Brandeis University Chapter Of Its Founding

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Brandeis University

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BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Chapter of Its Founding
ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Chapter of Its Founding

BY

ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN, D.D., D.H.L

NEW YORK

BLOCH PUBLISHING COMPANY

1951

COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY BLOCK PUBLISHING Co., INC.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEDICATED

TO

DEVOTED COLLEAGUES WHO SHARED

IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A LONG-CHERISHED IDEA,
A JEWISH-SPONSORED SECULAR UNIVERSITY IN AMERICA.

FOREWORD

January 1951, was five years since it fell to my lot to initiate
the project of the first Jewish-sponsored secular university in
America, Brandeis University, at Waltham, Mass.

The value and significance of this project are receiving
growing recognition at the hands of the Jewish community
in America and of the non-Jewish community as well.

As the years go by, the chapter of Genesis in the history of
Brandeis University is likely to become increasingly an item
of historic interest. Therefore, I felt it would be worthwhile
to make available, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of
its founding, the record of my association with the project
during the months when the campus was secured, the idea
propounded to organizations and individuals, the sponsor-
ship organized, the fundraising started, and the consent of
the family of the late Justice Louis D. Brandeis obtained for
the name, "Brandeis University/'

To some readers the chronicle may seem, in parts, to be
overly detailed. It should be considered, however, that with
the passing of the years, the details of the early beginnings of
this enterprise will be more and more sought after and that
there may be students of the subject who will be grateful for
details recorded by one who was in a position to know them
first-hand.

Portions of this chronicle may appear to be unduly per-
sonal. It is, in a sense, a memoir of my eight months of activ-
ity which were an important chapter in my life as well as in
the history of the project which it was my privilege to initi-

vii

viii FOREWORD

ate. Every effort has been made to present the record with
accuracy and with as much documentation as was available.
Thus, there is an abundance of quotations from correspond-
ence, addresses, and resolutions. These quotations, even those
which are lengthy, are inserted, for the most part, into the
body of the book because they are an integral and insepara-
ble part of the narrative. Care has been exercised to record
the contributions of all who played a significant part in the
development of the project during the period under review.
If a few passages seem repetitious it is because the effort is
made to reconstruct at every stage in the development, the
problems as they were confronted in the light of what had
preceded.

The foreword would be incomplete without an acknowl-
edgment of the outstanding services of two colleagues in
particular. While there were many friends who made valu-
able contributions to the chapter of Genesis, and who will
be mentioned in the body of the story, these two deserve
special mention. To Mr. Julius Silver of New York, I came
for the first help and advice as soon as the acquisition of
the campus and the charter seemed practicable. He under-
took, as a labor of love, the handling of all the legal problems
in connection with the acquisition of the campus and the
charter, and thereafter in connection with the establishment
of the fundraising instrument. To Mr. George Alpert of
Boston, Mr. Silver and I came shortly after the initial steps
had been taken. He gave generously of his time and talent
during the period covered by this summary, helping to guide
the developments, to resist a local effort to deprive the Uni-
versity of its charter, and to win friends for the project in
the Boston Jewish community and elsewhere.

A special word of acknowledgment is due Professor Albert
Einstein. Our reverence for him does not permit of referring

FOREWORD ix

to him merely as a colleague. His early interest lent prestige
and strength to our endeavors.

With gratitude in my heart to all who had a part in mak-
ing Brandeis University possible and with thanksgiving for
the part I was privileged to have had in the chapter of its
founding, I wish for it long life and a good name in the ful-
fillment of the purposes for which it was founded.

ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN
January, 1951

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

FOREWORD vii

I THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY IN AMERICA . . i

II THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 14

III THE CAMPUS AND THE CHARTER ACQUIRED .... 31

IV WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 42

V TROUBLESOME SITUATIONS 62

VI THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM 69

VII THE NAME, "BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY/* CHOSEN ... 79

VIII PLANNING FOR THE OPENING OF BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY 83

IX MY WITHDRAWAL 97

X SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 106

APPENDICES 123

CHAPTER I

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY
IN AMERICA

The idea of a Jewish university in America had been ger-
minating for a long time in a variety of forms.

Mordecai M. Noah, (1785-1851), in New York, proposed
the establishment of a college or school, where Jewish children
could obtain a classical education together with instruction in
the Hebrew language and in the principles of their religion.
(Solomon Solis-Cohen, 'The Jewish Theological Seminary,
Past and Future," New York, 1919.) The Hebrew Education
Society of Philadelphia, founded by Rev. Isaac Leeser in
1849, was intended to develop into a College of Arts and
Sciences. Its charter granted the right to award the degrees of
Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Doctor of Law and Doctor
of Divinity, (ibid.) These plans, however, did not materialize.

During the next several decades, various proposals were
launched by leaders of American Jewry for the establishment
of Jewish institutions of higher learning where Jewish studies
would predominate. These institutions were primarily in-
tended for the training of Jewish teachers and Rabbis. Mai-
monides College was established in Philadelphia in 1867, but
ceased to exist in 1873. The institutions which succeeded in
achieving permanence were the Hebrew Union College, in
Cincinnati, established in 1875, and the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America in New York, established in 1886.
(Moshe Davis, "Yahadut America Be-hitpathutah" [The Shap-
ing of American Judaism] New York, 1951. See especially the

2 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

chapter on Education, pp. 101-119.) None of these, however,
were intended or planned as secular institutions.

Gratz College in Philadelphia, the first Jewish teachers train-
ing school in the United States, was originally contemplated
to be a secular college. In the last will and testament of Hyman
Gratz, Philadelphia merchant and philanthropist who died
a bachelor in 1857, his estate was left to his nephews and nieces
with the explicit provision that if they should die without
issue, the residuary estate should revert to Congregation
Mikveh Israel for the establishment of a college "for the educa-
tion of Jews in the city and county of Philadelphia." (Minute
Book of Mikveh Israel Congregation of Philadelphia, April
15, 1894. Report by Parnas.) When the last heir, Horace Moses,
died in 1893, the Hyman Gratz Estate which then amounted
to $150,000, yielding an income of about $6,000 a year, re-
verted to the Congregation Mikveh Israel. A committee of
seven was appointed as trustees of the fund. Among them were
Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, Chairman, Dr. Cyrus Adler, Mayer
Sulzberger, Rabbi Sabato Morais and Gratz Mordecai. The
last-named undertook to communicate with the heads of
Columbia, Harvard and Cornell University. In his letter he
asked whether it would be within the realm of possibility to
have students who upon graduation* from this newly estab-
lished institution would be accepted as teachers, writers and
editors. The replies were negative. Gratz Mordecai wrote again
to Seth Low, President of Columbia University, asking his
opinion on the establishment of a Hebrew Department at a
general university. The reply to that question was also in the
negative, (ibid: Letters dated December, 1893.)

The committee, following the general line of a suggestion
by Dr. Sabato Morais, who was the Rabbi of the Congregation,
decided to use the fund for the establishment of a secondary
school for teaching Judaism to the Jewish youth and preparing
them to teach in elementary religious schools.

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY 3

In 1907, Dropsle College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning
was established in Philadelphia, through a fund bequeathed
by Moses A. Dropsie. While it admits students and appoints
faculty without distinction of creed or color, it is a post-
graduate institution with a curriculum limited to Jewish and
Semitic studies.

In a monograph on "A Jewish University in America," pub-
lished in New York in 19253, Rabbi Louis I. Newman presented
his concept and proposals for a secular Jewish institution of
higher learning, and also quoted the views, pro and con, of a
number of Jewish and non-Jewish leaders of public opinion,
including college and university presidents. He referred to
similar suggestions which had been made previously by Pro-
fessor Abram S. Isaacs and Dr. Julius Hochfelder. He quoted
at length from a published address by Dr. G. Stanley Hall,
former President of Clark University. ("Menorah Journal,"
April 1917, pp. 98-101.) Dr. Hall had advocated "a central
institution of higher learning which shall represent the best
things in Jewish culture ... a Jewish University splendidly
installed and organized on a large plan. . . . Assimilation is
a great and needed good in many respects to a certain degree,
but if it goes far, something is in danger of being lost. So
while I would have Jewish students frequent all kinds of
universities, I would provide one of their own. . . . This
country could certainly be the place for the great university
which I had in mind, which ought to advance Jewish culture
in all its branches . . . and if it flourishes, as I believe it will,
one function of your university will be to train leaders for it
and guardians and guides of Jewish students in other great
centers of learning . . . some such great institution which
should grow in successive decades and generations, and be a
. monument of the Jewish rac, of its past and future, a re-
pository of its learning and a conservator of its loftiest spirit."

Rabbi Newman, in summarizing his own views and those

4 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

of others before him, wrote, "no one need claim originality
for the idea; surely it is. big enough and obvious enough to
have occurred to many people, at various times, or concur-
rently."

Various phases of the idea continued to reverberate. Pro-
posals by Henry Hurwitz, editor of the Menorah Journal, for
a non-sectarian college of Jewish studies (Menorah Journal,
February, 1926, and April-June, 1946), and by Dr. Mordecai
M. Kaplan, Professor of Honiiletics at the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, for a University of Judaism (The Re-
constructionist, November 29, 1946, "The Future of the
American Jew/' New York, 1948, pp. 523-535), as well as
the establishment of the College of Jewish Studies in Chicago,
in 1924, are mentioned only in passing since they did not
purport to embrace the full scope of a secular, non-sectarian
college or university.

In 1958, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
in New York had its charter amended to permit the creation
of the Yeshivah College which would offer courses leading to
the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. It
was an integral part of the theological institution whose cor-
porate name was, "Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semi-
nary and Yeshivah College." Thus its students were enabled
to combine their secular studies with their rabbinical studies.
In 1945, its charter was further amended to permit post-
graduate courses and its name was changed to Yeshivah Uni-
versity. In December, 1950, the charter of Yeshivah Univer-
sity was again amended by the State Board of Regents to
permit the establishment of medical and dental schools.

The increasing difficulties confronting Jewish applicants
for admission to medical schools led to several attempts to
establish medical schools under Jewish or predominantly
Jewish sponsorship. In 1940, Mr. Max D, Steuer, a prominent
New York lawyer, and Dr. Simon L. Ruskin, a prominent

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY 5

New York physician, headed such an effort, under the name
of the "Gorgas Institute of Medical Sciences," but were un-
successful in securing a charter from the New York State
Board of Regents. For a few years, commencing in 1941, a
Jewish group struggled to develop the Essex College of Medi-
cine and Surgery in Newark, New Jersey, but were unable to
secure permission from the State Board to confer the degree
of Doctor of Medicine. A more successful effort was that of
the Chicago Medical College, which, thanks to a new group
of sponsors, most of them Jews, succeeded in securing the
funds and the financial sponsorship to warrant recognition as
a Class A Medical School, in 1948.

MY APPROACH TO THE IDEA OF A JEWISH-SPONSORED
UNIVERSITY

For many years I had given thought to the implementation
of the idea of a Jewish-sponsored secular university in
America. From my point of view, the Yeshivah College did
not answer the need because of its integral tie with a rab-
binical seminary and with an Orthodox Jewish constituency,
which would limit its appeal and scope, however meritorious
its academic credentials might be. Nor did I consider the con-
centration of interest and effort upon a medical school, how-
ever acute the need, to be the answer to the broader aspects
of the need for a Jewish-sponsored secular institution of
higher learning.

What seemed to be called for was, first, a university estab-
lished on broad foundations and sponsored by a predomi-.
nantly Jewish group representing not one particular wing of
Judaism, be it Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform, but the
Jewish community as a whole; and secondly, a university
open to Jews and non-Jews, who would be admitted, on merit
only, to its faculty and to its student body. It was to be built,

6 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

as other American universities had been built, commencing
with a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and gradually
developing its post-graduate courses and professional schools.

Undoubtedly, the consideration which prompted many
who favored the establishment of a Jewish-sponsored secular
university in America, was the quota system obtaining in some
institutions of higher learning, which inflicted hardships not
only upon Jewish students but even more acutely upon Jewish
scholars in quest of teaching positions. It should have been
obvious, however, that one or even several institutions of
higher learning would hardly be the solution to that prob-
lem which affected tens of thousands of Jewish students and
many hundreds of Jewish scholars. From the standpoint of
the quota problem, the chief value of a Jewish-sponsored
secular university open to students and teachers of all races
and creeds on merit only, would be its moral value, in demon-
strating to whom it may concern and before public opinion
generally, how a Jewish group would conduct such an edu-
cational enterprise when afforded the opportunity.

There was another aspect which seemed to me to be even
more important. For two hundred years American colleges
and universities had been established and sponsored by
various denominational groups. This was, in the main, the
history of higher education in America. Harvard and Yale
began as Congregationalist schools, Columbia as Episcopalian,
the University of Chicago as Methodist, Princeton as Presby-
terian, Swarthmore as Quaker, Brown as Baptist, while the
Catholics founded Fordham, Notre Dame, Holy Cross and
others. The Jewish group, as a group, had done nothing in
that field. While individual Jews had contributed money and
talent to institutions of higher learning, they, unlike other
groups, had* no significant contribution as a group to which
they could point in the field of higher secular education. As a

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY 7

matter of collective Jewish dignity, this lack, it seemed to me,
needed to be corrected as soon as possible.

Many additional advantages would inhere in a Jewish-
sponsored university. It would represent an additional edu-
cational opportunity to numbers of students, Jews and
non-Jews, at a time when the shortage of college and univer-
sity facilities was becoming increasingly acute. In such an
institution Jewish students would feel a sense of * 'noblesse
oblige," knowing that Jewish support was making higher
learning available for non-Jews as well. Non-Jewish students
would feel appreciation and goodwill. Of even more perma-
nent significance would be the contribution which a group
of scholars in such a university would make to the enrich-
ment of culture and the advancement of science. The credit
for such achievements would redound to American Jewry
as such. Moreover, an institution of the kind envisioned
could be an important factor in moulding leaders for the
Jewish community in America, for during the impressionable
years at college, students could be guided to feel and under-
stand the needs and the problems of the Jewish community.
Such an institution could become a cultural center for
American Jewry and a place where great Jewish scholars from
everywhere would find a welcome and a platform.

I was not unaware of the arguments which would be made
against such a project, for in the discussions which had taken
place over the years, these arguments had been ventilated; and
I had pondered them and answered them, at least to my own
satisfaction. These arguments fell into the following cate-
gories:

i . A Jewish university would become an academic "ghetto."
Why should non-Jewish teachers and students come to it,
except as a last refuge after being rejected elsewhere? To
that argument the answer was that such a university, con-

8 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

ducted along democratic lines with respect to faculty as well
as students, with its non-quota principle, added to the op-
portunity of participating in a pioneer venture, would make
a special appeal to choice spirits.

2. The existence of a Jewish university would serve other
universities as a pretext for rejecting Jewish students by
advising them to go to "their own." To that argument the
answer was, first, that experience showed that the existence
of Catholic colleges and universities was not being exploited
as a pretext even where the atmosphere was unfriendly to
Catholics; and secondly, that if there are institutions of learn-
ing which would stoop to such a low level of bias, they might
as well be written off as far as Jews were concerned, for they
would find one pretext or another, to keep Jews out.

3. The chief root of opposition, it seemed to me, was on an
emotional level, and therefore not subject to persuasion by
logic. It was the opposition of those Jews who felt uncomfort-
able in the presence of anything which bore the stamp of
Jewish identity, who sought their salvation in protective
coloration, to whom melting-pot uniformity was a more com-
fortable symbol of American democracy than orchestrated
diversity. Opposition stemming from such roots did not im-
press me because it was as unAmerican as it was unjewish.

There was one type of reservation for which I had a whole-
some respect, the attitude of those who felt, as a matter of
Jewish pride, that a Jewish university must be of excellent
quality, otherwise it was not worth having at all. I had enough
faith, however, in the availability of Jewish talent and in the
financial responsiveness of the American Jewish community,
to believe that such a university would, in the course of time,
become first-class.

A student of the history of the Jews in the United States
might have recalled that in an earlier period there had been
a good deal of resistance on the part of prominent American

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY 9

Jews to the establishment of Jewish hospitals. Experience
had proved, however, that Jewish hospitals, their non-
sectarian character and their high standards, had rendered
a service to the general community and had raised the prestige
of the Jewish community.

On a miniature scale, this problem, its pros and cons, were
reminiscent of the problem of Zionism, where similar argu-
ments and phobias had been encountered and similar answers
had been given. I felt convinced that just as the reality of a
vital, dignified and creative Jewish national life in Palestine
was itself the best answer to a priori fears and reservations,
so the reality of an existing Jewish-sponsored university in
America would itself be the most effective solvent of op-
position. And just as it was already apparent that the Jewish
National Home, because it bore the collective imprint of the
Jewish people, was reflecting credit upon individual Jews
everywhere, and that its spiritual and cultural credentials,
were far out of proportion to its small size, so too, the collec-
tive imprint of a Jewish University could reflect credit upon
American Jews, and its credentials could be far out of pro-
portion to its size.

In thinking about the plan for a Jewish-sponsored univer-
sity, I had in mind a modest enterprise, with a co-educational
student body not exceeding one thousand, which would de-
velop in quality, to equal the best. This view was encouraged
by tibe fact that there were small colleges and universities in
America whose caliber and reputation were greater than their
modest size.

There was one question to which scant attention had been
given in the general discussion of the subject, but which
seemed to me to deserve serious consideration. In what re-
spects, if any, would the curriculum and the atmosphere of a
Jewish-sponsored secular university be Jewishly distinctive?
It would not be the only non-quota institution of higher

10 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

learning in America. Would it, or should it, have any special
programs or facilities which would be of particular value to
Judaism and to American Jewry?

A Jewish University, it seemed to me, should have the fol-
lowing elements of special Jewish value:

1. A Jewish Chapel as the first house of worship to be
established on the campus. Other denominations should be
free to make use of its facilities, or to build a chapel of their
own.

2. In addition to legal holidays, the Jewish Sabbath, Festi-
vals and Holy Days should be recognized as times when no
classes, examinations or registrations should be scheduled.

3. The campus refectory should be conducted in accord-
ance with Jewish Dietary Laws.

4. The curriculum should include elective courses in
Jewish History, the Bible, the Commentaries, the Talmud,
post-Talmudic Jewish Literature, Judaism as a Religious
System, Jewish Philosophy and Ethics, the Role of the Jews
in the Civilization of the World, Modern Hebrew, Yiddish,
and Contemporary Jewish Affairs, including the development
of Jewish Palestine.

5. Opportunities should be afforded to the student body to
meet and hear great Jewish world personalities.

6. The campus should be used for summer seminars to
attract students from all parts of the country,, and for conven-
tions and conferences of Jewish youth groups.

7. Exchange scholarships and fellowships with the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and othei; institutions of Jewish learn-
ing should be promoted.

8. Such a university should be a significant instrument for
moulding and developing Jewish leadership, and should be-
come a cultural and intellectual center for American Jewry.

9. From this center of culture and science should emanate
fruits of important research in the humanities and in the

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY n

sciences which would bring enlightenment and healing for
the benefit of all mankind, and would redound to the good
name of the Jewish people.

THE GAP BETWEEN DISCUSSION AND ACTION

I had refrained from publishing my views, not only be-
cause the main thesis had already been written about and
discussed extensively, but especially because I felt that the
only new contribution of value which could be made, was
not in the realm of discussion but in the realm of action. Thus
far nothing had come of all the discussions. No one, appar-
ently, had addressed himself successfully to the task of organ-
izing the effort for the establishment of a Jewish-sponsored
secular university.

In 1938, at the conclusion of a Zionist convention in De-
troit, when it seemed that my Zionist activities might be di-
minished, I had expressed to a number of friends a desire to
undertake such a project, if time would permit. My public
responsibilities, however, instead of becoming easier, became
more arduous and more numerous. Nevertheless the re-
solve persisted. I felt that my experience in having headed
and developed a variety of national Jewish organizations,
fundraising, religious and Zionist organizations, such as
Young Judea, the Jewish National Fund, the Synagogue
Council of America, and the Zionist Organization of America,
would stand me in good stead. It was, however, a resolve which
was constantly being forced into the background by urgent
immediate commitments and responsibilities to my Congre-
gation and to the organizations which had preempted my
time and energy.

In the Fall of 1945, when my incumbency in the office of
President of the Synagogue Council of America was drawing
to a close and my second term as President of the Zionist Or-

12 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

ganization of America was about to expire, I turned seriously
to the prospect o doing something about the project which
I had been seriously contemplating. It was very much in my
mind as the ZOA Convention in Atlantic City was about to
adjourn on November soth, and I could look ahead to the
availability of the time and energy required for testing out
the practicability of the plan for a Jewish-sponsored univer-
sity.

I shared my thoughts with a few friends during recesses be-
tween ZOA convention sessions and immediately upon its
conclusion. With two men in particular I discussed the matter
more fully. One was Mr. Joseph Schlossberg, of New York,
General Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers of America and member of the Board of
Higher Education of New York City. The other was Rabbi
Simon Greenberg, Rabbi of Congregation Har Zion of Phila-
delphia, and Associate Professor of Education at the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America. Both encouraged me,
though Rabbi Greenberg was concerned as to how the
uniquely Jewish values of a Jewish-sponsored university would
be provided for.

