On Thursday, January 25, Pinky Shapiro was officially reinstated as President of the Yeshiva College Student Council, this time by the university’s administration, which had previously suspended and subsequently refused to recognize his presidency. Shapiro had been removed from the post by the YC Deans Office, following his having been placed on academic probation in early October. The reinstallation was the second of its kind in less than four weeks for Shapiro, who had won an appeal to a special YCSC subcommittee in late December upholding his presidency. The YCSC ruling, however, had left the Shapiro administration in a state of only greater uncertainty, as the Deans Office refused to lend credence to the student decision, maintaining its commitment to Aryeh Goldberg serving as Acting President.
“I’m glad that the Deans Office finally caught up with the students in this matter, and I hope to continue to serve my peers,” remarked a relieved Shapiro, who merited administrative recognition after he was able to post a Fall 2000 grade point average that lifted the previously incurred academic probation. Shapiro’s relief, however, remained reserved, in light of the absence of a resolution to the more pressing global issue that emerged from the controversy in early January. The conflicting views regarding the identity of the YCSC President left students utterly confused, constituents of two presidents — one recognized by their Student Council and another recognized by their administration. In fact, from a Deans Office perspective, Acting President Aryeh Goldberg remained in that capacity even into the beginning of this semester, until Dr. Nada Glick finally received written confirmation of Shapiro’s most recent Fall grades and lifted the academic probation.
Highlighting the lack of resolution to this issue stands University Dean of Students David Himber’s delayed siding with the balance of the administration on the controversial issue. Himber’s office sits at the cusp of the two groups — administration and students — and so the dean found himself in a distinctive position when asked to decide between the two factions. Instead of taking a stance at the time, Himber cited a need to further investigate the YCSC subcommittee finding. Two days later, the dean concluded that “when an administrative decision is made, it’s for that department to reverse the decision.”
Himber downplayed the significance of the two-week stint of two presidents, even refusing to deem it as much as a “conflict” between administrators and students. Subcommittee Chairman Moishe B. Singer responded by succinctly proclaiming, “I can’t understand how the issue has been so routinely dismissed. Of course, there was a conflict, and of course this can happen again.”
In defense of his decision, Himber reiterated his stance, pointing out that with “all due respect to the student council the students in general, it is not for students to change administrative decisions.” Himber’s blanket support of the Deans office in this issue, on jurisdictional grounds alone, is somewhat surprising in light of his office’s refusal to rule on the suddenly born controversy immediately following the subcommittee’s ruling and the publishing of The Commentator. Claiming that he first had to speak with Singer, who had issued the ruling, Himber postponed the decision that now seems predetermined.
Controversy unsettled, operations at YCSC are slowly returning to their pre-probation state. Shapiro resumed his normal duties, chairing a crucial Student Life Committee meeting this past week, as Goldberg reassumed the post of Vice President.
The removal of Shapiro from probation came just days before he ended another chapter of the complex story that contributed to the controversy. The president underwent successful arthroscopic surgery this past Tuesday, landing him on crutches but, more importantly, on the road to recovery.
Attempting to put the four-month ordeal into perspective, Himber emphasized his desire to “give particular credit to both of them [Shapiro and Goldberg] for keeping student life and activities moving along, so least students didn’t have to suffer from the process.” With the core issue still unsettled, however, and administrators claiming supremacy over the student constitution, some students believe that the suffering might just be beginning.