Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University has its roots in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva founded in 1886 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a cheder-style elementary school founded by Eastern European immigrants that offered study of Talmud along with some secular education, including instruction in English. The rabbinical seminary was chartered in 1897. When Lamm took office in 1976, Yeshiva was facing a serious financial crisis. As a result, some of the schools and programs had to be consolidated or closed. The renowned Belfer Graduate School of Science was closed in 1978. Once this was stabilized, additional divisions were added: For example, the Sy Syms School of Business, with divisions for both the undergraduate men and women was opened in 1988. At this time, many of the undergraduate students began to spend their first year (or more) studying in yeshivot and other schools in Israel, which has become an almost universal practice, and a Joint Israel Program regulating these studies was established to allow them to receive credit for this year at Yeshiva. RIETS also maintains a campus in Jerusalem, and many of the rabbinic students spend a year studying there as well. Over the course of Lamm's tenure, enrollment grew considerably to over 2000 undergraduate students. In addition to its undergraduate schools and affiliates, Yeshiva maintains graduate schools in Jewish studies, Jewish education and administration, social work, psychology, law, and medicine. There are over fifteen schools in total. In addition, numerous joint undergraduate-graduate programs with other schools in the New York area and beyond are maintained. The Yeshiva University Museum, an affiliate of the school, is now one of the components of the Center for Jewish History, located in downtown Manhattan. Under Joel's leadership, Yeshiva University's endowment was invested in high-risk investments, including the funds of Bernard Madoff. Losses of at least $110 million resulted. In early 2014, Moody's lowered the school's bond rating by five steps to B1, junk bond level. To raise funds and cut costs, Yeshiva University has sold off real estate, and transferred control of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to Montefiore Medical Center. Joel created the Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future, folding other programs, both from within and from outside YU, into it. In December 2012, Joel apologized over allegations that two rabbis at the college's high school campus abused boys there in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Investigations into these allegations by The Jewish Daily Forward and a law firm hired by the university found "multiple instances in which the university either failed to appropriately act to protect the safety of its students or did not respond to the allegations at all." These allegations led to a 380 million dollar lawsuit by former students. The case has since been dismissed. In 2012 the Middle States Commission on Higher Education warned the university "that its accreditation may be in jeopardy because of insufficient evidence that the institution is currently in compliance with Standard 10 (Faculty) and Standard 14 (Assessment of Student Learning)." On June 26, 2014, the Middle State Commission on Higher Education, which accredits the university "reaffirmed accreditation", but requested a progress report "evidence that student learning assessment information is used to improve teaching and learning." This was accepted by the commission on November 17, 2016 (wherein the university met the minimum requirements for accreditation). In January 2016, the university disclosed plans to cede almost half of its $1 billion endowment to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as the medical college enters a separate joint venture with Montefiore Health System. In the 2020–2021 school year, Yeshiva University enrolled approximately 2,250 undergraduate students, and 2,700 graduate students. It is also home to affiliated high schools—Yeshiva University High School for Boys and Yeshiva University High School for Girls—and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). It conferred 1,822 degrees in 2007 and offers community service projects serving New York, Jewish communities, the United States and Canada. As of 2015, the university had run an operating deficit for seven consecutive years. In 2014, it lost $84 million, and in 2013, it suffered a loss of $64 million. Presidents • Bernard Revel 1915–1940 • Samuel Belkin, 1943–1975 • Norman Lamm, 1976–2003 • Richard M. Joel, 2003–2017 • Ari Berman, 2017–present ==Academics==