Not being a stranger to the task of translating ideas into
organizational forms, I did not underestimate the huge labor
involved in carrying through a project of this nature, finding
a suitable campus, organizing the fundraising, planning the
educational policy, securing the goodwill of American public
opinion, selecting a good faculty, and attracting a good stu-
dent body. The resistance which might be expected in opposi-
tion to the idea had already been adumbrated in Rabbi
Newman's monograph. I was confident, however, that the re-
sistance could be overcome. Every vital new idea generates re-
sistance as well as enthusiasm. It was not necessary to have
unanimity. What was important was to win substantial areas
of understanding and support.

THE IDEA OF A JEWISH UNIVERSITY 13

It was a challenge of magnitude. An important idea which
had been talked about and debated for more than twenty-five
years, had not advanced beyond the stage of discussion. Yet
the situation affecting Jews in colleges and universities was
growing worse, not better. All the affirmative arguments for a
Jewish-sponsored university were becoming stronger, not
weaker. The opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
in 1925, which has been founded in 1918, and its gratifying
development since that time was a vivid reminder, though in
a different sphere, of how a collective contribution of the
Jewish/ people to culture and science wins recognition at the
hands of the general public. It seemed to be high time to put
the idea of a Jewish-sponsored university in America to the
test of practical implementation.

CHAPTER II
THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF

Early in January, 1946, while I was preoccupied with the
problem of how to begin planning and organizing the effort
for the establishment of a Jewish-sponsored secular univer-
sity, I received a letter which suggested the possibility of an
initial leap toward the desired goal.

MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY

Waltham 54, Massachusetts

January 7, 1946
Dear Rabbi Goldstein:

This letter is written to you at the suggestion of Mr. Joseph
Schlossberg, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Clothing
Workers of America and General Chairman of the Histadruth, be-
cause he thinks you may be able to assist an institution which has
been the victim of the policy of anti-semitism which motivates
those organizations which control education and practice in the
professions that deal with the healing arts in this country. Perhaps
you have read a series of articles in P.M., written by Albert Deutch,
that described how our School of Medicine has been undermined
and rendered useless by the autocratic and monopolistic activities
of organized medicine.

In a story headlined "A.M.A. Accused of Plot to Wreck Middle-
sex U/' dated July 9, 1944, P.M. said, "Not mentioned in the testi-
mony was the fact that of Middlesex's 300 students about 85 per
cent are Jews many of them barred by racial discrimination from
schools which the A.M.A. rates as *A' schools, a recognition which
has been denied Middlesex since it was founded 25 years ago."
The story is again reviewed in the New York Post of April 19,

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 15

1945, under the headline "Medical Assn. Perils a Bias-Free School."

Further documentary evidence that discrimination in the field of
medical education is steadily growing is presented in an article
by Dr. Frank Kingdon in the October 1945 issue of the American
Mercury. Dr. Kingdon was for some years a member of our Board
of Trustees.

The racial quota system strictly enforced by all A.M.A.-approved
medical schools in selecting candidates for admission is a gross
violation of American democratic principles. There is a need for
a medical school that offers asylum to victims of racial, religious,
and social discrimination, that accepts those students who are
best prepared for medical study.

Our medical school has been forced to suspend its teaching ac-
tivities at the time it had achieved its greatest usefulness. With over
300 of its graduates serving as commissioned officers in the medical
corps of the Army, Navy, and Public Health Service, the School
was condemned because its students had been unjustly denied
clinical teaching privileges in large hospitals controlled by or-
ganized medicine.

Middlesex University has established the only School of Veter-
inary Medicine in New England, and we have discovered the same
opposition and the same policies of anti-semitism in the American
Veterinary Medical Association, which is a carbon copy of the
American Medical Association.

The University has the power to confer degrees in Arts and
Sciences, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. It owns a loo-acre
campus, on which it has erected buildings that cost over a million
dollars, free and clear except for a $20,000 mortgage. It is tax-
exempt, and controlled by a Board of Trustees that are unpaid
and have no financial interest in the corporation. It has a good
library, well-equipped teaching and research laboratories, and a
plant admirably designed for its needs. But its medical school is
closed and its property may escheat to the State if it cannot be
used for its educational purposes,

The Trustees of the University realize that they will be unable
to overcome the opposition of organized medicine or to attain its
cooperation, although they have tried very sincerely. It is obvious
that without powerful backing or a substantial endowment the
goal of approval cannot be won. The Trustees would be very glad
to turn over their responsibilities to any new group of trustees that

i6 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

might possess the apparent ability to reestablish the School of
Medicine on an approved basis. They believe that you might be in
a position to secure the support of a group of trustees who would
be interested in establishing an educational institution which
could offer college and professional education in the field of the
healing arts on a democratic American basis, with the complete
elimination of racial, religious, or social discrimination in the
selection of students and faculty.

. If you are interested in the subject matter of this letter, I should
be very glad to confer with any group that you might designate,
or I should be very happy to have any representative of yours in-
spect the plant and properties of the University and discuss the
possibilities of having its future activities guided by a new board
of trustees.

Yours respectfully,
C. Ruggles Smith
General Counsel

Two days later I received the following letter:

January 9, 1946
22 Evans Way, Boston, Mass.
My dear Rabbi Goldstein:

You will probably receive in the same or next mail a letter from
Mr. C. Ruggles Smith, counsel for Middlesex University. The letter
was written at my advice after I had a long talk on the matter
with Mr. Joseph Schlossberg. I discussed with Mr. Schlossberg
the advisability of turning the University over to Labor. It was his
considered judgment that an attempt should be made first to in-
vestigate the possibilities of having the University taken over by a
Jewish Board of Trustees.

There is indeed an opportunity to take hold of a functioning
institution, possessing extraordinary facilities at very little, almost
negligible cost. The matter cannot be discussed in writing. A
personal conference is indispensable, It is my sincere hope that
you will give the subject due consideration and try to arrange for
a conference at your earliest possible convenience.

Very sincerely yours,
Joseph I. Cheskis

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 17

Dr. Cheskis, as I learned later, was the Dean of the College
Department at Middlesex and Director of the Campus and
Buildings.

The troubles of the Middlesex Medical School at Waltham,
Mass., had been widely publicized. Since it was not on the ap-
proved list of the American Medical Association, its graduates,
including a considerable number of Jews, had not been per-
mitted to take examinations for licenses in any State except in
Massachusetts. In 1944 the Massachusetts legislature had taken
similar negative action. I was not in a position to pass judg-
ment on the question of whether the opposition to Middlesex
was due to its lack of adequate funds and facilities necessary
to develop an approved school, or, as Mr. Smith contended,
was due to racial and religious bias owing to the fact that it
was a non-quota school, or to a combination of factors.

I read and reread the letters with an eye to the possibilities
which the Middlesex campus might present for realizing, at
long last, the plan for a Jewish-sponsored secular university
in America. The thought of having to turn immediately to
the problem of the medical school was disconcerting. It was
not the way to start to build the university I had in mind.
According to my thinking, the medical school should come
only after a number of years would elapse following the in-
auguration of the College of Liberal Arts. The establishment
and maintenance of a medical school would be a much more
costly undertaking than the establishment and maintenance
of a College of Liberal Arts. On the other hand, some build-
ings and facilities for a medical school were already on the
campus, so that perhaps the additional sums required to im-
prove its standards might not be out of reach. The fact that
there was also a School of Veterinary Medicine seemed to offer
an additional valuable asset. It was the only one in New Eng-
land. Veterinary Medicine was a profession which Jews ought
to be encouraged to pursue. There were very few schools of

i8 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

veterinary medicine. This school might well prove to be a
boon. Perhaps it might also serve as a place to train Jewish
students from Palestine where there was no such school. Per-
haps this school could render an important service to Jewish
Palestine by training veterinarians for the agricultural col-
onies in the Jewish National Home.

What intrigued me most of all, was the opportunity to se-
cure a one hundred acre campus not far from New York, the
premier Jewish community in the world, and only ten miles
from Boston, one of the important Jewish population centers,
a campus situated in the environs of great educational institu-
tions such as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Wellesley and others. The accessibility of first-rate library fa-
cilities and academic contacts was another consideration not
to be overlooked. The proximity of a large Jewish community
such as Boston offered the additional advantage of a nearby
source of interest and support and the prospect that this
splendid community would take the institution warmly -to its
heart. Once a campus would be obtained, the first difficult
obstacle would have been hurdled. There would be a physical
foundation on which to develop whatever plan might seem
most desirable. If it should seem desirable to concentrate at
first on the College of Liberal Arts, the grounds and the build-
ings could serve that purpose at least in the initial stages. The
campus with buildings on it erected at a cost of more than one
million dollars, would, in some respects, be preferable to hav-
ing a million and a half dollars in cash to start with, for not
only had thfe cost of building mounted, but there was difficulty
in securing building materials and labor. These advantages
seemed to outweigh the possible advantage of being able to
make a new beginning with a site and buildings selected to fit
an priori plan. Moreover, it would take at least three years
to build up such a campus. If this campus at Waltham could
be secured, it would save both time and money. Moreover,

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 19

the chances of winning public support for the project would
be incomparably better when it would be possible to point
to an existing campus instead of pointing only to a blueprint.
Nor was the availability of a charter to be underestimated.
Charters were not easy to obtain, especially a charter for a
School of Medicine and for a School of Veterinary Medicine.
We had seen in New York, not a long time before, how an
effort to secure a charter for a new medical school had failed.

Here, then, would be a ready-made foundation for a univer-
sity, a campus and a threefold charter, which could be se-
cured at little or no immediate expenditure of funds.

On the negative side of the question, was the damaging
publicity about Middlesex University. Its reputation in the
academic world was below standard. Why impose such a dis-
advantage upon the bold, new project with which Jewish
prestige would be involved? My answer to my own question
was that the name would certainly not remain, "Middlesex/*
and that in the course of time the school would come to be
known and judged by its own current record and not by its
antecedents. More than once I had witnessed such "rehabilita-
tion" in commercial, philanthropic and cultural institutions.
Nevertheless I felt that here was a crucial question, and I
posed it forthrightly to all whom I had occasion to consult
in the days and weeks which followed.

Having weighed all the considerations and having come
to the conclusion that the offer on behalf of Middlesex de-
served serious, careful exploration and consideration, I entered
into initial conversations with Mr. Smith and Dr. Cheskis,
to indicate that I was interested and that I was ready to confer
with them and to investigate the details of the proposal.

My first visit to the Middlesex campus was on January i5th,
one week after the receipt of Mr. Smith's letter. The campus
made an overwhelming impression upon me. It was beautiful
rolling country, rugged in parts, with a commanding view of

20 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

the city of Waltham and the Charles River. The several large
buildings were substantial and impressive. Poverty and bad
luck had laid their imprint upon the campus. A fire had de-
stroyed one of the buildings. Barns were dilapidated. Interiors
were badly in need of repairs. The grounds were overgrown
with grass and weeds. Yet it did not require an expert's eye to
visualize the beauty of the campus in its heyday, nor did it
require a prophet's eye to visualize what a glorious place this
campus could becom,e. Its area provided ample room for ex-
pansion. Most impressive of all, were the site, the setting, the
elevation, the view. It was natural, permanent grandeur
marred by exigencies of impecuniousness. I was sure that this
campus was intrinsically worthy of becoming the site of a
great Jewish-sponsored university.

Once my own mind was made up, I felt a driving eagerness
to make the necessary investigations and negotiations as
quickly as possible, though not at the expense of thorough-
ness. The eagerness stemmed partly from the excitement of
facing the great opportunity of founding a new university,
and partly from apprehension lest some untoward event spoil
this opportunity. Rumors came to me, which I did not have
the time to investigate, that a commercial enterprise was
interested in purchasing the property, that a Catholic institu-
tion was seeking to acquire it, and that a Jewish group in
Newton, Mass, was making inquiries.

The next developments transpired without much loss of
time. The first man to whom I turned for assistance and advicfc
was Mr. Julius Silver of New York. Mr. Silver was Vice-
President, Director and General Counsel of the Polaroid Cor-
poration of Cambridge, Mass., and had served as Associate
Counsel of the U. S. Senate Committee on Banking and Cur-
rency. I had great confidence in his soundness of judgment,
in his brilliant legal mind, and in his friendship, to guide me
through the maze of legal and financial problems which might

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 21

come up. I presented to him my ideas on a Jewish-sponsored
university, apprised him of the letter which I had received
from Middlesex, and requested his help in exploring the
extraordinary opportunity of acquiring a campus and a charter
which would immediately put the idea on the highway toward
realization. Mr. Silver's response was encouraging on both
scores. He was interested in the idea and he was ready to help.
On my next visit to Waltham, Mr. Silver accompanied me.
We learned more of the history of Middlesex University. Its
guiding spirit, until the time of his death in 1944, had been
Dr. John Hall Smith, a prominent Boston surgeon, who had
given his fortune and his life in the establishment of the in-
stitution, having taken over the charter of a previous medical
school. It was Dr. Smith who had developed the campus and
the buildings on it. His son, Mr. C. Ruggles Smith, a graduate
of Harvard College and Law School, carried on the adminis-
tration of the university and was also its Legal Counsel. We
learned that most of the members of the Board of Trustees of
Middlesex University had resigned as a result of the difficulties
in which the institution was embroiled, that only seven re-
mained on the Board, and that Mr. Smith was in a position to
negotiate in their behalf.

THE CHARTER

We looked into the Middlesex University Charter and veri-
fied its authorization to grant the degrees of Bachelor of Arts,
Bachelor of Science, Doctor of Medicine, and Doctor of Vet-
erinary Medicine, "provided that all courses required for such
degree shall be approved by the approving authority." In the
charter it was stipulated that "no officer or instructor in said
university shall ever be required by the Trustees to profess
any particular religious opinions as a test of office, and no
student shall be refused admission to or denied any of the

22 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

privileges, honors or degrees of said college on account of
the religious opinions he may entertain."

A further examination of the campus confirmed my first
impression of rugged beauty of landscape which had fallen
into neglect through lack of funds, and of a number of solid
and impressive buildings in need of extensive repairs. With
due allowance for the conventional style of campus descrip-
tion in college catalogues, the following description culled
from a Middlesex University pamphlet nevertheless conveyed
an impression which, on the whole, was found to be fairly well
substantiated:

"Although the buildings of the medical school were constructed
during the past twelve years and expressly designed to house its
laboratories, classrooms, offices and library, the outward aspect of
the group is that of a towering castle, spreading its massive walls
of stone across a rocky hilltop, a modern replica of a medieval,
fortified town.

"Two stone archways, flanked by red-roofed gate towers, lead
into the medical quadrangle. Between the entrance arches extends
the Medical Museum building, a long cloistered structure with a
unique mosaic ceiling.

"Connected by an arch to the museum is the Administration
Building, four stories high, surmounted by heavy parapets and
a circular watch-tower, and containing the secretarial offices and
the record files of the medical school. It adjoins the Library Build-
ing, two stories in height, that houses the Medical Library, and
two research laboratories. This building connects with the South-
East Tower, a round five-story structure, topped by an over-
hanging parapet, that contains the four medical lecture halls and
the Pent-House Theatre. Each lecture hall is equipped with no
stationary seats, with folding arms for note-taking, the professor's
desk and platform, enclosed by a mortised rail bearing a seating
chart, and provided with a separate entrance, blackboards and
such other equipment as is needed by the class assigned to the
room. Each student has his seat assigned and his name printed on
a seating chart. The circular construction of the building affords a
maximum of light on all sides. The fifth-story hall is reserved for
a dark-room, and is available for any class. It is equipped with a

U

QJ

S
OJ

The "Castle" Unit of Buildings

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 2$

motion-picture projector, a stereopticon, and a microprojector, and
contains theatre-type seats.

"The broad windows of the Pathology Building, which is con-
nected with the South-East Tower at its second-floor level by an
arched bridge, overlook the Charles River, winding through the
valley below on its ten-mile course to Boston. The spacious teach-
ing laboratories of the departments of pathology, bacteriology,
and histology occupy the entire two floors of this rectangular struc-
ture, with its stone buttresses and external staircase. These labora-
tories are equipped with microtomes, centrifuges, incubators,
autoclaves, a frozen-section machine, refrigerators, cabinets for
gross specimens and slides, and individual lockers for students'
microscopes. Study-benches run along the sides of the rooms, and
work-benches with sinks, gas, electricity, and running water along
the center.

"All of the buildings of the medical teaching group are inter-
connecting at one or more levels. From the pathology laboratory
a stone passage leads to the round physiology laboratory on the
second floor of the Anatomy Building. With light on all sides, this
laboratory provides ample space for group work by students in the
experimental work of their first-year course in physiology.

"Directly below is the dissecting room, large enough to hold
eighteen tables radiating from the circular center partition that
encloses the prosecting room, the brine tanks, the bone room, the
vault, and the students' dressing rooms. The circular outer walls
are mostly windows, and the inner walls are covered with black-
boards and anatomical charts.

"The Anatomy Research Laboratory is in a projection of the
Anatomy Building, facing the center of the quadrangle. The
Anatomy Building is flanked by a round stone tower, three stories
high, containing a wide circular staircase and observation cham-
ber. The Norman Tower is the most rugged example of the ancient
architectural design that characterizes the medical school group.
The merlons and crenelles of its battlement rise high above the
round roof of the Anatomy Building, which may be reached by a
stone balcony leading from a lower level of the tower. The view
from this height embraces all of Waltham and Newton, includes
much of Watertown and Cambridge, and extends to the skyline
of Boston, where the Custom House Tower, the blacked-out dome
of the State House, and the new Court House, are clearly visible.

24 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

The Chemistry Building, joined at two levels to the Anatomy
Building, is long and narrow. Its ground floor encloses the bio-
chemistry teaching laboratory, and upstairs are the research labo-
ratories and offices of the various department heads. It is con-
nected at an acute angle with another two-story structure, the
Premedical Building, that completes the quadrangle and is joined
to the entrance archway. A massive stone structure, with heavy
parapets and broad windows, this building contains two rectangu-
lar class-rooms, with a seating capacity of 95 each, the office and
supply room of the biochemistry department, an animal operating
room, a photographic darkroom, and the offices of the Dean and
of the Registrar.

"Parallel to the Chemistry Building is the Locker Building,
which contains a smoking room, lavatories, 500 student lockers,
and living quarters for the maintenance staff.

"Below the hill on which the medical school buildings are situ-
ated, built half underground, is the powerhouse, whose great
boilers heat all the buildings on the campus except the dormitory
bungalows. This structure still maintains the Norman style in its
design and hides its chimney in a tall square stone tower, with
parapets on its several setbacks.

"The long winding road that leads from street level to the medi-
cal group and returns more steeply, to the exit drive, traverses al-
most a hundred acres of colorful campus, past spreading elm-
shaded lawns, bright flower gardens and rose arbors, through fields
of farmland, green with corn and other crops, around placid ponds,
by rich pastures, and through shaded woods. On this road are to
be found buildings that house other departments of the Univer-
sity; the glittering new Veterinary School and Animal Hospital,
and the green-roofed Small-Animal Clinic, and the brick barns, the
stone stable, the aviary, kennels, a piggery, poultry yards, and
garage of the Animal Husbandry department.

"The Campus also contains living quarters for staff members
and a selected group of students. There are ten newly-erected Cape
Cod bungalows, white with blue trim, ranged on opposite sides
of a rolling lawn. One cottage is reserved for a faculty feimily and
another for a proctor."

We found that the above quoted description did not do
justice to the Veterinary Schopl building, a modern two and

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 25

a half story building whose outside measurements were
127'xSs', containing laboratories, lecture rooms, offices,
locker and rest rooms, an animal hospital and an operating
room, and locker and rest rooms. There was also a small library
building of one and a half stories, a large, attractive two story
brick residence erected in 1940, and the power house, a field-
stone and cement structure furnishing the heat for all the
units on the campus.

We were also impressed by the portion of the campus which
was not built up. It was a large area with many open spaces
which would permit the construction of additional buildings
without expensive blasting.

I looked upon the buildings not only in the light of the
purposes they had served in the past, but in the light of how
they might serve in a plan such as I had in mind which would
postpone the reopening of the Medical School for a later time
and would concentrate first on the development of the College
of Liberal Arts. It seemed to me that with some alterations it
could be done.

Unfortunately, the ten bungalows on the edge of the campus
were no longer in the possession of the university. They had
been sold a short time before in order to help provide funds
for current needs. Likewise, a building owned by Middlesex
University in Back Bay Boston, and used in connection with
the School of Medicine, had been sold at about the same time.

The student body still in attendance at Middlesex Univer-
sity was a mere remnant. As a result of action in the Legisla-
ture, following the failure to receive approval from the med-
ical authorities, the courses of instruction in the first three
years of the Medical School had been suspended. A few stu-
dents in the senior class who had been released from military
service, remained to complete their course. The School of
Veterinary Medicine was continuing on a limited basis and
.with uncertain prospects because of the negative attitude of

26 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

the approving authorities in that field. The College of Liberal
Arts consisted of those who were taking pre-veterinary courses.
A skeleton staff and a meager faculty were in charge.

