Establishment by 1937 of a college of agriculture at the Hebrew University in Palestine was urged by Dr. Judah L. Magnes, chancellor, at the opening session here of the university’s board of governors.
Dr. Magnes proposed that the board authorize the expenditure toward that end of approximately $35,000 during the next two years for the construction of necessary laboratories and equipment so that the college might be opened at the beginning of the academic year 1937-38.
Establishment of such a college has long been sought by the student body of the university. Recently, after considerable campus agitation on the subject, students called a strike to dramatize their demands.
In making the proposal, Dr. Magnes pointed out that the entire Jewish and Arab population of Palestine is esentially an agricultural one and that the Jewish community has always looked to the university for research and scientific direction in this field.
Among the American members of the board present at today’s session were Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. Nathan Ratnoff, chairman of the American Jewish Physicians Committee, Dr. Stephen S. Wise and Dr. Israel S. Wechsler. Felix M. Warburg of New York is chairman of the board which is composed of prominent Jewish philanthropists and educators throughout the world.
Among the other imperative needs of the university, Dr. Magnes listed the following:
Enlarged quarters to house the 50,000 volumes in the Jewish National and University Library, as yet uncatologued;
Additional space for the 270,000 volumes comprising the present college library;
A new building for the department of physiology;
A central building, and a students’ house or dormitory.
Dr. Magnes disclosed that tuition fees at the university will be raised beginning with the opening on Nov. 12 of the eleventh academic year, from $25 a term to double that amount. The fee, however, will include free medical service which will be inaugurated this Fall.
Resolutions commemorating the passing of Dr. Shmarya Levin, a member of the board of governors, and Baron Edmond de Rothschild, one of the university’s founders, were offered by Dr. Magnes.
The sessions of the board of governors, which opened here yesterday, are being continued today and tomorrow.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
