YU Dissolves MTA Board, Dismisses Principal, Threatens Senior Rabbis

Shake Up Undermines Lamm's Statement of Support for High School

Less than one week following the official announcement of YU's decision to keep the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy high school open, the University resolved not to renew the contract of current Principal Rabbi Michael Taubes. Days later on March 24, Mr. Elliot Gibber, Director of the MTA Board, reported that his Board had been disbanded by Yeshiva University.

The March 10^th announcement of support for MTA issued from Rabbi Norman Lamm and RIETS Chairman Judah Feinerman in the form of a press release entitled "Open Letter to Members and Supporters of the Yeshiva University High Schools Community" announced that the high school "will continue to operate on the University's Main Campus... as a part of [our] commitment to [its] historic mission of excellence in Jewish education." That "historic mission," however, seems to be in serious jeopardy as the doubt associated with the sincerity of the University's commitment frightens away prospective parents.

The removal of both Taubes and Gibber came as a sudden shock to parents and students who were looking for reassurance that MTA would have a stable future. Lamm contacted Taubes, the current principal of MTA, via telephone and effectively fired him. Lamm thanked Taubes for his service and dedication to the high school, and informed him that his services would not be needed for the coming year and that his contract was not being renewed.

Gibber, the energetic and outspoken chairman of the high school's board had controlled many aspects of MTA's administrative function for the almost five years of his tenure as chairman. Recent months witnessed discussion of an expanded role for Gibber, who, according to one MTA teacher, "saved MTA." Within two weeks of that characterization, YU has rendered him powerless.

David Rosen, YU Public Relations Director, did not confirm the decision to disband the Board but did explain that the RIETS Board had set up a steering committee to oversee the high school. That committee, according to Rosen, is committed to ensuring that the "changes" and "enhancements" that Rabbi Lamm promised in his announcement would be successfully carried out. The news has made waves in the University community while confusion continues to fog MTA's future.

Word of the University's decision to let Taubes go spread quickly, only compounding the dilemma for parents of prospective freshmen. Some of these parents fear that instability will plague the school's future, leaving their children with a faculty void and a transient, unstable atmosphere.

As the effects of the recent "closing controversy" set in, MTA enrollment for the upcoming academic year has not yet reached acceptable levels. One source familiar with the registration figures placed the number of enrollees at 28. MTA administrators fear that the YU announcement of support came too late, effectively forcing many prospective students to commit to high schools whose status for the coming year is not in doubt.

In an ironic twist, unofficial sources are attributing Taubes' dismissal to a letter he sent to the Editor of The Jewish Week expressing his discontent with the method with which the MTA situation was being handled. Taubes' public voicing of his dissatisfaction was viewed by the University as unwarranted and improper, prodding it to move to dismiss the principal.

Yeshiva University Public Relations Department refused to comment on Taubes' status or its relationship to the now infamous Jewish Week letter.

Two days after word of Taubes' dismissal became public, discussion of a University decision to let several of MTA's more experienced Rebbeim go surfaced. The Commentator has learned that over the past couple of weeks YU administrators have contacted some members the MTA Jewish Studies staff to inform them of their future job security and reassure them that the past month's closure concerns had been put to rest. Some observers saw the University's failure to contact certain MTA Rebbeim as an indication of their lame duck status. Mainstays of the yeshiva including Rabbis Label Dulitz, Yitzchak Cohen, Alfred Cohen, Shaul Yagid, and Meir Schiller were not contacted and are thought to be faced with possible termination.

YUPR Director David Rosen refused to confirm any impending MTA faculty dismissals. "To the best of my knowledge," he informed The Commentator, "no Rebbeim or secular faculty members have been fired [in recent weeks]."

Some irate MTA insiders point to the phone calls, or lack thereof, as proof positive that YU is officially denying "firing" the other Rebbeim, but in truth hiding their clear desire to forego renewal of their contracts.

MTA's future alumni and other concerned YU community members have actively involved themselves in an attempt to right the high school's course. On March 24, petition letters were organized by YU undergraduate students. The letters express support for the recent decision announced by Rabbi Lamm to keep MTA's doors open, but call for an end to the recent efforts to retool the high school's staff including a specific request for the "reinstatement of Rabbi Taubes as principal of the high school."

The petitioners point to the need for stability. It is this last point that has pushed many potential signatories away from the "protest." One such student, when approached by an activist asking him to sign, reacted in utter amazement: "Who am I, better yet who are you, to ask the President to reinstate one of his employees? I have no idea as to what precipitated the recent decision, but that ignorance on my part can't possibly be turned into careless protest against a move that I have no business making."

Despite this caution, the letters made their way from class to class gathering significant support from the student body. Students who supported the petition point to rumors behind the dismissal that have swayed them. One student believes that "YU's decision to not renew Rabbi Taubes' contract must be viewed against the backdrop of their supposed decision to revise the faculty of Rebbeim as well. What has resulted is a picture that assigns a very broadly defined religious basis to the recent events."

The petitions are being circulated with the support of YU Roshei Yeshiva, a group that played an important role in prompting Rabbi Lamm's March 10 decision to keep MTA alive.