THE FINANCIAL STRUCTURE

An investigation of the financial structure showed that
more than $1,100,000 had been invested in the buildings,
equipment and furnishings, and that the property was held
by the university free and clear of all encumbrances except for
a first mortgage in the amount of $20,500. Most of the ar-
rangements with the faculty and maintenance staff were on
an annual. renewal basis. We found, however, a number of
contracts involving a total obligation of approximately
$25,000 a year for about six years, and provisions thereafter
for payments in smaller amounts. On the other hand, most of
those with whom such contracts had been made were render-
ing active and useful service to the university and could be
useful in any reorganized university plan. Mr. Silver suc-
ceeded in clearing some minor financial encumbrances.

One other factor was of concern to me, namely, the attitude
of the community of Waltham toward the school and toward
the possibility of its being taken over by a predominantly Jew-
ish group. From such preliminary inquiries as I was able to
make of Mr. Smith and a few of the business and political
leaders of the city, I had the impression that the community
could be educated to regard the university as an important
economic and cultural asset to the city of Waltham. The
leadership of the community was friendly and cooperative. I
regarded it as a challenge to make the Jewish-sponsored uni-
versity an instrument for serving the local community in spe^
cial ways, to weave some of its services into the life of the city,
to make the people of Waltham feel indebted to it. It seemed
to me that many a college situated in a small community as an

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 27

ivory tower isolated from the life of the community around it,
was missing an opportunity to make its ministrations count
as a blessing to its immediate environs.

After examining all the elements of the situation, the cam-
pus, its location, the buildings upon it, the charter, and the
financial structure of the existing university, I felt reenforced,
especially in view of Mr. Silver's judgment which concurred
with mine, in the conclusion that steps for the consummation
of the negotiations should go forward without delay. Mr.
Smith likewise was ready to proceed. What he required, how-
ever, was some assurance that my representations to the effect
that I would be ready to organize a worthwhile group of sup-
porters and sponsors, were reliable. His investigation of my
position in Jewish and communal life satisfied him. On the
other hand, I had to satisfy myself that I could interest a group
which would stand behind me in giving the initial impetus
to the project. It was my faith and conviction that once the
initial impetus would be provided, the soundness and vitality
of the idea of a Jewish-sponsored secular university would
carry the day, and would win increasing acceptance and sup-
port. Two assets were required in addition to the campus and
the charter. One was a nucleus of men who would provide
financial means as well as community prestige for the first
phase of the implementation of the plan. The other was edu-
cational sponsorship of the highest caliber.

DEVELOPING THE SPONSORSHIP DR. EINSTEIN'S INTEREST

What we needed immediately was first-class academic spon-
sorship. A number of eminent scholars and scientists with
whom I had discussed the problem, seemed interested and
glad to help, but I was ambitious to secure the endorsement of
the greatest academic figure in the world, Professor Albert
Einstein. I called on Professor Einstein at his home in Prince-

28 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

ton. With deep interest he listened to the exposition of my plan
for a Jewish-sponsored secular university. He agreed that it
was an important objective. He had been troubled for some
time past not only by the plight of Jewish students but even
more by the plight of Jewish scholars who found it difficult to
receive appointments in the colleges and universities. He had
firmly-held ideas about the need of giving the faculty of an in-
stitution of higher learning significant rights in guiding ed^
cational policy. His chief concern was that the university
should be first-class and free from non-academic control. This
encouraging interview was followed by a second visit, in which
Mr. Silver joined me, for the purpose of explaining to Profes-
sor Einstein in greater detail the opportunity which existed to
secure the campus and the charter of Middlesex University.
The results of the conversations with Professor Einstein
were crystallized in the following letter from him:

THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY
School of Mathematics
Princeton, New Jersey

January 22, 1946
Dr. Israel Goldstein
270 West 8gth Str.
New York City

Dear Dr. Goldstein:

I would approve very much the creation of a Jewish College or
University provided that it is sufficiently made sure that the Board
and Administration will remain permanently in reliable Jewish
hands. I am convinced that such an institution will attract our best
young Jewish people and not less our young scientists and learned
men in all fields. Such an institution, provided it is of a high
standard,, will improve our situation a good deal and will satisfy
a real need. As is well known, under present circumstances, many
of our gifted youth see themselves denied the cultural and pro-
fessional education they are longing for.

THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF 29

I would do anything in my power to help in the creation and
guidance of such an institute. It would always be near to my heart.

Very sincerely yours,

A. Einstein

Professor Einstein's warm endorsement and offer of help
were a source of great encouragement, gave the project pres-
tige, and helped me in the approach both to laymen and to
leaders in academic circles.

Mr. Silver and I felt that it was necessary to attach to the
project, in its formative stage, some prominent Jewish leader
in Boston. A good part o the moral and financial support
would have to come from Boston, the nearest large center to
the campus at Waltham. Someone was needed there who
would have access to its Jewish community. Our Boston col-
league would also be able to keep an eye on the Middlesex
situation at close range. Preferably, we felt, he should be a
lawyer who might be helpful in contacts with the Legislature
and the local collegiate approval bodies. Mr. Silver suggested
the name of Mr. George Alpert, a prominent lawyer in Bos-
ton, who had attained local recognition in the Jewish charities
and national recognition in the United Jewish Appeal, was
Honorary National Vice-Chairman of the United Palestine
Appeal and member of the Board o Directors of the Joint
Distribution Committee. The suggestion seemed eminently
worth pursuing. We called on Mr. Alpert on January 24th
and found him understanding and responsive. Mr, Alpert
proved to be a very valuable addition to our forces.

At the same time I had approached a number of friends in
New York to secure an initial response to the general plan
and to the specific opportunity which was now in our hands.
Some were sceptical, others were interested. I formed a small
initial nucleus of supporters, consisting in addition to Mr.
Silver, of Judge Samuel Null, of the Supreme Court of the

30 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

State of New York, Dr. Israel S. Wechsler, Professor of Neu-
rology at Columbia University, Dr. Alexander Dushkin, Ex-
ecutive Vice-President of the Jewish Education Committee
of New York, Major Abraham F. Wechsler, President of the
Madison Settlement House, and Milton Bluestein and Albert
Rosen, prominent in business circles and in philanthropy.

CHAPTER III

THE CAMPUS AND THE CHARTER
ACQUIRED

The negotiations with Mr. Smith now proceeded rapidly
toward their consummation. In a number of conversations
Dr. Cheskis took part, in others Mr. Dudley F. Kimball, one
of the small remnant of trustees of the university, participated.
Mr. Smith held the proxies of most of the other remaining
trustees. I urged upon Mr. Smith and his colleagues the
thought that it should be a source of considerable moral satis-
faction to them to know that the principle of a non-quota
institution which they had embodied into the charter of Mid-
dlesex, would certainly be safeguarded by the group which I
would endeavor to bring in. The plan which Mr. Silver and
I proposed and which Mr. Smith accepted, was to secure the
resignations of five of the seven who constituted currently
the Board of Trustees of Middlesex University, and to elect
in their places five trustees representing our group, and that
thus the control of the university would pass over to our group.
We felt that for the time being it would be necessary to do no
more than insure control, and that further additions to the
Board, up to its full complement of twenty-one places, could
be made in due course as the interest in the project would
develop.

Mr. Smith asked of us a moral assurance that we would en-
deavor to provide the funds which would be required for
maintaining the current activity of the pre-veterinary and

3* BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

veterinary courses from June 1946 to October ig47- ^ was
hoped that by the latter date the School of Veterinary Medi-
cine would secure approval to accept returning veterans under
Public Law 346, thus increasing the enrollment and the in-
come. In the meantime, for an enrollment of about fifty stu-
dents, a subsidy would be required for current operations and
for some strengthening of the faculty. As the amount involved
was modest, the proposal was deemed by us acceptable.

In the meantime I was beginning to make a few soundings
in fundraising. On the afternoon of January gist, I called
together in my study a group of New York businessmen, ex-
pounded the idea of a Jewish-sponsored university, informed
them of the opportunity of acquiring the Middlesex campus
and charter for this purpose, mentioned the names of lay
and academic leaders who had expressed their approval, and
appealed for financial support. The twelve men who attended
undertook to raise sums ranging between $5,000 and $10,000
each. It was, on the whole, ap. encouraging initial response.

After a meeting -of minds between Mr. Smith, Mr. Silver
and myself had been reached, it was agreed to have the ar-
rangements formally ratified by the Board of Trustees of Mid-
dlesex University on Thursday afternoon, February 7th, at
the Harvard Club in Boston. A letter from Mr. Smith indi-
cated that everything was proceeding according to our mutual
understandings.

MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY

Waltham 54, Massachusetts

January 31, 1946

Dear Dr. Goldstein:

This is to confirm the arrangements that have been made for a
meeting of the Board of Trustees in the Lincoln Room of the
Harvard Club of Boston, 374 Commonwealth Avenue, at 4:30 on
the afternoon of Thursday, the seventh of February. The meeting
is to be followed by dinner.

CAMPUS AND CHARTER ACQUIRED 33

There will be an opportunity for conferences before the formal
meeting either at the Harvard Club or at any other place that may
be convenient to you.

Yesterday I conferred with our five local trustees and they have
assured me that they are ready to carry out the program as agreed
upon in our conferences. I have written to the two remaining trus-
tees, who are at a distance, and I am sure we shall also have their
full cooperation.

This afternoon I hope to visit Mrs. Smith, in accordance with
Mr. Silver's suggestion.

May I hope that matters are progressing favorably and to your
satisfaction.

Very sincerely yours,
C. Ruggles Smith
General Counsel

Mr. Alpert was kept apprised of our progress in the follow-
ing letter from Mr. Silver:

February i, 1946

George Alpert, Esq.
10 State Street
Boston, Mass.

Dear George:

Dr. Goldstein and I are planning to meet with the Board of
Trustees of Middlesex University Thursday, February 7th, at
4:30 P. M., at the Harvard Club in Cambridge.

At that time, five members of the presently constituted Board
will resign and our designees will be substituted. We also expect
to have dinner with these people and we are planning to return to
New York on the 9 o'clock plane.

Dr. Goldstein has asked me to determine whether you can be
present for these meetings.

In the meanwhile, will you be good enough to furnish me with
three copies of a short biographical sketch showing your record
and affiliation for submission to the University authorities.

Dr. Goldstein and I plan to visit Professor Einstein again early
next week and we will bring you up to date at that time.

At the meeting last night attended by twelve substantial New
York businessmen interested in educational philanthropies, con-

34 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

siderable progress was made. There was a good deal of enthusiasm
and each of the men undertook to raise between $5,000 and $10,000
as an initial effort.

Sincerely yours,
Julius Silver

The following letter to Mr. Smith conveyed formally the
main points of the understanding which had been arrived at
in the conversations with him and Mr. Kimball:

February 4, 1 946
My dear Mr. Smith:

Following the conversations Mr. Silver and I have had with
you, and in view of our discussions with representative educators
and with selected businessmen interested in educational philan-
thropy, we have arrived at the following conclusions:

1) We visualize an opportunity to develop on your campus a
college of liberal arts, and various schools for professional training.
Such a university would, of course, be open to qualified students
and would select and sustain a faculty without restrictions as to
race, creed or color. We would strive to make such an institution a
worthwhile contribution to American education. The successful
realization of such a plan would, we feel, be a well-merited vindi-
cation of the American democratic principles which have not al-
ways been paramount in the conduct of many educational institu-
tions in our country.

2) It will be our aim to secure financial support for such an en-
terprise. At the same time leading educators and scientists, includ-
ing Professor Albert Einstein, have encouraged us to believe that
we are embarking upon a project of educational and spiritual
value and significance.

3) Recognizing the need for proceeding carefully and thor-
oughly in the development of our plans, so as to receive the fullest
measure of public acceptance, we believe that it would be advisable
that Middlesex should continue operations as a going concern
with such incidental strengthening as may be required until the
new and larger enterprise which we contemplate can be established
in October 1947. For the interim period, we would consider it to
be our moral obligation to help cover the estimated operating def-
icit which you have outlined for us.

CAMPUS AND CHARTER ACQUIRED 35

4) Should your Board be favorably disposed toward our plans
and repose some confidence in our prospects, we would suggest for
its consideration the names of some of our adherents as members
of a reorganized Board of Trustees which will function until such
time as it becomes feasible to select a full Board as well as a faculty
on an expanded basis.

Sincerely yours,
Israel Goldstein

In the same mail I sent Mr. Smith the names of George Al-
pert, Judge Samuel Null, Julius Silver, and Major Abraham
F. Wechsler, in addition to my own, as our nominations for
the places on the Board to be made available at the February
yth meeting.

THE FUNDRAISING INSTRUMENT

In the meantime, having made an initial test of fundraising
possibilities, and having found it rather encouraging, I turned
to the idea of organizing a fundraising instrument which
would be dissociated from the name of Middlesex University,
as the controversies besetting it had left an unsavory after-
taste and it would be neither just nor wise to give our fund-
raising efforts a label which might be a source of weakness, not
of strength. There was another reason for desiring a fundrais-
ing instrument which would have its own independent iden-
tity. I envisioned the possibility of expanding the idea beyond
Waltham. If things would go well and public interest would
be stirred, it might prove feasible to undertake similar proj-
ects in other parts of the country. Surely there was need for
many such institutions. There were more than enough good
students who were in need of educational facilities and there
were more than enough good teachers who were in need of
positions. The project at Waltham would be the pilot plant,
but the idea could be duplicated elsewhere, as had been done
by other denominational groups. The fundraising instrument

3 6 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

to be established, if successful could become the mother fund
to support a, network of Jewish-sponsored secular universities.

The most auspicious name for such a fundraising instru-
ment, it seemed to me, would be the name connected with
our foremost sponsor, Professor Einstein.

On February 5th, 1946, in a visit to Professor Einstein at
Princeton, in which Mr. Silver accompanied me, his consent
was obtained for the organization of the Albert Einstein
Foundation for Higher Learning.

FORMAL CONSUMMATION OF NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE
CAMPUS AND CHARTER

The February yth meeting at the Harvard Club went off
smoothly. The following is the transcript of the minutes, bear-
ing on the negotiations which had been going on. (The portion
of the minutes which refers to the ratification of existing con-
tracts with personnel is not quoted.)

The Trustees of Middlesex University met at the above time and
place pursuant to notice sent in accordance with the By-Laws. The
meeting was called to order by the President, Reverend Hugh
Wallace Smith, at 4:30 p. M., and a record of the minutes was kept
by the secretary.

The following members were present, President Hugh Wal-
lace Smith, Secretary Howard Charles Gale, Treasurer Dudley F.
Kimball, and Earl J. Arnold; and the following Trustees were
represented by written powers of attorney; Dr. Hugh Beaton, Dr.
Manuel F. Amaral, and Dr. Frank L. Whipple. There were also in
attendance at the meeting Dr. Israel Goldstein, Mr. Julius Silver,
Mr, George Alpert, Dean Joseph I. Cheskis, and General Counsel
C. Ruggles Smith.

Upon motion moved and seconded, it was
Voted to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 18, 1946.

Dr. Israel Goldstein was then invited to explain to the Board
plans that he and his associates had made for the development on
the University campus of a College of Liberal Arts and various

CAMPUS AND CHARTER ACQUIRED 37

schools for professional training. He spoke of Ms many confer-
ences with educational, public, and civic leaders, and particularly
of the encouragement that he had received from Professor Albert
Einstein. He said that his plans were to make the. University a
worth-while contribution to American education, and a vindica-
tion of the American democratic principles of equality of educa-
tional opportunities without restrictions as to race, creed, or color.

(For the full text of the address see Appendix I.)

Mr. Silver then outlined plans for raising a fund that would be
essential for the realization of Dr. Goldstein's plans, and he told
of the formation of the "Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher
Learning" for the purpose of assisting non-sectarian educational
institutions.

Mr. Alpert then spoke concerning Judge Samuel Null of the
New York Supreme Court and Major Abraham F. Wechsler of
New York City, who had explained their willingness to serve as
members of the Board of Trustees during the interim period of
organization.

Upon nominations duly made and seconded

Voted and elected by ballot to membership on the Board of Trus-
tees to serve until the annual meeting of July, 1950, Dr. Israel
Goldstein, Julius Silver, Esq., George Alpert, Esq., Judge Samuel
Null, Esq., and Major Abraham F. Wechsler.

Then follows the minute of a vote to ratify existing con-
tracts, agreements and commitments with reference to six of
the teaching and administrative personnel.

and to incorporate said contracts and agreements in the minutes
of the Board of Trustees; provided that with respect to those of
the foregoing agreements which involve the rendering of services,
it is understood that so long as the amount of the salaries, or re-
tirement compensation reserved in such agreements is fully paid,
none of such agreements shall be construed so as to limit or abridge
the unrestricted right of the Board of Trustees to make appoint-
ments to the Faculty, to determine their functions, to determine
issues involving the curriculum or administrative procedures, or in
any other direction involving the general welfare of the Univer-
sity.

g8 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Upon motion duly moved and seconded, It was

Voted to accept the resignations of the following officers and mem-
bers of the Board of Trustees, said resignations to take effect at the
adjournment of the present meeting;

Dr. Manuel F. Amaral as a member of the Board of Trustees

Earl J. Arnold as a member of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Hugh Beaton as a member of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Frank L. Whipple as a member of the Board of Trustees

Dr. Howard Charles Gale as Secretary and as a member of the

Board of Trustees and of the Executive Committee
Dudley F. Kimball as Treasurer (but remaining a member of the

Board of Trustees and of the Executive Committee)
Reverend Hugh Wallace Smith as President and member o the

Executive Committee (but remaining a member of the Board of

Trustees),

Upon nominations duly made and seconded
Voted and elected by ballot

Dr. Israel Goldstein, President of the Board of Trustees
Julius Silver, Esq., Secretary of the Board of Trustees
George Alpert, Esq., Treasurer of the Board of Trustees

Upon motion duly moved and seconded, it was
Voted that the checks of the University may be signed by two of
the following officers; the President of the Board of Trustees,
Dr. Israel Goldstein; the Treasurer, George Alpert; the Secretary,
Julius Silver; and the Assistant Treasurer, Marjorie F. Olson; and
that checks for an amount not to exceed $100.00 may be signed
jointly by the Assistant Treasurer, Marjorie F. Olson, and the
Assistant Secretary, C. Ruggles Smith.

There being no other business to come before the meeting, it
was upon motion duly moved and seconded
Voted to adjourn.

At the same meeting where my associates and I were elected
officers and trustees to fill the vacancies created by the resigna-
tions of five of the former members, an Executive Committee
was also elected consisting of Messrs. Alpert, Kimball and
Silver, with myself as Chairman. Thus the control of the in-
stitution, its property and its charter, passed into our hands.

It is of interest to record Mr. Smith's view of all that had

CAMPUS AND CHARTER ACQUIRED 39

taken place. It was embodied in his report as General Coun-
sel, July 19, 1946, looking retrospectively at the developments
which had taken place.

"The situation that the Trustees of Middlesex University faced
at their annual meeting on July 20, 1945, was exceedingly critical
The thirty-year effort of powerful influences within organized
medicine to close the School of Medicine had finally succeeded
when the University suffered a decisive defeat in the Legislature.
The course of instruction for the first three years in the medical
school had been suspended, and only an undrafted remnant of
seniors remained in attendance. The fate of the veterinary school
was hanging in a precarious balance.

"The income of the University had dropped from over
$300,000.00 a year to a prospective $25,000.00 a year, and insol-
vency could be avoided only by a process of gradual liquidation,
or by securing financial assistance from some group of charitable
donors. Discouraged by this desperate condition, many of the Uni-
versity Trustees had resigned from the Board. The struggle for
survival was carried on by a small group of trustees and admini-
strative officers.

"On instructions from the Board of Trustees, General Counsel
negotiated the sale of ten bungalow dormitories on the Waltham
campus and later of the Back Bay Building at 415 Newbury Street.
It was only through the sale of this property that the University
was able to meet its financial obligations and to avoid receivership.

"The University continued its activities on a greatly restricted
scale, exercising every economy and preserving its assets, while its
Trustees sought an escape from the program of enforced liquida-
tion that was in progress. It had always been the ideal of the
founders and trustees of the University to maintain an educational
institution that would be entirely free from racial and religioujs big-
otry and that would avoid the evils inherent in the quota system
that had been adopted by almost all professional schools in their
selection of students. Through the efforts of Dean Cheskis and
of the General Counsel, the Trustees were brought in contact with
a group of eminent philanthropists who shared their views in these
matters and were interested in establishing a non-denominational
quota-free University to be operated and maintained by leaders of
the Jewish faith. After a series of discussions, the University Trus-

4 o BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

tees were convinced that their objectives could best be accom-
plished by putting the future of the University in the hands of Dr.
Israel Goldstein, Julius Silver, George Alpert, Judge Samuel Null,
and Abraham Wechsler, since these gentlemen possessed the ap-
parent ability to secure for the University financial assistance,
without which it could not hope to attain approval of the various
evaluating bodies, and because the ideals that motivated them
coincided with the established policy of the University to maintain
the fundamental principles of American democracy in matters
pertaining to race and religion."

