As students and faculty at Yeshiva struggled to cope in the immediate aftermath of the devastation wrought by the recent terrorist attack on New York City, it seems that a general lack of direction on the part of the University's administration contributed to the rampant confusion that engulfed both of Yeshiva's undergraduate campuses for the better part of two days.

A number of conflicting directives issued soon after the attacks on September 11 triggered a great deal of uncertainty regarding the status of Yeshiva's academic schedule. While it was reported that Yeshiva's Vice President of Academic Affairs Morton Lowengrub had already communicated the message by midmorning that all of Yeshiva's schools would follow the regular academic schedule, a short time later, the deans of all of Yeshiva's graduate affiliates and the Sy Syms School of Business announced that all classes were cancelled for the day. When both of Yeshiva's high schools announced that they, too, had cancelled all classes, Yeshiva College and Stern College emerged as the only Yeshiva schools to convene classes on September 11.

Some students questioned the wisdom of the decision to keep Yeshiva College open. "Yeah, we need to resume our lives, eventually" remarked one student. "But, come on, thousands of people were dying on the streets of Manhattan, and we were supposed to give a darn about conjugating verbs?" However, complicating factors at both undergraduate campuses helped fuel an even greater state of disarray. While Yeshiva College technically held classes on Tuesday afternoon, more than thirty professors officially cancelled their Yeshiva College classes, and numerous others simply did not make it to campus. Furthermore, by 6 P.M., Belfer Hall had been sealed off, to the surprise of a number of Yeshiva College students who were expecting to attend classes in the building.

In midtown, students found themselves in a situation similar to that of their uptown counterparts, as no Syms courses, and only a small number of Stern College classes were held. The situation did not improve much on Wednesday, September 12. Yeshiva, ignoring the pleas of New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani and New York Governor George Pataki that all citizens should avoid traveling to Manhattan, ordered its faculty and staff back to campus in order to convene classes. However, as Manhattan's roads were effectively sealed off and public transportation ground to a virtual standstill, many faculty and some marooned students were unable to attend.

Wednesday evening, Yeshiva's midtown campus found itself embroiled in turmoil of a different sort; due to a bomb scare at the Empire State Building, Brookdale Hall and Yeshiva's Lexington Avenue facility were subjected a police evacuation. Although Yeshiva Security maintained that the evacuation was executed in a timely and orderly fashion, some midtown students maintain that reality causes them to sharply disagree. A number of students claimed that they had never been made aware of the evacuation order and had actually remained in the building during the bomb scare while other students complained that they had evacuated but received no guidance as to "where we should evacuate to."

"Girls were literally running, crying through the streets," recalled one RA. "One security guard said run, another said east and those girls who were actually aware of the evacuation were terrified and had no direction."

A male eyewitness remember, "I'm standing on the pedestrian mall and three girls got out of a cab wearing skirts over their pajamas, crying hysterically."

An uptown student leader who made his way downtown to help in anyway he could was furious when he heard that the Office of Security claimed that everything went smoothly that night. "There was no order, only chaos, no one was in charge," he raged, "girls were literally sitting on the sidewalk bawling, afraid to return to their rooms." He continued, "Not a single responsible member of the Yeshiva administration was anywhere to be seen when we got there." Another Yeshiva College student leader who was on the scene, added that because of the manner in which things were mishandled, ambulances had to be called to treat some of the returning women for asthma attacks.

When Student Services was asked to comment on this horrific episode, however, its response was muddled and unclear. Dean of Students David Himber was unable to furnish a better reply to these complaints than "I wasn't present at the scene, and don't know what was or wasn't handled well."

Although normalcy was gradually restored throughout the city, many Yeshiva students simply fled the campus at their first opportunity. Having their eyes on the calendar, many wanted to get home for the Yomim Tovim. "I had no idea when the next flight to California would be," explained one native of Los Angeles, as he stepped into a cab. "I am just going to the airport and will wait till I can get on a flight."

Recalling the tragic events of last week, a student leader wondered, "What would have occurred on campus if the students did not come through the way they did? In my mind, an understaffed student services failed miserably." He went on to explain that people who have to coordinate student life and have to spend time in meetings cannot be the same people who are responsible for ensuring the mental health of students.