President's Circle Donates $5,500 to Commie

In the face of mounting student frustration and complaints, the President's Circle of Yeshiva University - the alumni group that contributes to and controls an annual distribution of funds designed to aid undergraduate efforts and projects on campus - has finally promised to establish a formal line of communication with the students, in the hope of improving student perception of the Circle's fund distribution process. Most significant among its other anticipated efforts, the Circle plans to organize a meeting with student leaders before the summer to ruminate over possible alternatives for fund allocation.

The Circle did honor a Commentator proposal, pledging some $5,500 to the University's official undergraduate newspaper. The donation will cover, among other expenses, this year's color printing, an innovation that commenced in 1999, but has become a Commie staple under this year's staff. "We appreciate the donation and hope that it continues to foster an already close relationship that our two organizations have shared throughout the years," remarked Commentator Editor-in-Chief Jason Cyrulnik. Despite Commentator satisfaction, many other requests for funding were rejected, prompting higher-ups to reexamine the process that links the donors with the students. This year, Dean of Students David Himber has been acting as the intermediary between the President's Circle and the student organizations requesting financial support. Although he has apparently not made any of his own decisions as middleman, his presence has been touted as unnecessary. On February 1, 2001, Himber met with the group of alumni to introduce himself; they in turn established a deadline for student proposals asking for monetary contributions to student-run activities. Himber then relayed the deadline information to student leaders, who composed the proposals and submitted them to him to transfer over to the alumni.

After reviewing the submissions, the Circle was apparently unclear about certain specifics - most notably those pertinent to WYUR, Yeshiva's radio station which has been unable to operate this year due to lack of funding. Because of the alumni's lack of direct interaction with the students, however, these unclear specifics were never properly clarified. WYUR has still not been provided for, and other indigent student initiatives, such as the newly developed Student Organization of Yeshiva (SOY) Community Board of Washington Heights, have also been left inexplicably hanging. "It's ridiculous that [these benefactors] are funding student activities without actually speaking to the students," argued YCSC President Pinchas Shapiro. "The process is so indirect that nothing gets done."

Himber recalled that he had suggested to the Circle to meet directly with the students. If this would be the case, he had explained to them, then the students would be able to directly discuss the specifics of their proposals in an informal setting - and the donors would be able to explain their rationale behind passing, suspending, or rejecting these proposals.

Unfortunately, the Circle did not accept this suggestion. "The alumni felt that they needed a focused group whom they'd easily be able to deal with," explained Robert R. Saltzman, University Director of Alumni Affairs, speaking on behalf of the President's Circle. "These donors thought they'd be overwhelmed if student representatives from twelve or thirteen clubs met with them…Himber had provided a convenient conduit through which [the Circle] dealt with financial requests." Additionally, according to the alumni, it would be unfair to invite just the YCSC President to the meetings, for he would then be "put in a political position" and would be forced to "prioritize" from among Yeshiva's wide array of student organizations.

Saltzman pointed out that the eighteen alumni of the President's Circle had not even been aware of the general student frustration until reading several articles in The Commentator that implicitly criticized them within the context of the WYUR delay. "The alumni had assumed that students [would get] feedback about their meetings and [would] understand…why certain proposals, like WYUR, needed further clarification before being passed," he remembered. Saltzman acknowledged that this very assumption evidences the lack of communication between the Circle and the students with which the latter have been frustrated.

Himber's presence as intermediary notwithstanding, student groups in need of financial assistance have become frustrated that very few of their requests have been honored. Besides its suspension of the proposals regarding WYUR and the SOY Community Board, the President's Circle has been reluctant to honor such requests as, for example, funding club speakers and supplying financial resources to on-campus student publications.

for direct student-alumni interaction. "To begin with, they want to be catalysts of change," Saltzman asserted. Labeling the President's Circle's role as a donor association aimed at helping either fledgling student organizations - such as the recent Mass Jewish Youth Mission to Washington - or unusual student initiatives, such as the Yeshiva-wide tefillin checks and seforim rebinding, Saltzman pointed out that the alumni group has always been less likely to provide for day-to-day necessities, like computers for Yeshiva's undergraduate publications, which, it feels, should be sponsored by the school or by the student councils. Direct student-alumni cooperation, he admitted, would enlighten student leaders as to this self-perceived role of the Circle.

Apparently, the President's Circle has also rejected proposals because of their excessive lack of specificity. "What's happened over the years is that people see them as a place to present a shopping list with no strings attached," asserted Himber. Saltzman, as well, recalled hearing about requests being submitted that were of generally poor quality. "The alumni won't just give money when they hear the student council tell them, for instance, 'We need help with our budget.' They need concrete specifics." Saltzman went on to acknowledge that this problem of what he termed "vague proposals" would also be solved through the Circle's direct contact with students, because, in a meeting, the students would be able to explain to the alumni exactly why particular things are needed.

In addition to the lack of communication between the alumni and the students, Saltzman pointed to the disorganization latent within the alumni group itself as another cause of student frustration. "The President's Circle had, at most, one official meeting throughout this entire year," he disclosed. He immediately responded, however, that they're "definitely trying to fix up these problems" for next year. "We're re-evaluating our procedure in order to become more involved with students."

Practically speaking, the President's Circle plans on submitting an open letter to be published within both The Commentator and The Observer after Pesach. The letter, which will be addressed to the "Students of Yeshiva," will urge all students to approach the Circle with innovative proposals and will specify alumni eagerness to "help [students] with special projects and to get new ideas off the ground." Interested students will be urged to submit their proposals either to the Dean of Students or to the student councils.

Saltzman also promised that "before summer vacation," the President's Circle will call a dual-purposed meeting with "all new heads of the student undergraduate organizations." On the one hand, this spring meeting will finally inform student leaders as to the President Circle's ideology - what types of proposals they will pass and what type they will reject. Even more importantly, however, the meeting will give both sides the chance to "clarify proceedings" and listen to each other's suggestions, hopefully triggering a process through which students, beginning next fall, will be able to directly consult with their alumni donors.