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRST STEP

The meeting of February yth marked the successful at-
tainment of the first step on the road to the fulfillment of my
dream. We were now in control of an institution with an at-
tractive, well situated campus worth $1,500,000, holding pos-
sibilities for development and expansion, and a charter for a
.College of Liberal Arts, a School of Medicine, and a School
of Veterinary Medicine. And we had been able to acquire
these assets without the investment of a single dollar. Now
we had a substantial foundation on which to build, a tangible
project to put before the Jews of America. It was this first step
to which previous ideas of a secular Jewish-sponsored univer-
sity had not been able to attain. Not only did this achieve-
ment represent a saving of several years time and great sums
of money, but it gave us the indispensable tools with which
to proceed toward the next step and the next. The building
of a first-rate Jewish-sponsored secular university was, I knew,
a task for generations, yet it- had waited all these generations
to get started. Now, at last, the start had been made, the
foundation laid.

It seemed scarcely credible that all this had been accom-
plished within one month, (to the day), after Mr. Smith's let-
ter had provided the first suggestion of the possibility. It was
a month crammed with action, negotiations going to and fro

CAMPUS AND CHARTER ACQUIRED 41

between Boston and New York, the securing o the first nu-
cleus of lay and academic sponsorship headed by the warm
endorsement of Dr. Einstein and the encouraging soundings
of jundraising possibilities. Our enterprise was now ready for
public announcement and for wide promotion. Even before
our announcements appeared, reports of our plans as well
as distorted rumors had leaked out. Our official public an-
nouncements created a nation-wide stir in both Jewish and
non-Jewish circles.

Our next task was two-fold, first, to win a following for the
project in broad circles of Jewish and non-Jewish public opin-
ion, and secondly, to build up the financial support.

CHAPTER IV
WINNING PUBLIC OPINION

In seeking to broaden the sponsorship, it seemed to me im-
portant to have a favorable reaction not only from the Jewish
community but also from the non-Jewish community in
Boston, both for its inherent value as well as for its psycho-
logical value in presenting the proposal to Jews. This was to
be an American Jewish project, a Jewish contribution to
American education. It would therefore be helpful to all con-
cerned, to know that it would be welcomed by all elements
in the American community.

I addressed myself to the Boston community first, as I con-
sidered it essential, above all, to create at first a favorable cli-
mate of public opinion in Boston itself, since by reason of its
proximity to Waltham, Boston's goodwill toward the project
was indispensable.

Among the initial approaches in Boston were those made
to leading educators. My first interview was with Dr. Karl T.
Compton, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology. He was extremely friendly and encouraging. It seemed
natural to him that American Jews should want to make such
a contribution. He believed that the planned university would
be judged on its own merits and not by its Middlesex antece-
dents. He did not believe that it woufd be seized upon by other
institutions as a pretext for restricting the admission of JewisR
students. He urged constant and unremitting stress upon
quality rather than size. He offered to be helpful in connec-
tion with securing faculty. Dr. Compton permitted us to

42

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 43

quote his endorsement, "This university would provide an-
other facility for higher education at a time when existing
facilities are greatly overtaxed and when all trends point to-
ward a continual increasing demand for higher education of
the youth of our country/'

Dr. Daniel L. Marsh, President of Boston University, was
sympathetic and threw out a suggestion regarding the possi-
bility of exchange of facilities and courses where the one in-
stitution or the other might have special advantages to offer
in certain subjects. At a later time I met with Dr. James B.
Conant, President of Harvard University, at the Harvard
Club in New York. He expressed interest but desired to give
the matter further thought and to consult with others about
it.

My interviews with Governor Tobin and Archbishop Gush-
ing enlisted the following letters of endorsement.

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON

March 18, 1946

Dr. Israel Goldstein, President

Albert Einstein Foundation for High Learning

New York, N.Y.

Dear Doctor:

I am deeply interested in the plan, which you discussed with me,
of a group of nationally prominent Jewish leaders to establish on
the existing campus at Waltham, Massachusetts, a university open
to all races and creeds and to support it through the Albert Ein-
stein Foundation for Higher Learning.

In the light of the pressing needs for additional facilities for
Higher learning and professional training, your project is particu-
larly timely and its early accomplishment is urgently desirable,
and I am strongly impressed with Professor Einstein's warm en-
dorsement of your plans and his readiness to help create and guide
an institution of which all of us can feel proud.

44 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Just as other religious denominations have established outstand-
ing institutions which have become landmarks of American cul-
ture and scientific advancement, so may this university prove to be
an eminent contribution to American civilization.

I am confident that the high standard which has been set by
Jewish citizens in all fields of civic endeavcfr in this Common-
wealth and throughout the nation will also attend this important
educational enterprise.

You have my cordial good wishes for the early realization of
your plans.

Very truly yours,
Maurice J. Tobin
Governor

A warm endorsement was given by Archbishop Gushing
in the following letter:

ARCHBISHOP'S HOUSE

Lake Street
Brighton, Mass.

April 8, 1946
Dear Doctor Goldstein:

I write to thank you for your courteous visit of the other day
and for the letter which followed it.

I learned with sympathetic interest of the plans of your people
to establish on the Middlesex campus a College of Liberal Arts,
and I wish the venture every success.

We Catholics have solved by founding our own Colleges many
of the problems confronting us in the effort to secure educational
opportunities for our young people. We are, therefore, in an ex-
cellent position to appreciate your problems and are the more
disposed to wish your College God's blessing.

With all my heart, I wish your plans prosperity, and in the name
of our schools, I welcome your institution to the community.

With every personal greeting and good wish, I am

Faithfully yours,
Richard J. Gushing
Archbishop of Boston

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 45

A touching letter came from Rev. George N. Marshall of
Plymouth, Massachusetts:

FIRST PARISH IN PLYMOUTH

Plymouth, Mass.

1620

13 May 1946

Rabbi Israel Goldstein
Temple B'nai Jeshurun
New York, N.Y.

Dear Rabbi,

The plans to establish a Jewish university in Massachusetts on
the site of Middlesex College, Waltham, has come to my attention.

As a minister of the, oldest^ Protestant Church not only in this
state but in the American .Hemisphere, I am prompted to take this
opportunity to wish yQu -anci the group you represent the utmost
success in this undertaking. Personally, I am very pleased/ that you
have selected Massachusetts for this worthwhile enterprise,- and I
am sure you will find the Protestants, of this*area to' be most co-
operative and sympathetic to 'your efforts.,;^ .', ;, ^ ;

During the nearly three years which ;I served as an^Army Air
Force Chaplain, I have personally come into close association with
many of your faith 'and been horidred many 'times to 'serve with
them in their devotional * services! During^my years of study at
Tufts * College, Columbia and Harvard, I 5 .of ten Trip ted the high
degree oJE scholarship among students and.prpfes^ors of your faith,
and^was honored while a football player to have a. Jewish boy as
captain one year, in consequence,, thereof 1 !^ am firmly convinced
that your faith in this unilertaking'will rear v ah institution of high-
est standards both scholastically'and in the extra-curricular field,
and I can assure you that "many, members of other faiths will be
glad. to, be associated with this , new educational institution, with
its possibilities of evolving greatness. . , ,,

Be^assured of our best wishes as ydu begin this undertaking of
pioneering a new field which shall increase our common brother-
hood and mutual affections.

With fraternal greetings,
Rev, George N. Marshall

46 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

The reaction of the Boston press was, on the whole very
friendly. A generous amount of space in the news columns was
devoted to the commencement of the plans for the new proj-
ect. The editorial comment was favorable. The following
editorial appeared in the Boston Traveller of April 5th, 1946:

"A JEWISH UNIVERSITY"

"One of the genuine lacks in local education will be supplied
when Dr. Israel Goldstein and his associates take over the physical
plant of Middlesex University in Waltham and make it an institu-
tion of the first rank. The success of the institutions of higher
learning which are maintained by the Christian churches is the
reliable pledge of success for this venture, which will be Jewish in
backing and universal in scholarly appeal.

"At one step Middlesex has shaken off the shackles of its past
and entered upon a period of high promise. It is incumbent on the
general public as well as the world of scholarship to know and
evaluate fully the fact that Middlesex hereafter will be in the main
stream of the world's intellectual tradition and that its future
graduates will be full-fledged and fully honored members of the
ancient company of scholars."

In order to win the favorable opinion of the Jewish com-
munity in Boston, a great amount of visiting, consultation,
exposition and pleading was required. Next to Mr. Alpert,
the first member of the Boston Jewish community who showed
enthusiasm for the project, was Dr. Alexander Brin, pub-
lisher of the Boston Jewish Advocate and member of the Board
of Collegiate Authority. The columns of his widely read
weekly were very helpful in familiarizing the Jews of New
England with our project and its progress. The editorial which
appeared in the Boston Jewish Advocate on April nth, 1946
was a source of encouragement.

"JEWISH-SPONSORED UNIVERSITY"

"A tremendous project of utmost significance is the undertaking
to establish on the Middlesex campus a Jewish-sponsored uni-

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 47

versity. What has for a long time appeared to be inevitable with
the growing intensity of Jewish communal life in the United
States, is now in the making.

"The need for a university under Jewish auspices arises chiefly
from the educational requirements of more than 5,000,000 Jews
in the United States who are contributing more than their pro-
portionate share to the applicants for admission to both the
privately endowed and the tax-supported educational institutions
of the region. With the quota system in privately-endowed uni-
versities a thing of reality, whether we like it or not, a university
without quotas, affording needed additional educational facilities
is certainly to be welcomed. That admission based on merit only
is to be the policy identified with the Jewish-sponsored university,
sets a fine example to whom it may concern.

"A Jewish-sponsored university is not a precedent-shattering
venture. Other denominational groups in the United States have
established hundreds of institutions of higher learning. It is now
planned, under Jewish auspices, to conduct a first-class educational
institution and to develop a broad representative educational
sponsorship, Jewish and non-Jewish, which will take its place in
the vanguard of American life.

"The Middlesex campus has been chosen only because it was the
only campus available and has a charter with the right to confer
Degrees of B.A., B.S., M.D., and V.M.D. The availability of a
campus and a charter represents a saving of millions of dollars and
years of time. It has been indicated that a new name will be given
to the university. Thus the future of the institution will have no
relationship to its past and will be judged by the academic world
upon its own merits.

"The project has already received a warm and cordial reception
in Boston at the hands of the non-Jewish community, as indicated
to Dr. Israel Goldstein, leader of the movement, by Dr. Karl T.
Compton, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
Dr. Daniel Marsh, President of Boston University; Archbishop
Richard J. Gushing, and others.

"The enthusiastic response of the Jewish community of Boston
may be assumed, and will, it is hoped, manifest itself in tangible
ways. Dr. Goldstein and his associates have rendered assistance in
bringing the project to a point where the premises and charter are
available. If their hands are strengthened by adequate financial
response, such a university will come into being."

48 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Mr. David K. Niles, whose home was in Boston, was among
the first with whom I consulted. In a conversation held in New
York, he expressed his interest in the idea of a Jewish-spon-
sored university. At later stages he was approached by others
in our behalf. He had some reservations at first about the
choice of the campus because of its unfavorable association
with Middlesex. Nevertheless, he suggested to me and to
others later, the names of men in Boston who should be seen
and interested. Rabbi Joshua Liebman was likewise sympa-
thetic to the idea but withheld active support pending fur-
ther study and clarification. Rabbi Herman Rubenovitz was
friendly and helpful. Among those who expressed hearty ap-
proval were Judge Jacob Kaplan, Judge Lewis Goldberg,
Elihu D. Stone, David Stoneman, I. Muchnick and Harry
Lurie. Approval coupled with promises of support came from
Dewey Stone, Harry Stone, Y. D. Markson, Sidney Rabb,
Abraham Shapiro, Benjamin Ullian, Robert Cable and Louis
H. Salvage. The first gift from this area, in the amount of
$1,000, came from Max Shoolman. It was appreciated all the
more because it came spontaneously and unsolicited. I was in
constant consultation with Mr. George Alpert, upon whom
I leaned heavily for help and guidance in the Boston Area.

RESISTANCE

On the part of a few whom I approached there was resist-
ance. All the negative arguments which I had anticipated
came to life, the fear of some lest our project serve as a pretext
for worsening the restrictions against Jews in other colleges
and universities, the fear of a "ghetto" school, the discomfort
of some at the prospect of a Jewishly labelled institution, the
scepticism as to whether a first-rate faculty and student body
could be attracted. Others expressed concern over the choice
of a campus with the history of Middlesex, Since these argu-

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 49

ments had been anticipated and had not been regarded as
valid deterrents, it was not difficult to answer them. Some were
convinced, others remained unconvinced. There was one cau-
tion, however, which carried considerable weight, namely, the
caution against reopening the Medical School. It was pointed
out to me that without proper clinical facilities no medical
school could hope to have any standing, and it was stated that
there was no prospect of such facilities. It was my considered
view that the Medical School should not be reopened for some
years until such time as satisfactory conditions would be avail-
able. I noted it in my mind for future reference that if proper
hospital facilities should not be available in Boston, because
its hospitals were already committed fully to medical schools
in Boston, they might be secured in Worcester. I also con-
templated the possibility of an arrangement in the future, if
our fundraising efforts would prove successful, whereby our
funds would help support an approved medical school else-
where conducted on the same principles as underlay our in-
stitution, and that our graduates would, on merit, receive
admission there.

In addition to endeavoring to secure the support of individ-
ual Jews in Boston, I sought the support of Jewish public
bodies in that community. My first appearance was before an
educational conference held under the auspices of the Asso-
ciated Synagogues of Greater Boston in May, 1946. Follow-
ing my address the following resolution was there adopted:

"This Conference of Jewish Congregations in Boston gathered
to consider problems of education affecting our youth, welcomes
the proposal to establish a Jewish-sponsored non-quota university
in America open to all races and creeds, in which merit should be
the only criterion for admission. Such a university would be in
line with the precedents of scores of colleges and universities which
have been founded and maintained by Catholic and Protestant
denominations.

"We are gratified to learn that the sponsors of this project have

50 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

selected the campus in Waltham, near our community, as the site
of the proposed university. We are pleased to note the favorable
reaction o the Boston press and of eminent Jews and Christians
here and throughout the country toward this project.

"We bespeak the support of Boston Jewry for this pioneer enter-
prise as a significant contribution to American education at a time
when there is urgent need for additional facilities for higher learn-
ing and professional training."

On subsequent occasions I appeared before the Jewish Com-
munity Council of Metropolitan Boston and at the New
England District Convention of B'nai B'rith. Opportunities
were thus afforded for answering questions, clarifying mis-
understandings, and overcoming negative attitudes.

NEW YORK SUPPORT

Slowly and in the face of a persistent nucleus of opposition,
a favorable climate of opinion was being built up in Boston.
A great deal of work, however, needed to be done in New
York whence the greatest amount of support had to come
eventually. Among the educators in New York who gave me
encouragement and advice as well as offers of cooperation,
the foremost were Dr. Alvin S. Johnson, President Emeritus
of the New School for Social Research, Dr. Paul Klapper,
President of Queens College, Dr. Morton Gottschall, Dean of
the College o Liberal Arts and Sciences of the College of
the City of New York, Dr. Israel S. Wechsler, Professor of
Neurology of Columbia University, and Dr. Benjamin Fine,
Education Editor of the New York Times. It was gratifying
to have the friendly support of Rabbi Louis I. Newman who
had propounded the idea of a Jewish University in America
many years before, Dr. S. Andhil Fineberg, Director, Com-
munity Service Department of the American Jewish Com-
mittee and Rabbi Ahron Opher, Assistant to the President
of the Synagogue Council of America, who gave friendly ad-

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 51

vice and help. The Yiddish press was generous in its attention
and favorable in its comment.

Among the first group in New York whom I was able to
interest in giving moral and financial support to the project
were the following, in addition to Mr. Julius Silver and others
who were mentioned earlier: Max Abelman, Director of the
Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, Samuel Field, Dr. Joseph I. Gor-
finkle, Louis A. Green, S. Ralph Lazrus, Carl Leff> James N.
Rosenberg, Abe Stark and Matthew Woll. Dr. Stephen S. Wise
was friendly to the idea but withheld his official identification
with it until a later stage. I had several meetings in New York
with Mr. Edmund I. Kaufman of Washington and persuaded
him to join our effort. Mr. Maurice Jacobs of Philadelphia,
then Executive Vice-President of the Jewish Publication So-
ciety of America and Mr. Abel Waldauer of Memphis, joined
the growing ranks of our friends.

On April 24, 1946, the New York Board of Jewish Minis-
ters, after listening to my presentation, adopted the following
resolution:

"The New York Board of Jewish Ministers welcomes every effort
to establish a University in the United States, sponsored, sup-
ported and administered on a high standard primarily by Jews,
and open on the basis of merit to all races and creeds in the student
body and in the faculty. We believe such a university cannot but
be a significant democratic contribution to higher learning and
professional training in America."

A similar endorsement was given by the St. Louis Rabbini-
cal Association. In approaching the Jewish War Veterans of
America, I learned through Dr. A. Weiss that they too had
been thinking about such a project. David Coyne, a Regional
Vice-Comffiander of the organization was chairman of a com-
mittee to investigate what was being done in that field and to
report back a plan which the organization might support. Fol-
lowing my presentation they adopted the following resolution:

5 2 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

"The Jewish War Veterans of America favor the establishment
of a Jewish-sponsored University in America that would be open
to all races and creeds, without quotas, but where merit shall be
the only criterion for admission. Following the precedent of col-
leges and universities which have been established by Catholic
and Protestant denominational groups, such a Jewish-sponsored
University would be a significant contribution to American higher
learning and to professional training at a time when there is a dire
need for additional educational opportunities for American
Youth.

"The Jewish War Veterans of America have learned with deep
interest and pleasure of the plan of The Albert Einstein Founda-
tion for Higher Learning, Inc. to establish such a university at
Waltham, Massachusetts, and will use its best endeavors to co-
operate in the realization and fulfillment of the plan."

An editorial of April 5, 1946 in the Congress Weekly, the
publication of the American Jewish Congress, while approv-
ing the idea was critical of the manner of its implementation.

"A Jewish University"

"Newspaper reports have it that a Jewish group with substantial
financial backing is about to take over Middlesex College in Wal-
tham, Massachusetts, and will operate it as a college of Liberal
Arts beginning with the next academic year. This all sounds as
though a commercial establishment is taking over a business from
bankrupt owners. But the "business" in this case happens to be an
academic institution which is intended to serve as a Jewish uni-
versity, a project which has for a long time occupied the minds of
American Jewish leaders. It is highly questionable whether the
perplexing questions involved can be solved by the action of a
private group taking the matter into its own hand by purchasing
a building or a group of buildings and announcing the existence
of a Jewish university.

"The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has set an example with
respect to the manner in which such an undertaking should be
launched. The opening of the Hebrew university on Mt. Scopus
was an historic event. It culminated an educational system which
took years to build, and became the embodiment of an idea of
Jewish existence. It attracted Jewish scholars of world renown, as

. WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 53

well as men of affairs, and started with a plan of gradual expansion
which was to cover both the practical needs of a growing com-
munity and the requirements of the yishuv which was to become
the center of Jewish learning and thinking.

"It will be a historic day for the American Jewish community
when a Jewish university deserving of the name is established in
this country. The day is coming closer. We started with the found-
ing of theological colleges and seminaries; we are gradually de-
veloping a system of Jewish education which is just beginning to
cover the requirements of the Jewish community. One theological
institution has become a university in a limited sense and another
is planning to establish such a university. The time may soon
come when American Jewry, considering both the needs of its
youth and its new part in Jewish history as the greatest and most
powerful community, will decide to crown its achievements with
the establishment of a great institution of learning.

"The nature of this institution is not yet sufficiently clear even
to those who dream of it. Should it chiefly answer the needs of the
young men and women who for reasons of discrimination are be-
ing barred from the general "non-sectarian" colleges and uni-
versities, and thus indirectly admit that discrimination against
Jews is a "normal" phenomenon in the American academic world?
Should it be supported by Jewish funds and function as a non-
sectarian institution, or shall it openly bear the stamp of its Jewish-
ness? Should it be locally or nationally supported? With these
points clarified one must also visualize a preparatory period in
which the best academic Jewish minds in this country will be con-
sulted and called upon to serve in order to make the institution
one of the outstanding in the country and worthy of the effort of
the Jewish community.

"In any case, the establishment of a Jewish university is not a
matter to be dealt with by a handful of well intended amateurs
ready to do something for Jews. In back of its founding there must
be a profound conviction, a thrice considered judgment and a
deep awareness of its significance in the history of our people in
this country."

