Towards Honors and Intellectualism

The Vision Explored

From the very beginning of his tenure at YC, Dean Norman Adler has mounted a campaign to raise the intellectual level of learning in the College. By pushing teachers to strengthen course requirements and promoting the development of honors courses, he has tried to bring the innate talents of faculty and students to the forefront of education. As plans for a more fully developed honors college begin to take shape, The Commentator has examined Dean Adler's motivation, as well as the consequences of his crusade.

Adler's thesis on the need to push the intellectual limits of YC students stems from his interpretation of the pasuk "Kedoshim T'hiyu - You should be holy." As such, the Jewish people, who practically invented family values, have a unique duty to be an enlightening influence outside the Jewish community. To do so, Adler claims, "We must first acquire knowledge." In his view, this is the correct manifestation of the maxim of Tikkun Olam.

Despite the scant foundation for his exegesis, which does not conform to the traditional understanding of the relevant Scriptural passage, Dean Adler maintains that it is proper to integrate Jewish values with secular advances. Central to his plan is the development of a core of students to comprise an "intellectual elite." This group would then filter, in essence, their ideas down to the entire student body. The final picture, then, is of a student body capable of not merely standing their own in the secular world, but one that can rise to the top both professionally and academically.

To fulfill the vision, Adler has employed several mechanisms. Foremost, he initiated a program to introduce incoming students to the rigors of the intellectual mind set. Featured prominently is the seminar which concludes Freshman Orientation. There, students gather to discuss choice literary texts which highlight issues of secular culture and society. Notably, last year's Galileo Project developed into a year long series stemming from the initial dinner seminar. A compilation of ideas developed in the series is being prepared for publication later this year.

Beyond the perfunctory introduction afforded most students, most events are geared more directly to the core students whose involvement is central to the program's success. Events such as the Dean's Coffee Hour, held periodically at club hour, invite guest speakers who explore current issues with interested students. The objective is to involve students in exploring ideas in a conceptual framework, helping develop the tools to become an independent thinker. With students describing the discussions as "stimulating" and "captivating," it would seem that the program has made its mark.

A recent thrust has been the push for students to apply for fellowships such as the Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright Scholarships. These highly competitive programs afford students the opportunity to study abroad to develop leadership skill and advance humanitarian interests. Their focus is seeking out academically superior students with strong interpersonal skills to mold into true leaders. Dean Adler believes that more YC students should apply for these fellowships, firm in his belief that YC students are capable and deserving of the honor.

Applicants for the program would necessarily draw from the top intellectual prospects at the College. While many of these students gravitate to the humanities and other conceptual areas of study, Adler has tried to draw students from the science departments as well. At a lunchtime meeting with this year's Roth Scholars at Einstein, he affirmed their status as members of the "intellectual elite" of YU. He also encouraged them to look beyond their professional aspirations, possibly devoting time to more academic scientific pursuits. His parting message was that "it is not enough to work towards your own aspirations, you must also develop skills that make you an effective leader in your field."

For Adler, the moves to develop independent, visionary thinking are most directly played out by the new honors college. The college would integrate current honors offerings and develop new courses which would then be open to all interested students. Those students completing enough honors-level courses would be eligible for an "honors" diploma if they also participated in independent research projects in their field of study. Possibly, a fifth year of study on campus would complement the program and be used for advanced study.

Students remain mixed on the viability of Adler's vision. Many students quickly fell in line with his plans and eagerly participate in his programs. Others, however, disagree with the vision of transforming Yeshiva College into a center for intellectual study. Some, like Jake Solomon, a YC junior, contend that Adler is "just adding a new packaging to what we already have." He contends that the recent push is nothing more that a ploy to boost the school's ranking.

Others don't believe that the push will have any lasting effect. Maury Grebenau, also a junior, put it, "Intellectualism? Why not? But most guys are just going for the grade." To the more cynically inclined, this is a valid perspective. For them, college is but a means to an end and it doesn't matter how we learn. "All I care about is getting into law school," one student noted. "From there on, I'm set."

In all, Adler's vision plans to catapult Yeshiva University from a lower class college into a top-ranked liberal arts institution. More than simple academics, the program centers on developing Jewish intellectuals who can be effective leaders in the secular world. In doing so, they accurately transmit the message that Judaism and secularism are not mutually exclusive.

Chaim Woolf contributed to this report