Yeshiva U Denies Student Group Charge It Has Shifted to Non-sectarian Priorities

A spokesman for Yeshiva University has dismissed as “nonsense” accusations by a student group that the administration has forsaken the original religious ideals of the institution. The dissenters, known as the New Student Coalition, distributed leaflets last night outside the hotel where the university was conducting its 42nd annual Chanuka dinner. The leaflets expressed the group’s “fear for the future of the religious divisions at Yeshiva and Stern Colleges (divisions of the university).” They alleged that there has been “a gradual shifting of priorities in favor of the non-sectarian graduate schools, which produce doctors, scientists and psychologists, Jewish and non-Jewish…, at the expense of the original raison d’etre of the university, the educating of Jewish community leaders, teachers, rabbis and knowledgeable laymen, the function performed by the undergraduate divisions.” The student coalition said it has been “denied the most casual hearing” by the board of trustees.

Eliezer Diamond, one of the four members of the coalition’s administrative committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that his group had “a substantial amount of student support,” numbering one-quarter to one-third of the studentry, but did not give an exact membership total. Mr. Diamond said his group believed that “more money should be shifted away from the graduate schools” because the undergraduates need “a lot more money”; that the religious faculty should have a say in its curriculum; that construction priority be shifted to the undergraduate divisions; that the library cease to open “much later” and close “much earlier” than in times past, and that students have access to the university’s financial ledgers. The university spokesman called the protesters a “handful of kids” who “don’t know what they’re talking about.” He said “they don’t have a basic understanding of the institution,” in that they did not understand that monies donated to specific schools of the university could not be appropriated by other schools. “The budget for a school is determined by its income,” he told the JTA, adding: “The fact is that the largest investments in the university have been for the undergraduate education. This is a matter of record.”

NIXON HAILS YESHIVA UNIVERSITY AS CREDIT TO ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICA

Of the New Coalition statements he said: “There are no charges; there are opinions that don’t hold up.” He criticized the group as “determined to pursue a course of action without knowing the facts.”

While the students picketed last night, the university was hailed as a “credit to academic achievement in America” by President Nixon in a message read for him to the 500 guests. President Nixon, noting the 25th anniversary of Yeshiva’s university status, said that “it is particularly appropriate that this celebration be held during the holiday that is called the Festival of the Lights, since the mission of this fine institution has been to enlighten the youth of our country and brighten the future of our society.” Citing the contributions of Dr. Samuel Belkin, Yeshiva president since 1943, the President said that under his “effective leadership,” the university “continues to further its reputation for excellence in both Judaic and secular studies.” The Chief Executive added: “May the years ahead further this splendid reputation and enhance the individual will, as well as the opportunity, to achieve.” Additional messages were received from Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller, Mayor John V. Lindsay, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and other dignitaries. Dr. Belkin observed that “Yeshiva’s growth, not only in size but in areas of human concern, is testimony to those individuals who recognize higher education as the foundation of our democratic society.” The institution originated as Yeshiva Eitz Chaim in a rented room on the Lower East Side in 1886.