As I read the editorial I wondered whether similar criticism
could not have been levelled at a score of other national and
international organizations and institutions which had been

54 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

projected by one man or a small group of men in response
to a significant need. Usually the results validated or invali-
dated the .vision of the founders. In any case American Jewry
was as yet far from that state of organization where it could
be expected to launch a new venture in the name of the
American Jewish community, least of all a venture which had
been a controversial issue for many years. The more realistic
method seemed to be that of launching the venture even with
a small group, and then endeavoring to secure for it public ac-
ceptance and support.

A more sympathetic albeit searching editorial comment ap-
peared in "The Reconstructionist" of May 31, 1946.

"The Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning"

"Announcement has been made of the establishment of the Al-
bert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, for the purpose of
sponsoring a Jewish University in America. The President, Dr.
Israel Goldstein, and a group of supporters have acquired the
campus of a university near Boston, which at present has facilities
for a College of Arts and Sciences, a Medical School, and a School
of Veterinary Medicine, and which has room for expansion into
other schools and departments. Dr. Goldstein has received the en-
dorsement of Professor Einstein and of many Christian and Jewish
personalities. He is asking for the endorsement now of other Jew-
ish leaders.

"We believe that a university of this kind is certainly needed. In
the first place, there is the general lack of adequate educational
facilities in the country. At the present time there are tens of thou-
sands of young men and women seeking higher education. Those
who have recently been applying for admission to colleges and
universities can testify to the fact that there seems not to be room
for all those who wish to pursue their studies. Secondly, the Jews
have, for a long time, felt that they have been guests in other
people's homes and have never had the opportunity to reciprocate.
They have never been given the chance to act the host. Whether
colleges and universities have operated on the basis of the quota
system or not, the psychological effect upon Jewish students has
been the same. They have somehow been made to understand that

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 55

they were being "accepted** by non-Jews; they have not felt that
they were being admitted as a matter of course, purely as Ameri-
cans who had a natural claim on American institutions. It is there-
fore quite proper that a Jewish-sponsored university should be
set up to. fill this educational need.

"Though we endorse the Einstein Foundation in principle, we
have nevertheless many questions concerning it which we should
like, to have answered. These questions certainly must have oc-
curred to the initiators of the project, and undoubtedly they will
be dealt with in due course. But upon the manner in which they
are answered will depend to a great extent the value of the project
and the support it receives from the Jewish community. It is there-
fore important that these questions be thoroughly aired. Unless
this is done, there is danger that a small group of men may proceed
without being aware of public opinion on these problems.

"Some of these questions are: Will this university be completely
non-sectarian and non-quota? Will it be possible to admit students
entirely on the basis of their merit? Will the faculty members be
selected only on the basis of their scholarship and teaching ability?
Will preference be given to Jews, and if so, will this not automati-
cally set up a quota system for non-Jews? Will funds for the sup-
port of the university be accepted only from Jews, or will non-Jews
also be solicited?

"In what sense will this be a Jewish university? Will there be
courses in Jewish studies? If so, will they be required courses or
will they be merely elective? Will there be a particular point of
view represented in the teaching of these subjects, or will all points
of view be given equal opportunity of expression? Will the liberal
arts curriculum be patterned upon that of other colleges, or will
it be reorganized so as to take account of many Jewish contribu-
tions to civilization, which are ordinarily ignored in the college
course? Those of us who attended college remember very well that,
in courses in ancient history, the impression was always given that
the Hebrew disappeared right after the destruction of the Temple.
We remember very clearly that courses in European history almost
completely ignored the Jews. Courses in philosophy never men-
tioned Saadia or Maimonides or Crescas. The vast ethical and folk
and religious literature of the medieval period simply did not exist
for the professors of literature. Will the new Einstein Foundation
reconstruct these courses and their curricula? Will it enable a, Jew-
ish student, or his non- Jewish neighbor, to get a well-rounded pre-

56 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

sentation of Western culture, such as he cannot get at the usual
college? Will there be chapel services at the new school? Will at-
tendance at these services be required, or optional? Will the various
holidays be observed? Will there be public celebration of Hanuk-
kah and Pesah like those of Christmas and Easter in other schools?
"These are only a few of the problems that naturally arise when
a project of this kind is undertaken. We are confident that Dr.
Goldstein and his colleagues are going to give long and serious
thought to these questions. We do hope, however, that they will
seek the opinions of many groups in Jewish life before they make
their decisions. The more the Jews in America participate in the
formulation of the policies, the broader will be the base of support
given to this Foundation for Higher Learning. Here is an op-
portunity to make a contribution both to the education of Ameri-
cans and to the advancement of Jewish life. We hope that the
Einstein Foundation will be so planned as to realize fully its po-
tentialities."

I had a number of conferences in New York with Mr. Henry
Monsky, President of B'nai B'rith, and Mr. Maurice Bisgyer,
its Secretary, and one conversation in Miami with Dr. Abram
L. Sachar, Director of the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation.
These conversations indicated an affirmative attitude. Later
I learned that in B'nai B'rith too, the idea of a Jewish-spon-
sored university had been receiving consideration as a pos-
sible B'nai B'rith project and that a committee headed by
Rabbi Jerome Falkman had been appointed to look into the
practical possibilities of carrying it out. I attached great hopes
to the prospect of B'nai B'rith lending its strength to our proj-
ect at Waltham, seeing that we had already advanced far
beyond the blueprint stage and were in possession of a campus
and a charter.

Encouragement came from other parts of the country. Mr.
Alpert and I, on visits to cities in connection with our other
public responsibilities, spoke to many community leaders of
what we were trying to do at Waltham. Mr. Julius Hochf elder
of Los Angeles, who many years before had written and spoken

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 57

of the desirability of a Jewish university in America, urged me
in a letter of April 4, 1946, to enlarge the scope of the project
by promoting such an institution on the West Coast.

IMPORTANT ENDORSEMENT

It seemed necessary, however, to have an endorsement from
an overall body of Jewish public opinion. Such an opportunity
presented itself when the National Community Relations
Advisory Council invited me to participate in a panel discus-
sion on "A Jewish University," at one of the sessions of its
meeting in Chicago, June 16, 1946. The NCRAC, represent-
ing the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Con-
gress, B'nai B'rith, and Jewish Labor Committee, was the most
representative public relations body of the American Jewish
community. The other participants in the panel discussion
were Dr. Jacob L Hartstein, Professor of Education and
Director of Graduate Schools, Yeshivah University, and
Dr. Louis Wirth, Professor of Sociology, University of Chi-
cago.

Dr. Wirth argued against any type of Jewish-sponsored uni-
versity, be it secular or religious. Dr. Hartstein presented the
case for Yeshivah University. In espousing the need of a Jewish-
sponsored secular university, I did not dispute the value of
Yeshivah University but pointed out its limitations.

It was the first time that our concept and plan were presented
to a top-level body of Jewish lay leadership. (For the full text
of the address see Appendix II.)

The main addresses were followed by questions directed by
the participants to one another, and then by questions from
the floor. It was a lively discussion, and the results were highly
gratifying, and helpful to what we were trying to achieve.

The following resolution was adopted the following day
by the Plenary Session of the NCRAC:

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

"This Plenary Session notes with satisfaction and approval
recent developments looking toward the establishment and the
expansion in the United States of Jewish universities and colleges,
and of institutions of higher learning under Jewish auspices, open
to all persons, regardless of race, color or creed. These efforts, we
feel, constitute a significant contribution to the cultural and in-
tellectual development of the Jewish community in this country
and to American life generally."

It was a significant victory, the climax of a persistent strug-
gle to win Jewish public opinion for our project and it augured
well and paved the way for the overwhelming acceptance of
the idea by the American Jewish community.

We were thus able to come to the public with resolutions
from important public bodies and with endorsements from
national leaders in all walks of life. The following was our
list of sponsors and endorsers with which we approached the
community for its moral and material support.

NATIONAL SPONSORSHIP

Hon. Joseph M. Ball
Professor Salo W. Baron

Hon. Sol Bloom
Hon. Emmanuel Cellar
Professor Morris R. Cohen
Dr. Karl T. Compton

Archbishop Richard J. Gushing
Hon. Helen Gahagan Douglas
Dr. Will Durant
Professor Albert Einstein
Louis Fabricant
Hon. James A. Farley

Harold O. N. Frankel

Judge Stanley H. Fuld
Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld

Rabbi Solomon Goldman
Dr. Robert Gordis

Dr. Morton Gottschall

U.S. Senator, Minnesota

Professor, Jewish History, Columbia

University

U.S. Representative, New York
U.S. Representative, New York

President, Massachusetts Institute of

Technology
Boston, Massachusetts
U.S. Representative, California

Former Postmaster General of United
States

Grand Master, Independent Order
B'rith Abraham

Supreme Court, State of New York

Washington (D.C.) Hebrew Congrega-
tion

Anshe Eme't Synagogue, Chicago

President, Rabbinical Assembly of
America

Dean, College of City of New York

WINNING" PUBLIC OPINION

59

Dr. Frank P. Graham
William Green
Dr. Jacob Greenberg
Sidney Hillman
Dr. Bryn J. Hovde

Miss Fannie Hurst
Dr. Joseph C. Hyman

Professor Oscar I. Janowsky

Dr. Alvin Johnson
Professor Horace M. Kallen
Professor Mordecai M. Kaplan

Edmund I. Kaufman

Hon. H. M. Kilgore
Dr. Frank Kingdon
Hon. Philip M, Klutznick

Judge Anna M. Kross ,
Hon. Fiorello M. LaGuardia
Mrs. Katherine F. Lenroot

Judge Louis E. Levinthal
Dr. Ludwig Lewisohn
Dr. Eduard C. Lindeman

Mr. Louis Lipsky

Dr. Henry MacCracken

Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin

Thomas Mann
Dr. Daniel Marsh
Honorable Edward Martin
Rabbi Irving Miller
Henry Monsky
Hon. Wayne Morse
Hon. John W. McCormack
Dr. James G. MacDonald
Hon. Brien McMahon
Dr. J. E. Newcomb
Rabbi Louis I. Newman

Dr. J. Hugh O'Donnell

President, University of North Caro-
lina

President, American Federation of
Labor

Associate Superintendent, Board of
Education of City of New York

President, Amalgamated Clothing
Workers of America

President, The New School for Social
Research

Executive Vice- Chairman, Joint Dis-
tribution Committee '

Director, Committee on Survey of the
National Jewish Welfare Board

The New School for Social Research

The New School for Social Research

Jewish Theological Seminary of
America

Co-Chairman of United Jewish Ap-
peal

U.S. Senator, West Virginia

Commissioner, Federal Public Hous-
ing Authority

Magistrates* Court, New York City

Former Mayor, New York City

Chief, Children's Bureau, United
States Department of Labor

Philadelphia

New York

President, New York School of Social
Work

New York

President, Vassar College

Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los An-
geles

President, Boston University

Governor, State of Pennsylvania

Far Rockaway, New York

President, B'nai B'rith

U.S. Senator, Oregon

U.S. Representative, Massachusetts

United States Senator, Connecticut
President, University of Virginia
Temple Rodeph Sholom, New York

City
President, Notre Dame University

6o

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Hon. William O'Dwyer

Most Reverend G. Bromley Oxnam

Judge Nathan D. Perlman

Rev. Dr. D. de Sola Pool
Walter P. Reuther
James N. Rosenberg

Judge Morris Rothenberg

Dr. Alexander G. Ruthven
Dr. Abram Leon Sachar

Hon. Leverett Saltonstall
Mr. Maurice Samuel
Joseph Schlossberg

Dr. Guy Emery Shipler
Dr. Franklyn B. Snyder
Dr. Ralph W. Sockman
Rabbi Milton Steinberg

Judge Meier Steinbrink
Judge Aron Steuer
Dr. George D. Stoddard

Dr. Israel Strauss

Arthur Szyk

Dr. Chaim Tchernowitz

Hon. Elbert D. Thomas
Hon. Maurice J. Tobin
Dr. R. R. von KleinSmid

Hon. Jerry Voorhis
Hon. Robert F. Wagner
Hon. Mon C. Wallgren
Dr. Israel S. Wechsler

Mrs. Joseph M. Welt

Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur
Dr. Stephen S. Wise

Matthew Woll

Hon. Chase Going Woodhouse

Mayor, New York City

Bishop of the Methodist Church, The
New York Area

Court of Special Sessions, New York
City

Synagogue Shearith Israel, New York

President, United Auto Workers, CIO

Honorary Chairman, Joint Distribu-
tion Committee

President, Jewish National Fund of
America

President, University of Michigan

National Director, B'nai B'rith Hillel
Foundations

U.S. Senator, Massachusetts

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of

America

Editor, "The Churchman"
President, Northwestern University
Christ Church, New York City
Park Avenue Synagogue, New York

City

Supreme Court of State of New York
Supreme Court of State of New York
Commissioner of . Education, New

York State
New York City

Jewish Institute of Religion, New

York City
U.S. Senator, Utah
Governor, Massachusetts
President, University of Southern

California

U.S. Representative, California
U.S. Senator, New York
Governor, State of Washington
Professor of Neurology, College of

Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia

University
National President, National Council

of Jewish Women
Chancellor, Stanford University
Rabbi, Free Synagogue, New York

City
Vice-President, American Federation

of Labor
U.S. Representative, Connecticut

WINNING PUBLIC OPINION 61

Dr. H. N. Wright President, College City of New York

Owen D. Young Honorary Chairman, Board of Gen-

eral Electric Company

Max Zaritsky President, United Hatters, Cap and

Millinery Workers International
Union

CHAPTER V
TROUBLESOME SITUATIONS

There were difficulties to be overcome on many fronts. The
winning of public opinion for the idea, the inauguration of
fundraising activity, and the planning of the project itself, all
had to be done simultaneously. In the meantime troubles had
been brewing in Boston which carried a threat to the charter
which we had acquired.

THREAT TO THE CHARTER

The first intimation of trouble ahead made its appearance
almost as soon as the University had come under our control.
Early in February 1946, a bill was introduced into the Legis-
lature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by State Sena-
tor Edward M. Rowe, to revoke that part of the charter of
Middlesex University which authorized it to operate a medical
school, in view of the fact that its graduates were no longer
eligible for licensure in Massachusetts.

Senator Rowe's avowed purpose in filing the bill was to
prevent a situation where students could be enrolled in a
chartered medical school, but would be ineligible, upon
graduation, to take licensure examinations. We were not cer-
tain, however, that there were not other forces and other con-
siderations behind this move. Mr. George Alpert, Mr. Julius
Silver, Mr. C. Ruggles Smith, Judge Samuel Null and I, who
were in close and constant consultation, together with Mr.

62

TROUBLESOME SITUATIONS 63

Isadore HL Y. Muchnick of the Boston City Council, who was
very helpful, viewed it as a serious threat. If the charter of
the Medical school were to be revoked it was extremely doubt-
ful if it would be possible to reinstate it at a later time when
we might be ready to open a properly qualified medical school.
The charter was a valuable asset to have even though we might
not be ready for some time to make use of it. The opening of
a medical school was part of our plan for the future, though
we recognized that it would require large resources and would
take years to establish. As long as we had the charter we had
credentials to speak about the medical school as part of our
master plan. Moreover, the revocation of the medical school
charter would deprive our institution of the right to be called
a university, with the resultant loss of such advantages as that
right carried.

A hearing on the bill was held on April i, 1946, before the
Legislature's sub-Committee on Education. Mr. Alpert and I
spoke in opposition. Our main argument was that since our
group had just taken over Middlesex University, and had
barely begun to organize our plan which contemplated the
opening of a medical school at a much later stage when re-
sources and facilities would warrant the opening of a first-class
medical school, we deserved the opportunity of carrying our
aims forward. We mentioned the names of some of the civic,
religious and educational leaders in Boston and elsewhere who
were encouraging us. We presented our entire plan for the
establishment of a Jewish-sponsored university as a contribu-
tion to higher learning in America, and the high standards
we had set for ourselves. We pointed out that the revocation
of our medical school charter would seriously hurt the stand-
ing of our project as a whole.

In spite of the fact that several prominent personalities
argued for the bill, our arguments prevailed. The bill was
withdrawn by its proponent. It was a significant moral victory

64 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

for us and it won for our project a good many new friends in
Boston who, as a result of the newspaper accounts of the hear-
ings, learned of our aims.

PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Almost immediately thereafter a new series of difficulties
developed in connection with the School of Veterinary Medi-
cine. For years it had been denied approval by the approving
authorities in the field of Veterinary Medicine on the ground
that it was below standard, owing to an inadequate faculty,
the lack of an experiment station for research, connection
with an agricultural college, or adequate financial resources
besides tuition fees, to ensure improved facilities. The num-
ber of states in which its graduates were permitted to take
licensure examinations was dwindling.

In September 1945, the Board of Collegiate Authority of the
Massachusetts Department of Education had notified the uni-
versity that while it would continue the approval of the one
year pre-veterinary program for the purposes of Public Law
346 which enabled returned war veterans to take courses at
Government expense, it would not approve the program of
its School of Veterinary Medicine (for the purposes of Public
Law 346).

Now that our new group was guiding the destinies of the
institution, it seemed to us that as long as we considered it to
be worthwhile maintaining the School of Veterinary Medi-
cine, we ought to make every effort to improve it and to secure
an approved status for it. In our negotiations with Mr. Smith
for the transfer of the control of the institution, we had in-
dicated that we recognized it as a moral obligation to begin
immediately to make a portion of our financial resources avail-
able for the improvement of this department. It was estimated

TROUBLESOME SITUATIONS 65

that an interim, subsidy of about $5,000 a month would be
required. We began to look around for a new Dean and to
make modest additions to the faculty. Regarding these mat-
ters I sought and received the advice of Dr. Arthur D. Gold-
haft of Vineland, New Jersey, one of the outstanding men in
the field.

On the basis of our plans for improving the School of
Veterinary Medicine we approached the Massachusetts Board
with a request for approval not only of the pre-veterinary
courses but of the veterinary courses, for purposes of Public
Law 346. It meant much to us not only as a first step leading
to the eventual approval of the school as a whole, but also
because a larger student body would mean greater income
from tuition fees and a larger base over which to spread the
benefits of such financial investments as we should be able to
make in the improvement and expansion of the school's
facilities.

Over a period of months, Mr. Alpert and I held conferences
with Dr. John J. Desmond, newly appointed Chairman of
the Board of Collegiate Authority and Dr. Bertram S. Killian,
Chairman of the Massachusetts Approving Authority for
Schools of Veterinary Medicine. Mr. Smith, who as General
Counsel of the university had struggled with this problem for
some time before, was helpful in providing counsel and back-
ground information.

In the meantime, our Board of Trustees, at a meeting held
in Waltham on May 27th, 1946, voted to commence the
freshman and veterinary courses in the College of Arts and
Sciences on June 2 6th as scheduled, to continue the course
of instruction under the accelerated program for the upper
classes in the School of Veterinary Medicine as scheduled, and
to defer action on the first year class pending the action of the
Board of Collegiate Authority upon our application for its

66 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

approval of the courses for the purposes of Public Law 346.
All applicants for admission were to be informed of the
present status of the school and of the pending negotiations
with the Board of Collegiate Authority. That same day the
Commencement Exercises of the School of Veterinary Medi-
cine were held. There were thirty-seven graduates. It was
my first public appearance in Waltham as President of the
university's Board of Trustees, charged with the duty of de-
livering the address and awarding the diplomas.

When the new term opened June 2 6th, seventy students
were enrolled for the pre-veterinary courses.
, The chief obstacle in the way of our securing affirmative
action from the Board of Collegiate Approval was Dr. Killian.
He seemed intent on closing down the Middlesex School of
Veterinary Medicine. I had several meetings with him and
Dr. Desmond in an endeavor to overcome their intransigence.
Through the good offices of Dr. Brin, a member of the Board,
and upon the invitation of Dr. Desmond, its Chairman, Mr.
Alpert and I were invited to appear at a full meeting of the
Board of Collegiate Authority, and we stated our case. At a
subsequent meeting, held July 29, 1946, at which Mr. Alptrt
attended and spoke, our efforts succeeded. It was voted to ap-
prove the School of Veterinary Medicine of Middlesex Uni-
versity for the the purpose of Public Law 346, until September
24, 1947.

For the new term, forty-two students were enrolled in the
freshman class of the Veterinary School.

A difficult struggle ended in our favor, at least for the time
being. We would have a breathing space of a little over a
year in which to reorganize and improve the Veterinary School.
Coming a few months after our victory over the attempt to
revoke our medical school charter, it was a source of added
encouragement.

TROUBLESOME SITUATIONS 67

THE CHOICE OF THE CAMPUS REEXAMINED

The victories which had been achieved in connection with
the Medical School charter and with the School of Veterinary
Medicine, were not an unmixed blessing. They kept alive the
association with Middlesex University's past which we, the
new group, were planning to supplant by a different kind of
institution conducted along high academic standards. While
most of us were confident that with a new name and a new
program our university project would be judged on its own
merits, and we had been encouraged in that opinion by the
educators whom we had consulted, such as Dr. Einstein, Dr.
Compton and Dr. Johnson, every now and then someone who
was already committed to our project or who contemplated
a commitment, would raise the question again, "Could we not
find a campus elsewhere?" Some were worried about the asso-
ciation with Middlesex. Others did not like the architecture
of the buildings.

