After more than four months of delays, the 2001 Spring semester Dorm Talks session will be held this coming Tuesday, May 8. The tetra-annual program, often touted as an opportunity for Yeshiva administrators and faculty to meet with undergraduates in the most informal of settings to discuss typical issues of concern to college-age Jewish students, is usually held twice each semester. As a result of various difficulties incurred in organizing this semester's programs, however, the May 8th Talks will mark the first since mid-December.

Initiated roughly six years ago with the departure of Rabbi Joshua Cheifetz, Dorm Talks have proven solidly successful over the years. In planning an upcoming session, Dorm Talks Coordinator Rabbi Marc Spivak usually organizes a meeting involving the unofficial committee, comprised of IBC Dean Michael Shmidman, Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, and one or two student representatives, who, this year, are YC juniors Mikey Butler and Saul Epstein.

Epstein recalled Spivak's having approached him at the beginning of February, requesting a list of proposed topics. After fulfilling the request with the help of Rabbi Blau, he submitting the proposals to Spivak, who then arranged for a meeting with the committee. The meeting, which was held on March 15th, marked the last Epstein heard about Dorm Talks until last week.

According to Spivak, actualizing the plans for the Dorm Talks had been hard to fulfill as a result of two primary obstacles. First, he explained, it was hard to attract the necessary speakers. Since the committee usually attempts to procure "the best people" to lead the talks, Spivak had tried to convince both Dr. Norman Lamm and "one of the MYP rebbeim" to lead them, an effort that ended in failure. It took until last week, in fact, to conclusively arrange for the speakers for the upcoming May 8th Talks - Rabbis Benjamin Blech and Boruch Simon.

Spivak also pointed out that finding a date had proven most difficult as well. "After [former Coordinator of Student Services] Andrew Leibowitz's departure, there was no one in Student Services who was able to coordinate with us," he said. Although Dr. Chaim Nissel recently filled in Leibowitz's vacated post, "the department was in a state a flux for most of the semester, and that led to much of the delays in date-searching." Shmidman, as well, partly attributed the delay to the restructuring of the Office. "[Leibowitz] used to push for taking the Dorm Talks initiative," he recalled. "With him gone, no one is left to do so."

The delay notwithstanding, next week's Talks promise to provide a rewarding experience for students. Topics to be discussed include how to incorporate kiruv and family into a future life that considers learning a priority. With regard to possible future delays, as Dean of Students David Himber promised, "we just have to sharpen our pencils and get things going earlier."