battle against his dismissal.
He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that there was “growing concern” in the Jewish community about non-renewal of his appointment and that he expected support for his legal battle from Jews who felt that Columbia faculty members and students should have a decisive voice in such matters, rather than alumni. He also said that the plans for that legal effort were not yet sufficiently developed to indicate when and how the effort would be made. He was named associate counselor in 1966 and full counselor in July, 1967.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