I felt certain not only of the beauty of the campus, of its
great possibilities for future development and of its excellent
location, but also that the combination of the campus and
charter, which came to us without cost, could not be dupli-
cated elsewhere. Nevertheless, in order to be able to give a
reply based on facts rather than on surmises, I requested Mr.
Leonard V. Finder, who was giving us part-time service as
public relations counsellor and helping us in building up a
nationwide list of sponsors, to make a search of other possi-
bilities. He communicated with the office of the U. S. Com-
missioner of Education and with the War Surplus Property
Administration. Suggestions also came from individuals. Sev-
eral suggested sites were examined. They proved unsuitable,
for a variety of reasons. They were not built for college pur-
poses and had to be rebuilt and refurnished at great expense.

68 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

The locations were not suitable. They did not have a college
or university charter.

We explored the possibility of taking over the National
Farm School in Doylestown, Pa. for our project, but the initial
response to our informal soundings indicated that the pros-
pects were negative. Besides, that institution lacked the ad-
vantage of a broad charter such as Middlesex had.

I had occasion to write the following to more than one critic
of our campus site:

"What I plead for is a recognition of the fact that we cannot
hope for perfect circumstances, but should be satisfied to start with
what may be imperfect, and work toward a greater and greater
perfection. If we are to wait until we find a perfect combination
of factoh, rin afraid that the ideal of a Jewish-sponsored university
in America, which many people regard as urgent, will not be
realized, at least in our generation."

The reexamination of the choice of the Middlesex campus
settled all doubts. It was gratifying and reassuring to receive
such comments as came from Dr. Alexander Dushkin, eminent
Jewish educator, who wrote, "The Jewish community owes
you a debt of gratitude for having secured this campus/'
and from Elias Newman, the well-known artist, who wrote
as follows:

"The location of the university made a most lasting impression
upon us. Indeed, here is the ideal campus, with a marvelous vista,
for a school. We found the main building with its large classrooms
and laboratories unusually interesting. We were particularly im-
pressed by the rooms in the circular tower permitting an imposing
view of the Charles River and taking maximum advantage of the
light and sunshine. We left feeling that you could not have found
a better or more suitable location.

"The grounds, while they are neglected and covered with under-
brush, can be developed into a veritable little paradise, but, of
course, it will take money and intelligent and careful planning."

CHAPTER VI
THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM

It was clear from the beginning, when the campus was se-
cured, that a substantial fund would be required both for
immediate and for longer range purposes. Repairs and altera-
tions were needed not only to keep the School of Veterinary
Medicine in operation but to expand and improve Its facili-
ties in accordance with the requirements of the approving
bodies in that field. Above all, large sums would be required
for the achievement of our primary immediate objective, upon
which the good name, prestige and success of our entire pro-
gram would depend, the establishment of a very good Col-
lege of Liberal Arts.

We had reached the conclusion earlier that the f undraising
should not be conducted under the name of Middlesex Uni-
versity which had been the target of much unfavorable public-
ity. The new name for the university had not yet been chosen.
Therefore the Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learn-
ing had been devised as the financial instrument for raising
funds for our project. Indeed it was contemplated that if the
fundraising efforts would be successful and if the university
project would in its unfoldment measure up to the expecta-
tions, this fund might become the mother fund for the sup-
port of other projects of a similar nature in other parts of the
country.

Through the good offices of Mr. Julius Silver, the Founda-
tion had been incorporated under the Laws of the State of

69

70 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Delaware, February 25, 1946, six weeks after the acquisition
of the campus. The incorporators were Mr. Silver, Mr. Alpert
and myself. Mr. Silver secured for gifts to the Foundation
temporary exemption for income tax purposes, pending the
granting of permanent exemption which could be granted
only after a full year's operation.

The preamble to the articles of incorporation, which I was
requested to write, in stating the purposes of the Foundation,
summarized the essence of the idea which had motivated the
entire effort.

"Believing that that standard of American living which on its
material side is held up as an example to the rest of the world
should also be reflected in a high standard of education which
should be made available to all who seek it regardless of race, color
and creed, aware of the mounting hunger of American youth for
higher learning both as an end in itself and as a means of prepara-
tion for the professions, mindful that there are not enough facili-
ties for higher learning and professional training to meet the needs
therefor, deeply conscious both of the Hebraic tradition of Torah
looking upon culture as a birthright, as well as of the American
ideal of an educated democracy and of the ^'Hebraic mortar which
cemented the foundations of American Democracy," and dedi-
cated to the proposition that in the postwar world the American
people entering upon an unprecedented position of world leader-
ship, should lead not only in technical skills and material resources
but also in intellectual and spiritual endowments, this Founda-
tion for Higher Learning is established.*'

There was provision for a Board of Directors not to exceed
twenty-one members. The following were elected members
of the Board at the first meeting of the corporation, held in
my study, March 4, 1946, George Alpert, Milton Bluestein,
Dr. Alexander M. Dushkin, Dr. Israel Goldstein, Edmund I.
Kaufrnann, Carl Left, Judge Samuel Null, Albert Rosen,
Samuel Schneierson, Julius Silver, Major Abraham F. Wechs-
ler, and Dr. Israel S, Wechsler. The officers elected were: Pres-
ident, Dr. Israel Goldstein; Secretary, Dr. Alexander M. Dush-

THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM 71

kin; Treasurer, Julius Silver. Subsequently, S. Ralph Lazrus
and James N. Rosenberg were added to the Board, and Albert
Rosen resigned. Of the twenty-one places provided for in the
certificate of incorporation only fourteen were filled as it was
deemed advisable to leave available places both in the Board
of the Foundation and in the Board of the University for im-
portant friends and supporters who would be drawn in at later
stages.

The Board of the Foundation concerned itself not only with
fundraising. In effect, it was the policy-making body for the
conduct of the affairs at Middlesex University, as the majority
of the Board of Trustees of the University were members of
the Board of Directors of the Foundation and the President
of the Foundation was at the same time the President of the
Board of Trustees of the University.

The long range fundraising program which I planned con-
templated a very broad base. My, experience with the Jewish
National Fund had taught me that mass support of an impor-
tant idea was as sound financially as it was sound morally. It
was ray ambition that the project of a Jewish-sponsored uni-
versity should find enthusiasm and support among the rank
and file of American Jewry and that it should be regarded as
belonging to the entire Jewish community. But the initial
funds had to be secured from relatively small numbers to tide
us over the pioneering stage.

FUNDRAISING APPARATUS AND OFFICE

The first fundraising efforts through small meetings with
individuals and groups in my study had provided an initial
nucleus of financial sponsorship, As soon as it became appar-
ent from these exploratory attempts that there was a good
potential response to our program, it was deemed advisable
to set up a fundraising apparatus, Mr t B0ri$ Young was eii-

72 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

gaged as Director of Fundraising commencing May i, 1946.
He organized a full-time staff of four executives, an office
manager and several stenographers. Mr. Emil Ober was ap-
pointed Director of Public Information. Through the courtesy
of my congregation, B'nai Jeshurun, rooms adjoining my study
were made available as administrative offices, until the expan-
sion of the activities necessitated moving on August i, to
larger quarters at 245 Fifth Avenue which were secured
through the help of Mr. Samuel Field, a member of my con-
gregation. Through the courtesy of Mr. Silver, the business
office of the Foundation was accommodated in his offices at
150 Broadway.

THE FIRST BROCHURE

A brochure, the first piece of public information issued by
the Foundation for wide circulation, summarized the prin-
ciples and objectives of the project as follows:

"The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning has been
established, with the creation of a Jewish-sponsored university of
top rank as its primary goal. Through this undertaking, Jews can
now make a significant contribution, as a body rather than in-
dividually, to the culture and democratic life of this country in
line with the pattern already set by Catholics and various Protes-
tant denominations.

"The widespread enthusiastic response indicates the genuine
eagerness of the Jewish community to see the university realized.
Professors of international reputation have asked that they be
considered when the faculty will be selected. Although the uni-
versity is not to be opened until October, 1947, applications from
students in all parts of the country have already been received.

"The university will be open to all races, nationalities and
creeds. A quota-free institution, as all democratic universities
should be, it will admit students on the sole basis of merit. This
university will prove that a quota-free institution can produce ex-
cellent scholars and can contribute significant works of learning
in keeping with highest traditions.

THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM 73

"So that the purposes of the university will be clearly under-
stood, the basic facts are re-stated. This university has been con-
ceived as an affirmative offering by the Jewish community to
democratic higher learning. A selective process, in conformance
with established standards, will give preference to applicants with
the highest general and scholastic attainments. It is not merely a
haven; faculty and students will be accepted on the sole basis of
quality and without regard to race, religion or any other factor.

"To refrain from making a cultural contribution to American
life in keeping with the tradition of splendid schools started by
other denominational groups because of unfounded fear of un-
favorable reaction, would mean that the Jewish community was
voluntarily abandoning a fundamental right of first-class citizen-
ship.

"An Institution which is a champion of democratic learning can
never become a pretext for intensified discrimination against
Jewish students by other schools. Colleges which have discrimi-
nated in the past will not need this university as an excuse to con-
tinue to do so in the future; liberal schools will not deviate from
their convictions because of the notable addition of a college sup-
porting their own standards. If anything, the prestige of this uni-
versity might well relieve some of the existing hostile pressure.

"There will be no relationship between this university and any
other previously in existence. Although the charter and physical
properties of another school have been taken over, the new uni-
versity, still to be named, will have its own faculty, trustees, spon-
sors and financing. It will be an entirely separate and distinct
entity and will be judged on its own merits.

"Emphasis will be given to quality rather than to size. The his-
tory of the Jewish people is the best guarantee that the Jewish
community is capable of developing now a university which will
measure up to the highest standards of scholarship.

"Competent educational authorities advise that the university
should begin with general education rather than specialized
schools. That is why a medical school is not being established im-
mediately. The first colleges will be those of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and of Veterinary Medicine. Other schools, Medicine
among them, will be added as quickly as they can be accomplished
in keeping with the problems of financing and the maintenance of
the high scholastic standards.

"This university was never planned merely as an answer to the

74 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

prejudices of certain other schools. It is an affirmative expression
o the will of a group of Americans who are Jews and who want
to make this offering to the culture of the nation."

THE FIRST FUNDRAISING DINNER

The first public fundraising function took place on the
evening of June soth, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In prep-
aration for the dinner and for the effort which was to follow
the dinner, Mr. S. Ralph Lazrus was named Fundraising
Chairman for New York at an organizational meeting held
at the Harmonie Club on May 2gth, 1946. He brought a num-
ber of potential contributors on visits to Dr. Einstein in
Princeton, May goth and June i6th. The dinner on June soth
was attended by sixty men and women. Addresses were de-
livered by Dr. Alvin S. Johnson, Judge Samuel Null, and James
N. Rosenberg. A message from Dr. Einstein was presented.
Particularly stirring was Dr. Johnson's address, which fol-
lows:

"It is a great privilege you have conferred on me in permitting
me to appear before you to express my enthusiasm for your project
of a great university to be launched under Jewish auspices.

"As you know^ all my life I have been an implacable enemy of
discrimination in education. Where professors and students are
selected on any other basis than intellectual competence and per-
sonal merit, true scholarship flies out of the window. The pro-
jected university will have at the basis of its traditions the principle
of absolute freedom from discrimination on grounds of race, re-
ligion, color, sex, or any other grounds irrelevant to scholarly
merit. Your project makes no place for the detestable scholarly
fraud of a quota system. If there were in this country a peculiar
racial or religious group that produced the best teachers of all, the
most promising students, you would be quite content to fill your
chairs and your class rooms with persons drawn from this group,
even to the complete exclusion of your own coreligionists. These
are the auspices under which a truly great university may be
founded.

THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM 75

"You are founding a university in an auspicious time, when the
need for extended educational opportunities strikes one in the
face. As unofficial advisor of the good friends who compose the
supporters and the adherents of the New School, I have racked my
brains to find colleges, between the Atlantic and the Pacific, that
can take a promising youth or maiden, ardent for educational op-
portunity. I have written enough appeals to presidents, deans,
committees on admission, to compose a complete begging letter
writer perhaps my next contribution to literature. These young
people are not choosers. Several have asked me to help them break
down the barriers Negro colleges have erected against whites.

"Someone will say, This is a transitory phase, developed out of
the generous policy of the Government toward the G.I/s. Not at
all: if there were not a single G.I. seeking education the colleges
would be flooded with students they could not admit. So it was
after the first World War. Nothing but the depression kept the
student multitude within manageable proportions. And the
second World War pressed deeply into the consciousness of the
young a realization of the fact that what counts now is trained
abilities. When the peak of G.I. education has passed, you will find
a good twenty per cent increase in the number of young people
who seek higher education, and you will find that existing educa-
tional facilities can not take care of them.

"You do not have at present the resources to set up a complete
university. That is fortunate. If you tried to set up a complete uni-
versity all at once you would inevitably load yourselves down with
commitments to second rate scholars who appear delusively to be
first-rate. You will begin with a Freshman class. It is quite practi-
cable to find first class teachers for a Freshman class, and with their
aid, to develop the personnel to take care of Sophomores, later, of
upper classmen, finally of graduate and professional students.

"You can set up a university manned exclusively with first rate
teachers, first rate scholars, with students selected for high average
ability. Do this, and no one will deny you a distinguished place in
American education.

"I have heard the objection from some of my Jewish friends that
such a university might be desirable; but why should it be set up
under Jewish auspices. I beg the privilege of speaking frankly, even
with a frankness that may be painful to some of my friends.

"What element in our population is so eager for higher educa-
tion as the Jewish youth? What element needs higher education so

76 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

desperately? Say what you will about the survival of discrimina-
tion and no one knows more about discrimination or hates it
more than I do higher education is the active force in building a
liberalism that has no place for discrimination. Higher education
is peculiarly a Jewish interest.

"But there is a widely current opinion that Jews have not con-
tributed their full share of the promotion of higher education.
There has been no Jewish Ezra Cornell or Leland Stanford, no
Jewish Seth Low to elevate a sweet gentleman's finishing school
into a Columbia University, no Jewish Rockefeller to transform
the Baptist sticks and stones of the University of Chicago into the
great university we know.

"You and I know of many magnificent gifts to higher education
by Jews. I should know this better than anyone, for a good half of
the resources upon which the New School for Social Research is
based have come from Jews. But there has been something almost
anonymous about Jewish gifts to higher education. They have
been widely diffused and the public does not know of them. In edu-
cation as in military strategy the secret of effectiveness lies in con-
centration.

"Set up a new great university, free of the tradition, unhandi-
capped by the plant of the established university. Build bravely
toward the future of this beloved country of ours and the world
civilization in which our country will play a leading part. Name it
for a great Jew who is also a great American. Support it well.

"Can anyone doubt that such an achievement would count
heavily toward consolidating the rightful place of the Jews in
America?"

All present were inspired with the awareness of participat-
ing in a pioneer, historic venture. Enthusiasm ran high. It
was my assignment to make the appeal for funds. A standard
was set by Mr. Israel Rogosin who pledged $100,000. A total
of $350,000 was pledged by the small group present. Among
those who announced substantial contributions during the
dinner and as a result o the dinner, in addition to Mr. Rogo-
sin, were the Louis Altschul Foundation, Charles Benenson,
Berkley Juniors Company, Samuel Berson, the Blickman
Foundation, Milton Bluestein, Robert Van Cleaf, Samuel

THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM 77

Cohen, Joseph Cohn, Harry B. Denner, Dworetsky and Git-
tiers, Inc., Jacob Elsenberg, Samuel Field, the Friedman
Foundation, Gaynes Inc., Dr. Israel Goldstein, A. Louis
Green, M. S. Handler, B. C. Herzberg, Henry Hofheimer,
Nan Jordan Dress Company, Irwin E. Kane, S. Ralph Lazrus,
Irving Leeman, Loeb & Hoch Company, Lillian A. Margolies
League, A. Robinson, the Morris H. Rosen Foundation,
James N. Rosenberg, Henry Rothnian, Israel Sachs, Elias
Savada, Benjamin Sherman, Julius Silver, Simon & Robert
Company, Herbert Solomon, Abe Stark, Victor L. Sussberg,
H. Sweetbaum & Company, Jacob D. Tarcher, and The Wechs-
ler Company,

It was an encouraging initial test for fundraising possibili-
ties in New York and it was regarded as a springboard for a
larger dinner in the Fall. In the meantime Mr. Alpert was
planting the seeds for financial support in the Boston area.

INQUIRIES FOR SUBSIDIES

Even before there were enough funds to take care of our
needs at Waltham, inquiries about the possibility of subsidies
from our Foundation came from two other institutions, who
overestimated our resources. One was the Essex Medical
School in Newark, a struggling institution with unimpressive
sponsorship which, unable to secure the permission of the
State Board to grant degrees, soon went out of existence. The
other was the Chicago Medical School, whose Board of Trus-
tees was being reorganized to include a number of leading
Jews as well as non-Jews. I had a preliminary conference with
its Dean, Dr. John J. Sheinin. While the Einstein Foundation
was not in a position tt> extend immediate help, it was hoped
that at some future time, if its resources would permit, it
would consider the possibility of giving financial support to
the Chicago Medical School and of working out an arrange-

78 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

ment whereby graduates of our College of Liberal Arts at
Waltham, would be admitted, according to merit, to the
Chicago Medical School. It was gratifying to learn subse-
quently that the reorganized Board of the Chicago Medical
School succeeded in raising the necessary funds which war-
ranted its securing approval as a Class A School of Medicine,

CHAPTER VII

THE NAME, "BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY",
CHOSEN

While it was taken for granted from the start that the name
of Middlesex University would have to be dropped and that
another name would have to be attached to our project of a
Jewish-sponsored university on the campus at Waltham, there
were divided opinions as to what name should be chosen.
There were those who shied away from a name with Jewish
connotations and favored either the name of some great Amer-
ican non-Jew, or a geographical name such as "Waltham Uni-
versity." Among those who favored a Jewish name, some sug-
gested the name of a great Jew of the past, such as Mairnonides,
others suggested the name of Einstein. It seemed to me that
the most appropriate name would be that of Louis D. Bran-
deis, the greatest American Jew of his time, liberal in his
Americanism and self-affirming in his Jewishness, who had
rendered historic services to America and to the Jewish peo-
ple, and whose noble life might well serve as an inspiration to
American youth. The fact that a large part of his career had
been associated with Massachusetts gave added force to the
linking of his name with the institution at Waltham. His
name, moreover, would be a constant reminder of the need
to keep the institution modest in size but noteworthy in
quality, true to a pattern which Justice Brandeis had often
espoused.

Jn one of our visits to Dr. Einstein, Mr. Silver and I had

8o BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

discussed the question of the name. Since one of the sugges-
tions was that his name be attached to the university, we felt
it would be right to offer that suggestion. He graciously de-
clined and expressed himself as approving the name of Bran-
deis for the university. Our national list of sponsors was then
canvassed. An overwhelming majority approved the name of
Brandeis.

At a meeting of the Albert Einstein Foundation held July
16, 1946, the name was approved in the following resolution:

"RESOLVED, that the proposed university being projected by the
Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc., be named
Brandeis University, to honor the memory of one of the noblest
men of our generation, Louis D. Brandeis, whose exemplary life
as a great American Jew will have, we hope, through such uni-
versity, a worthy memorial dedicated as a Jewish contribution to
the promotion of higher learning in America for the advancement
of human culture and science and for the enhancement of under-
standing, good will and righteous living among men."

Thereupon I visited the daughter of the late Justice Bran-
deis, Mrs. Susan Brandeis Gilbert, to secure the approval of
the family. She as well as her husband, Mr. J. H. Gilbert, were
greatly interested in our project, and gave it their whole-
hearted approval and blessing. She also secured the approval
of other members of the family. In addition, Mrs. Gilbert,
who was a member of the Board of Regents of the State of
New York, offered her assistance in educational matters. Her
letter follows:

Chatham, Mass.
August 5, 1946
My dear Dr. Goldstein:

Pending the arrival o other members of the family, I delayed
replying to your interesting letter, telling me of the unanimous
action of your Board of Directors, that the projected university,
the subject of our talk in New York, is to bear the name Brandeis
University, in honor of father.

NAME "BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY" CHOSEN 81

For thus honoring father's name and memory, I am deeply grate-
ful. Also to you for the personal part I feel certain you had therein,
to Dr. Einstein for his enthusiasm over the designation and to your
Board of Directors for its unanimous action and the significant
resolution evidencing their action, which you were kind enough to
send me with your letter.

I therefore trust you and your associates will avail yourselves of
such opportunities as may arise where my experience in educa-
tional matters can be of service to you and I will of course see you
shortly upon my return to the city next month for a further talk
on this gigantic and important undertaking to which you seem-
ingly intend to give so much of yourself. Its success would be a
fitting climax to your many years of disinterested and effective
service for our people.

