Capping off a two-week period of intense discussion, deliberation and debate on the uptown campus, Yeshiva Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Morton Lowengrub decided to maintain the status quo for next year's academic calendar and begin classes at the end of August. Although Lowengrub strongly considered beginning the 2002-2003 academic year on October 1st as a result of the exceptionally early holiday break, student opposition to this "late start" eventually persuaded him to keep the traditional calendar beginning school in late August.

Debate surfaced for the first time this year when Yeshiva faculty and administrators realized that next year's Jewish calendar poses a peculiar problem. Unusually early next year, Rosh Hashanah will begin on Friday, September 6, 2002 and the three-week-long Yom Kippur and Succos break will commence as early as Thursday September 12th. Assuming the academic year begins on the last Wednesday in August, the traditional beginning of the term, vacation will occur after only two or three lecture periods per course.

According to Yeshiva College Assistant Dean Dr. Joyce Jesionowski, the "faculty was unified in its stance" to begin school after the three-week break, on October 1st, as a result of this unbalanced calendar schedule. "To have four days of school and then a one month break ruins the momentum of the term," she explained. "It is impossible to jump back into things after such a long vacation, especially when [hardly anything] has been taught to begin with."

Concurring with Jesionowski, Yeshiva College Dean Norman Adler recalled how "every faculty member [he] asked wanted to start late" next year in order to avoid breaking up the semester only a week after the beginning of school. It was because of this faculty standpoint that Lowengrub was commissioned to consider starting school next year after the long holiday break.

Although many faculty members questioned by The Commentator were not even aware that the issue was even being discussed, a significant number did prove Adler's observation by demonstrating support for a late start. "We'd been wanting to do this [have a late start] for a while now," one prominent faculty member pointed out. "It just never made sense to have a few days of school and get nothing ccomplished, and then basically start all over again one month later. But next year's situation was the straw that broke the camel's back, [because] the calendar would only allow for 2 or 3 classes [before the long break]."

The student perspective, however, was quite different. During the Yeshiva College and Sy Syms School of Business Faculty Student Senate meeting on Thursday, November 15th, student senators and other student leaders expressed strong disapproval of the proposed late start. "Starting October 1st would adversely affect both the middle and the end of the school year," Senate Vice Chair and Yeshiva College Senior Josh Klarfeld remarked, speaking on behalf of other students. "First of all, many students would find it difficult to produce good work in an academic term containing 14 uninterrupted weeks of classes. Additionally, a late start in the fall would mean that the spring term would not end until June, [a consequence] that would cause conflict with summer school and summer jobs."

To this, Ira Jaskoll, Associate Dean of the Sy Syms School of Business added that a late start would negatively affect students interviewing in the fall. "We already begin in September, which is late enough. Beginning in October would be very bad," he examined.

Yeshiva's Judaic Studies administration also opted for the continuance of the customary late-August start. "Yeshiva cannot be delayed so long, till after the Yomim Tovim," Judaic Studies Dean Rabbi Michael Shmidman affirmed. "If they started school in October, most guys would not be learning at all in September, and many would miss the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Yeshiva experience."

After the November 15th Senate meeting, the undergraduate Uptown student leadership, including student senators, elected leaders and Commentator editors drafted a letter to Lowengrub, urging him to decide against a late start. In the letter, they delineated what they considered the disadvantages of beginning school October 1st. It turned out, in fact, that Lowengrub's final decision - his rejection of a late start for the 2002-2003 academic year - stemmed directly from this student input. "I have decided," he wrote in an exclusive statement to The Commentator, "particularly after hearing the student preferences, to keep the calendar as it stands for the upcoming academic year."

Students have responded positively to the recent decision on two accounts. "First of all, I'm very happy with Dr. Lowengrub's decision in and of itself," effused Yeshiva College Sophomore Amitai Blickstein. "Yeshiva is challenging enough as it is, and I wouldn't be comfortable with a straight stretch of three and a half months of school. But even more importantly, I'm quite impressed that he [took] student input into account; it really shows that he cares about what we think."

Lowengrub was quick to point out, however, that the issue is far from over. "The question of the academic calendar requires more study," he continued. "Therefore, I will be convening a committee this year comprised of faculty, students and administration to look into various options for future year calendars. Any changes discussed this year, [however,] will not be implemented until the fall of 2003." Adler, by contrast, noted that he does not think that the academic calendar problem would resurface until at least 2010, the next time Rosh Hashanah will fall out early in September. Until then, and particularly next year, he said, "We'll have to make due with the few days of school before the long break." Specifically, Adler suggested that in order to exploit these often-unproductive days, Yeshiva College and Sy Syms School of Business classes might opt for certain types of intensive instruction in which students would study a topic related to - but separable from - the main themes of the course.