There has been developing over the years a movement initiated
since shortly after father's death in October 1941, affecting him.
Its possibilities have been the subject of careful consideration for
quite some time. Perhaps it can be given direction as to be of
service to the project university. When that is done or the matter
has made further advances, I shall have Mr. Gilbert tell you of it.

Will you be good enough to tell Dr. Einstein, my husband and
I often speak of his visit to our office and that Mr. Gilbert within
the year hopes to keep that appointment on the intimate life of
father, he intends writing which Professor Forsythe spoke of to
him and which he did not keep because of mother's death.

Sincerely,
Susan Brandeis Gilbert

It still remained for the new name .to be approved by the
Board of Trustees of the University and for the change of
name to be effected legally. It was, however, only a formality
which could be carried out at any time desired, in view of the
relationship between the Foundation and the Board of Trus-
tees of the University. In the call to one o the meetings o the
Board of Trustees this matter was mentioned as an item on the
agenda of the meeting. Action on it, however, was delayed
as it was deemed advisable to wait with the new name until a
later time when the project would be further advanced.

All the preliminaries were now set. We had the campus, the

8s> BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

educational and civic sponsorship, the favorable public opin-
ion of American Jewish leadership, the initial fundraising
machinery, and the name for the university. The time was at
hand to start planning for the opening of Brandeis University.

CHAPTER VIII

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING OF
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

The more keenly public interest was being aroused, the
more urgent it became to announce an opening date for the
University under its new sponsorship. Public interest, stimu-
lated by the acquisition of the campus and the establishment
of the Foundation, could not be expected to be maintained
unless it would be able to look forward to the opening of the
college in the near future.

On August 2 i, 1946, the Topics of the Times column of the
New York Times gave considerable space to our undertaking.
The following paragraphs were particularly relevant:

"It is in the best American tradition when a church decides to
found a college or a university. The thing has happened so many
times in our history. This fact was recalled yesterday in the an-
nouncement that an Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher
Learning would establish at Waltham, Mass., a Jewish-sponsored
secular university open to students and faculty members of all
races and religions. Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the founda-
tion, mentioned that hundreds of American colleges had been
founded and supported by denominational groups.

"In 1855 it was possible to say and a college president, G. F.
Magoun, did say it in a pamphlet, "The West: Its Culture and its
Colleges" that "the whole number of colleges in the United
States not founded by religion can be counted upon one hand."
Professor Donald G. Tewksbury of Columbia pointed out in his
book of 1932, reviewing the influence of the church on the found-
ing of our institutions of higher learning, that the American col-

84 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

lege was founded to meet the "spiritual necessities" of a new con-
tinent.

"Of 207 permanent colleges and universities founded before the
Civil War, all had denominational association except about
twenty-five, the latter being state, semi-state or municipal in their
beginnings.

"The Einstein Foundation as it sets out on the challenging task
of establishing a new university has before it the model of some
fine achievements by religious peoples for the cause of higher edu-
cation. Its leaders see "culture as a birthright," and are inspired by
"the American ideal of an educated democracy." They wish to see
this nation leading the world in intellectual and spiritual endow-
ments. This is a high purpose, worthy of the expenditure of the
great labor and wisdom required to build a true university."

On August 24th, the following editorial appeared in the
New York Herald Tribune:

"THE EINSTEIN FOUNDATION"

"Overshadowed by disturbing news from abroad, the first pub-
lic announcement this week of the Albert Einstein Foundation for
Higher Learning may have been overlooked. The plans, to which
the distinguished scientist gives his support and his name, call for
a new university of the first rank, which will open its doors to
students of the liberal arts and sciences at Waltham, Mass., a year
from this October. By acquiring the extensive campus and existing
buildings of Middlesex University at Waltham the undertaking is
already off to a flying start. In addition to these physical assets the
choice of site takes advantage of the opportunities for both faculty
and students in the concentrated academic area centering in
Boston.

With a campaign for $6,000,000 in prospect, the foundation ex-
pects support from Jewish organizations and individuals through-
out the nation. In the American tradition, this sponsorship by a
denominational group follows the precedent set when some of our
most famous universities were originally established. Unlike them,
however, the proposed institution will not have to go through a
transitional period of narrow sectarianism. From the beginning,
as has been pointed out by Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 85

foundation, its doors will be open to all students without regard
to race, creed or color. It may seem to some, in view of the pressure
on colleges and universities this fall, that the foundation's plans
are being made a year late. There is reason to believe that the
pressure will increase and that the new facilities will be even more
urgently needed a year from now."

Applications for admission to the student body as well as to
the faculty were coming in from all parts of the United States
and from other countries.

The nearest conceivable date for the opening was the Fall
of 1947. It was considered that it would take at least a year
to raise the indispensable minimum funds, repair and reno-
vate the existing buildings, establish some dining and dormi-
tory facilities, and organize a faculty. The date of October
1947 was therefore projected as the opening date.

QUESTION OF MEDICAL SCHOOL REOPENED

Although it had been generally assumed by the Board of
Directors of our Foundation, which was, at the same time, the
policy-making body for the university, that the reopening of
the Medical School at Waltham would be undertaken only at
a much later stage, the question was brought to an issue for
final determination at a meeting of the Board held April 29,
1946. The arguments advanced in favor of making the open-
ing of the Medical School the first step, were that the campus
facilities at Waltham were designed primarily for that pur-
pose, that the need, especially for Jewish students, was most
acute in that field, and that therefore the financial response
from the American Jewish community would be most readily
forthcoming if the first step would be the opening of the
Medical School. My view, strongly in the negative, which had
the support of Dr. Einstein and a majority of the Board, was
based on the following reasoning. The Medical School would
be the most expensive part of a university. Our fundraising

86 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

in the next year or two, it was felt, would not enable us to
provide a good Medical School. It would take considerable
time to develop the arrangements for the necessary clinical
facilities without which no Medical School could hope to re-
ceive an approved status. To open a Medical School with-
out a fair assurance that it would receive the approval of the
medical authorities would stamp the entire project as second
or third rate and would be a disservice to the Jewish com-
munity. The unfortunate experiences of the Middlesex School
of Medicine were still fresh in the public mind. A well-planned
university must be built from its base. The base must be the
College of Liberal Arts. Only at a later stage should profes-
sional schools be undertaken.

This question was settled and was never brought up again.
In the meantime the School of Veterinary Medicine was con-
tinuing. The Foundation made available in August its first
subsidy of $10,000, and additional subsidies thereafter. We
had made some additions to the staff and were looking for a
new dean. At the suggestion of Dr. Arthur D. Goldhaft of
Vineland, New Jersey, .1 was in touch with two outstanding
men occupying important posts in other Schools of Veterinary
Medicine.

A proposal came to me from Mr. Samuel Silverman of Bos-
ton, for the establishment of a School of Pharmacy on our
campus, to be financed by the Jewish group in that profession.
This too seemed somewhat premature, but I -encouraged the
idea hoping that it might be realized at a future time.

We had to concentrate now upon the planning of the open-
ing of the College of Liberal Arts.

PLANS FOR THE CAMPUS

In order to ascertain the possibilities for erecting additional
buildings on the campus, I consulted Mr. Arthur Rosenstein,

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 87

a prominent architect in Boston, who had made a survey and
study of the Middlesex campus a year before when an alumni
group had contemplated an expansion plan. His report, and
drawings indicated encouraging possibilities, suited to our
plan for a college with a student body of about 500 in the
initial years, and thereafter not exceeding 1,000.

I also had in mind the advisability of securing an athletic
field where sports could be encouraged, not so much with a
view to straining for records in competition with other col-
leges, but primarily in order to engage maximum participa-
tion of the student body in athletic activities. Nearby facilities
were available. It was something to bear in niind for the future
when the financial resources would permit.

I turned to Dr. Paul Klapper, President of Queens College,
for advice and guidance in the light of his very successful ex-
perience in the development of Queens College. He was most
cooperative. He proposed that Dr. Roland Whittaker, Chair-
man of the Building Committee for Queens College, be in-
vited to survey the campus at Waltham and make recommen-
dations. He asked me to send him the description and plan of
the existing campus with detailed specifications of all the
buildings. The offer of Dr. Whittaker was gratefully accepted.
Such material as we had available was sent to Dr. Klapper.

The following excerpts of an exchange of letters with Dr.
Klapper was a gratifying indication of the depth and scope
of his interest.

July 8, 1946
Dear Dr. Goldstein:

From the material I analyzed, it is clear that there will have to
be considerable alteration to make the plan serve as a liberal arts
college. It seems that you will need, for a college of 1,000 students,

1) More classrooms

2) More offices for staff

|) Living quarters for the staff

88 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

4) Dormitories for the students

5) Dining room for students

6) Recreational facilities for students much younger than medi-
cal students.

Unless I misread the material, the cost of alteration and buildings
will come to a considerable sum and will call for careful appraisal
of existing facilities in order to make the least number of altera-
tions. For a liberal arts college plant it would almost be cheaper to
start de novo than to rebuild and alter this rambling set of build-
ings. The Veterinary Education Building may be well adapted for
veterinary medicine and had better be kept for the purpose for
which it was built. To alter it is costly and since you will ultimately
reestablish a Veterinary School of Medicine, this cost would not
be justified.

With best wishes, I am

Cordially yours,
Paul Klapper

July 11, 1946
Dear Dr. Klapper:

. . . All of the requirements which you enumerate are not to be
gainsaid.

The question before us, however, is this. We have no other
campus available for starting our project. This present site is in
our hands without any cost to us and has a value of over a million
dollars. Even if we had a million dollars, it would still take us
several years to put up even the limited facilities which are now on
the Middlesex campus, what with building restrictions, etc. There-
fore, we have to face the problem of either proceeding with the
present facilities or giving up the project altogether. It might well
be that at some future time some other nucleus of people might
organize itself to develop a similar project and to develop it de
novo with a new site and a building plan "from scratch/' As far as
the present effort is concerned, however, I am afraid that it would
have to be given up. What has provided the impetus to our present
effort and whatever initial success we have had in raising funds
is the fact that we are able to speak in terms of an existing campus.

If the existing campus were totally unsuitable, then, of course,
there would be no alternative but to give it up. The question be-
fore us is whether it provides us with a basis for making a modest
beginning toward a more suitable and more ambitious goal.

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 89

You speak of a college of 1,000 students. The administration
budget which you were good enough to send me likewise is based
upon that kind of student body. We are thinking, however, of a
smaller student body, closer to 500, at least for the first five-year
period. When we think of a student body of 500, we have in mind,
naturally, an entering class of probably 150. 1 remember the cau-
tion Dr. Compton uttered when he advised us to start very
modestly but with a well-selected student body, that is, selected on
the basis of merit.

Bearing in mind that we shall start modestly, we may not have
to approach the problem as you do from the point of view of start-
ing out with all that is required. Under these circumstances, may
not the present facilities, with relatively minor alterations, prove
adequate for the first four or five years? Once we are started, I feel
sure that there will be a growing response in terms of funds and
we can build more and more, as long as we have the physical room
in which to expand.

The fact of the matter is that this campus did accommodate 550
students. No doubt it did not have all that a campus should have
had. On the other hand, I remember my own Alma Mater, the
University of Pennsylvania, where I attended the Liberal Arts
course in a building which I am sure you would have condemned
and judged unfit. Nevertheless, it was a good college because it had
good instructors.

The point that I am trying to make, in all humility, as one who
considers himself only a layman in these matters, is that the reputa-
tion of a college rests more upon its faculty than upon its physical
facilities, though the physical facilities certainly ought to be as
good as can be provided.

The one outstanding lack is the lack of a dormitory, including
dining facilities. That lack, it seems to me, might perhaps be pro-
vided by putting up one building which might serve the purpose
at least for the beginning. I am informed by the people in Wal-
tham that formerly, when Middlesex College was functioning, a
number of students were housed in Waltham and a number of
others commuted to Boston. No doubt this will hold true with re-
gard to a number of students who will be attending there in the
future.

May I, at the risk of redundancy, again say that the approach of
those of us who have become deeply engaged in this project is
something like this: We would like, if possible, to open in October

go BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

1947. We hope that the facilities, with some alterations, not too
expensive, will be suitable for our modest beginning. We look
forward to building upon that modest foundation a substantial
development with buildings and facilities which in course of time
will provide all that is necessary. We believe that this kind of ap :
proach is not inconsistent with the history of the development of
American universities, some of which have taken generations to
grow to their present impressive proportions.

This is submitted only as a most inexpert opinion and I would
appreciate your reaction to it.

Sincerely yours,
Israel Goldstein

July 29, 1946
Dear Dr. Goldstein:

Now to answer some of your specific questions. I had no idea of
beginning de novo. I understand that the present plant must be
supplemented, not replaced at this time. I am realist enough to
know that a fund for a new plant is not attainable and if it were, I
would rather see it sunk into an endowment fund that would as-
sure the projected university a superb collection of scholars and
teachers.

I did get the impression that a student body of 1,000 is contem-
plated. A reduction to 500 simplifies the practical situation. I be-
lieve a student body of 1,000 is all told better than one of 500
because the larger group enables us to offer a more diversified set
of elective courses and seminars in all subjects. The smaller student
body makes such diversity almost prohibitive in cost.

Dormitories are costly constructions because of the plumbing.
The solution of six years ago, to rely on commuting students, is
not easily carried out. Harvard, Tufts, Boston University will give
you ample evidence of the great difficulty of finding accommoda-
tions in the environs of Boston. If you were to draw on Boston for
your students, then the problem is reduced, for presumably the
students would be coming from their homes. But you hope to get
students from all parts of the country. Then, too, there are price-
less gains in living on the campus of the kind of college I envision.
Students must learn that going to college is more than attending
prescribed classes. It is rather a mode of living, intellectually,
spiritually, socially, twenty-four hours a day. Hence, I plead
strongly for dormitory and dining facilities.

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 91

You see I am not over-emphasizing physical facilities but merely
pleading for a minimum of comfort and decent living.

Sincerely yours,
Paul Klapper

August i, 1946
Dear Dr. Klapper:

As I told you over the telephone, we shall be delighted to have
Professor Whittaker visit the Middlesex campus.

It might interest you to know that there are housing plans being
developed in connection with Waltham which will probably af-
ford housing* facilities for such students as do not commute to
Boston. Nevertheless, I agree with you that a dormitory is essential.
In view, however, of the limited student body which we anticipate
in the first few years, a dormitory of modest size would be ade-
quate, and I imagine it would probably be a dormitory for boys
only since it would be the first, although our plan is to have a co-
educational school.

The results of Professor Whittaker's observations and all your
own thinking would be a splendid item for discussion at a meeting
of the Advisory Board on which you were good enough to accept
the invitation of Dr. Einstein and myself to serve.

Sincerely yours,
Israel Goldstein

Dr. Whittaker *s reports, written and oral, based upon his
visit to the campus, made the following points: There were
an insufficient number of classrooms unless the Veterinary
School building were to be used for the first year classes of the
Liberal Arts College. The laboratory furniture was outworn
and outmoded. The faculty offices were not suitable. Facilities
were needed for a physical education program. There might
be, however, a possibility of acquiring nearby land for an
athletic field. There was need for physical examination rooms
and an infirmary. Dormitories were a major problem. Dining
facilities were needed. The grounds were in need of improve-
ment. Dr. Whittaker felt that it might be possible to establish
a Liberal Arts College by the use of temporary facilities, pro-

92 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

videcf, however, that we work toward the eventual erection
of the necessary permanent plant.

The report left me unshaken in my conviction that we
had no reason to halt our plans, but that on the contrary we
had every reason to go ahead with the effort to have the ir-
reducible needs ready for starting with the freshman class in
the Fall of 1947. I felt confident that the taking of the first
step would itself generate the interest, enthusiasm and fi-
nancial support which would enable us to take the next steps.
My experience with other enterprises and my knowledge of
the American Jewish community, made me feel sure that
American Jews would respond if they would see the right be-
ginnings made. I could not agree with those who felt that we
had to have a full plan ensured before starting its first phase.

It was necessary, however, for us to have in our own minds
an idea of the minimum amounts required in order to be able
to open, and the amounts which would be required there-
after. We also owed it to our public, to our present and po-
tential contributors, to let them know the financial picture.

THE FINANCIAL PLAN

The financial plan which we drew up and presented, was
as follows: $1,500,000 would be required to enable the Col-
lege of Liberal Arts to open and be assured of the minimum
educational expenditures for a period of four years. The
School of Veterinary Medicine would require an additional
$500,000 for the four year period. The building of dormitories
and a refectory would require $700,000, equipment $600,000,
grounds improvement $100,000, and repairs for present build-
ings $50,000. Additional buildings in the first stage of the ex-
pansion program would call for an expenditure of $500,000.
Scholarship and other student expenses would amount to
$200,000. At a later stage an additional $2,000,000 would be

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 93

needed to open the School of Medicine. The entire plan en-
tailed an amount in excess of $6,000,000, without taking into
account any postgraduate or professional schools besides those
mentioned. In my own mind I had the reservation that we
would be warranted in opening our school if we had a million
dollars in cash. The results of our first public fundraising ef-
fort in New York on June 16, 1946, encouraged me to believe
that long before October 1 947 the first million dollars would
be in hand. In the meantime, in view of the fact that 102 re-
turned veterans were enrolled in the veterinary and pre-
veterinary courses, we were exploring the possibilities of se-
curing government aid for a modest refectory, recreational
facilities and temporary housing, under the provisions of Con-
gress bills extending educational privileges to returned veter-
ans.

PLANNING EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND SELECTION
OF FACULTY

From the beginning I had recognized that it was of the
utmost importance to have the educational policy of our pro-
jected university worked out and sponsored by men of stand-
ing in the academic field. The selection of a faculty was a
delicate and important responsibility to be entrusted simi-
larly to the most competent committee which could possibly
be found, as the reputation of our project would depend in
large measure upon these factors.

The time was approaching to begin thinking of a President
or Chancellor for the university. It occurred to me that if our
resources would permit, it might be advisable to have both a
President and a Chancellor, as was the case in some American
universities; the one would be the representative vis-a-vis the
public and would concentrate on fundraising, while the other
would be the academic head to be responsible for educational

94 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

policy and administration. At the beginning, however, there
might be room for only one head, the President. Several names
suggested themselves to me. The one who, all things con-
sidered, seemed to me the most suitable, was Dr. Abram L.
Sachar, who, following a brilliant academic career, had been
appointed by B'nai B'rith as Director of its National Hillel
Foundation. In that capacity he had acquired first-hand knowl-
edge of college communities, had demonstrated unusual tal-
ents for administration and had proved himself capable of
winning public confidence. Other names, such as Dr. James
G. McDonald and Dr. Alvin S. Johnson, occurred to me as
possibilities for the office of Chancellor if, at some time in the
future, it should prove to be financially feasible to have both
a President and a Chancellor. I felt, however, that it was not
within my competence to make such decisions alone or even
with the approval of the Board of the Foundation, but that it
was the kind of decision to be made with the approval of a
body of properly qualified educational experts. My attitude
was the same with regard to appointments to the faculty. It
was expressed in a portion of my letter of July 3, 1946, to Dr.
Harry Friedenwald of Baltimore:

"We are not yet ready to consider faculty but we are appointing a
committee of eminent educators to advise us . . ."

EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

As our foremost educational sponsor, Dr. Einstein was natu-
rally the one* to head an Educational Advisory Committee. He
was deeply concerned with the choice of a faculty that should
be free from the influence of the laymen, the Trustees of the
university or of the Foundation. I was in complete agreement
with him. In a letter of June 12, 1946, to Mr. James P. War-
burg, seeking to enlist his interest, Mr. Boris Young, writing
on our behalf, stated, "Further, the Foundation is determined

PLANNING FOR THE OPENING 95,

that the projected university shall be free from trustee influ-
ence on the curriculum." Dr. Einstein felt that a body of out-
standing, independent objective men should be charged by
the Board of the Foundation with the selection of an Acting
Academic Head to organize the university and of an Advisory
Board to advise the academic head.

In order to maintain close contact with our program, es-
pecially in relation to questions of educational policy, Dr.
Einstein suggested that his friend Dr. Otto Nathan, Assistant
Professor of Economics at New York University, serve as his
representative, to act as liaison officer between Dr. Einstein
and the Board of Directors of the Foundation in all matters
having to do with the educational program and policy of the
university. The suggestion was gladly accepted. Dr. Nathan
appeared at the meeting of the Board on July 16, 1946, and
participated in its deliberations. At that meeting the follow-
ing resolution was adopted:

"RESOLVED, that the President appoint a Committee, consisting
of from three to five eminent educators and two members of the
Board of Directors; that this Committee shall be authorized to
make a comprehensive study in order to recommend to the Board
a man to be selected by the Board as Acting Chancellor of the
university, to devote himself to the organization of a faculty and
the preparation of a curriculum/ 5

Mr. Ralph Lazrus and I were appointed to represent the
Board of the Foundation in the Advisory Committee which
was to be constituted. In a conversation held in Dr. Einstein's
home in Princeton, in which he, Dr. Nathan and I partici-
pated, a number of names of men to be approached for mem-
bership in the Advisory Committee in addition to Dr. Ein-
stein and Dr. Nathan as his alternate were discussed. The
names of Dr. Frank P. Graham, Dr. David E. Lilienthal and
Dr. Paul Klapper were agreed upon, and Dr. Stephen S. Wise
as consultant member. Invitations to them were to be sent

96 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

by Dr. Einstein. Dr. Klapper accepted. No acceptances were
received from Dr. Graham or Dr. Lilienthal.

In the course of that conversation I mentioned the name
of Dr. Sachar as a possibility to be considered for the top po-
sition in the university. I referred to Dr. Sachar's record and
to his books, and later sent copies of these books to Dr. Ein-
stein. Subsequently, in a conversation with Dr. Sachar, I asked
him if he would be interested in having his name proposed
to the Educational Advisory Committee among those to be
submitted for its consideration. He promised to take the mat-
ter under advisement. It was made very clear, however, that
there was no commitment either on his part or on my part.

While the educational planning was taking shape, the plans
for fundraising were proceeding. Having made an auspicious
beginning at the fundraising dinner of June soth in New
York, we were looking forward hopefully to a larger fundrais-
ing dinner planned for November igth at the Hotel Pierre.
Beginning in September, I concentrated on directing the
preparations for that event.

CHAPTER IX

MY WITHDRAWAL

While I was in the midst of planning the November igth
fundraising dinner in New York, a letter dated September
2nd arrived from Dr. Einstein charging me with having com-
mitted breaches of confidences towards him in having invited
an eminent Christian churchman to participate in the pro-
gram of the forthcoming dinner and in having spoken with
Dr. Sachar about heading the university without the author-
ization or knowledge of the Advisory Committee, and stating
that he would not cooperate any longer with me nor permit
his name for use in fundraising in behalf of ail enterprise in
which I would play an important part.

The letter stunned me. It never would have occurred to
me that Dr. Einstein might be concerned with the question
of who would participate in the program of a fundraising
dinner. He had not expressed any such interest in connection
with the previous dinner. As for my conversation with Dr.
Sachar, whose name I had mentioned previously to Dr. Ein-
stein, no commitment of any kind had been suggested. I had
wanted to know whether he would be interested in having
his name submitted for consideration to the Educational Ad-
visory Committee. Actually, the suggested Advisory Commit-
tee had not as yet been organized. My reply to Dr. Einstein
in which the defense of my position was stated, did not suc-
ceed in changing his decision. Efforts by other members of
the Board proved likewise unavailing.

97

98 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Like a thunderbolt out of the blue, -this crisis came just at
the time when we were getting into stride, with several diffi-
cult problems solved and a promising road ahead. It stunned
not only jme but the entire Board of the Foundation.

It was for me to make the decision whether I should go on
with the leadership of the project and risk the after-effects of
Dr. Einstein's public withdrawal, or whether I should elimi-
nate myself in order to ensure Dr. Einstein's continued associ-
ation with the project. It was clear to me after informal con-
versations with my colleagues on the Board that if I should
decide to remain, the majority of the Board would support
me, and that therefore it was for me to make the decision.

After turning the matter over in my mind many times, I
came to the conclusion that my withdrawal quietly, with a
plea to my friends to continue their interest and support,
would do less hurt to our project than Dr. Einstein's with-
drawal in a hostile mood. I therefore decided to eliminate
myself.

It was a heartbreak for me to make that decision. In a letter
which I had written to Dr. Sachar, April i, 1946, expressing
the hope that he might influence B'nai B'rith to lend its
strength to this enterprise, I had revealed my deep sense of
commitment.

"One of the important elements in this entire picture is the
factor of having one person who would be willing to devote him-
self to the job of promoting this effort in its early stages and getting
it on its feet. Whether I am judged sane or otherwise, I am de-
termined to devote the next five years, if God gives me the years
and the strength, to this effort, and hope to rally around it, a
representative sponsorship of American Jewry."

At a meeting of the Board of the Foundation held in my
study September 16, 1946, I tendered my resignation to take
effect immediately. The resignation included my withdrawal
as a member of the Board of the Foundation, as a member of

MY WITHDRAWAL 99

the Educational Advisory Board and as President of the Board
of Trustees of the University. I felt it was necessary to leave
the way clear in all respects for Dr. Einstein's continued
identification with the project. A number of those present
expressed the view that, all things considered, my continued
leadership of the project was more important than any other
factor. It was not easy to persuade my friends to accept my
resignation. I pleaded with them that the course upon which
I had decided was In the best interests of the cause which was
our labor of love. Finally, the resignation was accepted. I
recommended that with Dr. Einstein's approval, Mr. Lazras
should replace me as President of the Foundation and Mr.
Alpert should replace me as President of the Board of Trus-
tees of the University. At the same meeting I recommended
an action which Mr. Alpert had been urging and which Mr.
Silver supported, that the Boston Jewish Community be
given greater representation on the Board of the Foundation.
It was unanimously approved.

FINAL REPORT

My final report, rendered at that meeting, was a summary of
all that had been accomplished during the eight crowded
months which witnessed the laying of the foundations for a
Jewish-sponsored secular university In America. The report
concluded with the following:

"When it is borne in mind that only eight months have elapsed
since the first letter arrived from Mr. Smith, leading to the first
exploratory conversations, one may regard the progress as having
been neither slow nor slight. Important beginnings have been
made, and in the meantime the charter has been protected and the
premises have been maintained.

"It may well be that it is just in this initial stage of the project,
the pioneer stage, when the effort had to be started and the
foundations laid that my own contribution was most needed,

ioo BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

and that from this point on someone else can carry on. The difficul-
ties ahead, not only in fundraising, but in other directions, are
not to be underestimated, but they can be managed. I content my-
self with having done some of the spadework in winning support
and sponsorship for the idea, in securing and holding the premises,
in establishing a Board of fine, able, devoted men, in organizing
machinery 'for fund-raising, and in attaching an important name
to the Foundation and an important name to the University. To
that extent, the road ahead may not be as hard as otherwise it
might be.

"Building a university is a project not for years, but for decades.
Leadership comes and goes, the idea and the institution must go
on. At different stages, different men have their places and their
uses. It is a source of deep satisfaction to me that I have had a part
in the pioneer stage, and most of all, that as I relinquish my office
now, after only eight months, I can do so with the feeling that
there is a group of devoted, able men to administer the enterprise,
and that the enterprise, even though in its infancy, has developed
sufficient validity and strength to go forward.

"To my colleagues who helped me pioneer this project through
the early stages and the early difficulties, I am profoundly grateful.
Some day, when the Brandeis University will be a notable land-
mark in American higher education, respected as a Jewish contri-
bution to American culture and as a symbol of Jewish dignity and
self-respect, it may be worth recalling the chapter of Genesis."

The following statement was issued from our office Sep-
tember 25, 1946:

"The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc. an-
nounced today through its Board of Directors the resignation, on
September i6th, from its presidency of Dr. Israel Goldstein. Pro-
fessor Einstein's connection with the Foundation, however, re-
mains unchanged, it was stated.

"At the same time it was announced that the Foundation whose
aim it is to establish a Jewish-sponsored, non-sectarian university,
open to faculty and students on the sole basis of scholastic merit,
without regard to race, creed or other separative factors, will con-
tinue its work without interruption or change of plan.

"These announcements followed an erroneous report in a Bos-
ton weekly newspaper, to the effect that Professor Einstein had

MY WITHDRAWAL 101

withdrawn his support from the Foundation due to differences of
opinion with Dr. Goldstein.

"Contacted at his study in New York City, Dr. Goldstein issued
the following explanation of his resignation:

"In view of the differences on matters of public relations and
faculty selection which have arisen between Dr. Einstein and my-
self, and believing that Dr. Einstein's association with the uni-
versity project is indispensable to its success, I have resigned, on
September i6th, from the Presidency of the Albert Einstein Foun-
dation for Higher Learning, Inc., thus ensuring Dr. Einstein's
continued identification with the Foundation.

"I hold myself ready to render whatever service I may be called
upon to do and to continue to enlist the interest of my friends in
the purposes of the Einstein Foundation. I am grateful for the
privilege of having had some part in the development of the idea
of a Jewish-sponsored non-quota university as a contribution to
American higher education paralleling the contributions made by
other denominations."

It was a source of satisfaction subsequently to learn that
at a meeting of the Board of the Foundation held Septem-
ber 30, 1946, Dr. Nathan, Dr. Einstein's representative on the
Board, had said that he considered my statement to the press
to have been 'Very dignified and generous/' It was also com-
forting to receive Mr. Smith's letter of October 8, 1946 in
which he wrote:

Dear Dr. Goldstein:

It was with a feeling of profound sorrow that I read your letter
of September 30, announcing your resignation from the Board of
Trustees. Perhaps no one knows better than I do the extent of the
service you rendered to the university and to your high purpose of
establishing a Jewish-sponsored educational institution of the first
class.

It seems tragic to me that you should step aside just as your fine
achievement was beginning to show definite promise of accom-
plishment. That you should make this renunciation so unselfishly
and without rancor is a true indication of a nobility of spirit that
all of us must forever respect and admire.

Whether the University can withstand the loss of your ener-

102 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

getic and inspired leadership is a matter that only the future can
answer.

No matter what the outcome is, I want you to know that those
of us who are intimately concerned with the enterprise you have
initiated will always be most grateful to you for the tremendous
ability and selfless devotion you have given to this cause.

It has been a happy privilege to me to have worked with you and
to have enjoyed your friendship.

Yours most sincerely,
C. Ruggles Smith

The greatest comfort came from a resolution drawn by a
subcommittee including Dr. Nathan and adopted unani-
mously by the Board of the Foundation at its meeting Octo-
ber 28, 1946. It was conveyed in a letter by Mr. Lazrus, my
successor as President of the Foundation.

Dear Dr. Goldstein:

At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Albert Einstein
Foundation, Inc., held Monday, October sSth'at 245 Fifth Avenue,
Suite 903, the enclosed resolution was unanimously adopted by
the Board of Directors and ordered spread upon our Minutes.

The Foundation and all connected with it are now and ever will
be grateful to you for the leadership and inspiration with which
you served our mutually espoused idea. The high goal and true
paths that you have set will be our guides in the work which lies
ahead. I take pleasure in sending the enclosed resolution to you
and I welcome the opportunity to express again my high regard
for you.

Sincerely yours,
S. Ralph Lazrus

The resolution follows:

"WHEREAS, Dr. Israel Goldstein, for many years visualized
the urgent need of a Jewish-sponsored university; and

WHEREAS, he grasped the opportunity to realize this need
when the closing of the Medical School of Middlesex University
and the resultant insecure position of the University in general
made it possible; and

MY WITHDRAWAL 103

WHEREAS, he interested prominent educators, Jewish leaders
and business men in the project of aiding Middlesex University;
and

WHEREAS, he obtained the support of Dr. Albert Einstein for
the project; and

WHEREAS, he caused to be organized The Albert Einstein
Foundation for Higher Learning, Inc., as a fund-raising instru-
ment; and

WHEREAS, he succeeded in obtaining control of the physical
facilities of the University; and

WHEREAS, he organized an initial group of sponsors prepared
to support the project financially and otherwise; and

WHEREAS, he aroused the interest and obtained the approval
of the American Jewish community for this project; and

WHEREAS, he organized a fund-raising program and obtained
pledges in substantial amounts; and

WHEREAS, he successfully resisted attempts by hostile groups
to close Middlesex University; and

WHEREAS, he was active in the application of the Veterinary
School of the University for permission to enroll returning veter-
ans under the G.I. Bill of Rights;

T^OW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of
Directors of The Albert Einstein Foundation for Higher Learn-
ing, Inc., recognizing these invaluable contributions made by
Dr. Israel Goldstein, and his successful efforts in engineering a
most humane project, does hereby express to him, unanimously,
its fullest appreciation and gratitude for his services."

Although my resignation terminated my official connection
with the Brandeis University project, it did not terminate my
interest in its progress and my desire for its success.

My main effort was directed toward seeing to it that my
friends who were in the leadership of the project should
maintain their warm interest. On October 9, 1946, I wrote
to Judge Samuel Null as follows:

"Since you were the original "Shadchan" who interested Jim
Rosenberg in our effort, I trust that you will in your own tactful
way find an opportunity to keep him warm, I understand tft^t at

104 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

the last meeting of the Board, which he attended and at which you
were not present (neither was I), he indicated some doubt as to
whether his interest would continue.

"I did appear at Mr. Silver's office at a later meeting, which was
a meeting of the Middlesex Board where I tendered my resigna-
tion as Chairman of that Board, and I met Silver, Wechsler, Blue-
stein, Dushkin and Lazrus. I was gratified to see that all of them
were in anything but a defeatist spirit and were resolved to go
forward with our work. In the meantime, I am naturally called
upon by many of my friends, who are bewildered by the announce-
ment, to explain what is going on. I have the usual difficulty which
I encountered with you and with other members of the Board, but
after a time they understand why I had no choice but to do what
I did in the best interests of the Foundation."

On October 16, 1946, three weeks after my resignation, I
addressed the following letter to a large group of my friends
urging their continued interest and support:

"To niy friends who have been among the first to encourage the
Jewish sponsored university project of The Albert Einstein Foun-
dation for Higher Learning, Inc., I feel I owe an obligation to ex-
plain why I have withdrawn from the Presidency of The Einstein
Foundation.

"Differences have arisen between Dr. Einstein and myself on
matters pertaining to public relations, as well as procedures for
faculty selection. Believing that the possibility of Dr. Einstein's
withdrawal of his name from the Foundation would do irreparable
injury to the project, I decided that I would resign in order to en-
sure his continuance.

"It is not my intention, however, to discontinue my interest. I
hold myself ready to render whatever service I may be called upon
to do and to continue to enlist the interest of my friends in the
purposes of The Einstein Foundation. I believe as much as ever
that our program to establish a Jewish-sponsored, non-quota uni-
versity is a practical necessity as well as a great privilege. And I feel
grateful that it fell to my lot to initiate this important project,
securing a campus for it without cost, securing Dr. Einstein's as-
sociation with it, winning wide approval for the idea and organiz-
ing the fund raising machinery.

"The establishment of a university requires many years and the

MY WITHDRAWAL 105

talents of many men. To my friends who have indicated their
willingness to help pioneer this great venture, I want to express
my profound thanks. At the same time, I appeal to you to continue
your interest and support and to help in the realization of our
great ideal.

"The Board of Directors of The Einstein Foundation, at its
meeting held September goth, elected Mr. S. Ralph Lazrus to suc-
ceed me as President. It is a choice which has my heartfelt com-
mendation. Mr. Lazrus, Treasurer of the Benrus Watch Co., has
ably headed our fund-raising effort, is deeply devoted to our proj-
ect, commands the respect of the business community, and enjoys
the cordial goodwill of Dr. Einstein.

"If you desire to discuss any phase of this matter with me per-
sonally, I shall be glad to arrange it.

"It would please me to know that Mr. Lazrus and the Founda-
tion will be able to depend on your cooperation and support. I
shall always cherish the recollection that in the pioneering stage
of this important enterprise you were at my side.

Sincerely yours,
Israel Goldstein"

On November 25, 1946, the Louis Altschul Foundation,
upon my recommendation as one of its trustees, voted a grant
of $25,000 to Brandeis University to be paid in five annual
Installments, and a gift of $2,000 to the organization and pro-
motion fund.

In a letter to Mr. Alpert who succeeded me as President of
the Board of Trustees of the University, I expressed my feel-
ings, as follows:

"I deeply hope that substantial progress is being made toward
the realization of our goal. I feel like a parent watching his infant
being reared yet not able himself to fondle it and train it, which
was unavoidable under the circumstances. It would afford me great
satisfaction to see this infant grow lustily. Good luck!"

CHAPTER X
SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS

The eight months from January 8, 1946, when I received
the letter from Mr. Smith containing the suggestion that a
campus might be available, to September 16, 1946, when I
resigned from the leadership of the university project, were
the chapter of the genesis of Brandeis University. The de-
velopment of the project thereafter was in other hands, hence
I am not qualified to offer a firsthand chronicle of the succeed-
ing chapters, except for a few points at which I had a tangent
relationship to some of the developments.

It was distressing to me to learn in June, 1947, less than a
year after my resignation, that Dr. Einstein had withdrawn
from the Brandeis University project and that simultaneously
his name had been withdrawn from The Albert Einstein
Foundation. According to the reports in the newspapers, his
resignation T^as precipitated by the opposition of a majority
of the Board to his desire to invite Dr. Harold Laski of Eng-
land to head Brandeis University. Dr. Nathan and Mr. Lazrus
resigned with Dr. Einstein. The circumstances of Dr. Ein-
stein's withdrawal seemed to me somewhat ironic in view of
my own earlier unfortunate experience. I was deeply troubled
as to what would happen to the project as a result of his with-
drawal and the unpleasant publicity which followed.

The project was left in a most difficult position. Those who
were in charge made valiant efforts to carry it forward. The
name of The Albert Einstein Foundation was changed to

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 107

The Brandeis Foundation. The date of the opening of the
College of Liberal Arts was postponed from the Fall of 1947
to the Fall of 1948.

A new element of strength was introduced into the project
by Mr. Alpert who succeeded in interesting a group of leading
Jews in the Boston area, ready to give generously of their
time, effort and financial support. Of that group, James G.
Axelrod, Joseph F. Ford, Meyer Jaffe, of Fall River, Norman
S. Rabb, Abraham Shapiro, and Morris Shapiro, were elected
to the Board of the Foundation in September, 1947.

At one point an approach was made to me to come back to
the leadership of the project. I was invited to discuss the mat-
ter with the Board of the Brandeis Foundation at a meeting
held October 13, 1947, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in New
York.

It was clear to me that if I were to accept that difficult re-
sponsibility, made incomparably more difficult because of the
events which transpired since my withdrawal, it might have
to become a full-time commitment requiring me to give up
not only most of the Zionist responsibilities which were dear
to me, but even the Rabbinate which was my life work. There-
fore, I felt it incumbent upon me to consider very carefully
what arrangements and procedures would enable me to serve
Brandeis University most effectively, and ensure the high
standards envisaged, in its founding.

To the proposal put forward by the New York members of
the Board of the Foundation and of the University, that I
should become the President of the University and of the
Foundation, Mr. Alpert and his Boston associates agreed. I
made it clear that I would not accept any salary. The pro-
ponents of the. proposal considered that it would be well if
in the period which lay immediately ahead all the threads of
the difficult and buffeted project should, for administrative
and public relations purposes, be concentrated in one hand.

io8 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

In my own thinking about the future it was assumed that a
Chancellor would be chosen later to serve as the academic
head, as soon as financial resources would permit. I had always
felt that the University, if it could afford it, should have both
a President and a Chancellor. (See pp. 93, 94-)

The following resolution was adopted by the meeting:

"RESOLVED THAT the Chairman appoint a Committee of two
to discuss with Dr. Israel Goldstein a program that might induce
him to accept leadership of the entire project as President of the
Foundation and also as President of the University, and that such
committee shall report to the Board at its next meeting."

There was, however, another problem on which agreement
was not reached. After several conversations, with intermit-
tent proposals and counterproposals, the issue was crystal-
lized. The Boston group, consisting of six men in addition to
Mr. Alpert, leaders in the philanthropic life of their com-
munity, felt, at the end of the discussions, that their entire
group should be elected at once to the Board of Trustees of
the University. The view of the New York group, including
my own, was that whereas the presence of these six men in a
full Board of twenty-one Trustees would be agreeable, it
would not be advisable to add the entire group at once to an
existing Board of only seven members.

It was pointed out to them that those few of us who were on
the Board of Trustees of the University had deliberately left
fourteen vacancies unfilled, waiting for such time as some of
the pending difficulties would be removed, when we should be
in a better position to approach representative American Jews
to join the Board. It was made clear from the very beginning,
that we who were on the Board of the University considered
ourselves as a "hold-over/' interim Board (see p. 31 and Ap-
pendix 11)^ to hold the property and the charter until the suc-
cessful unfoldment of our plan would make possible the full

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 109

complementation of that Board with a group which would in
its composition compare favorably with the Boards of other
colleges and universities of high standing. We believed that
the Board of Trustees of Brandeis University should consist
not only of businessmen and philanthropists but also of men
and women of eminence in academic and cultural fields. We
felt that the Board of Trustees of the first Jewish-sponsored
university in America should be of such caliber as would meet
the standards of a critical Jewish and Christian community.
Therefore, we had deliberately held open the majority of the
places on the Board, hoping to fill them slowly and carefully
so as to ensure for it a broad and representative character.
Also, the question of the selection of faculty and determina-
tion of academic program, which, according to the precedents
of the Middlesex University Board of Trustees, was controlled
by the Board, was very much in the minds of some of us (See
PP- 37* 94> 95)* We urged, therefore, that in due course and in
due proportion, the members of the Boston group would be
added to the Board of Trustees of the University, and that
in the meantime all of them would serve on the Board of the
Foundation.

We were moved in our views by only one consideration, the
conditions we believed to be necessary for the prestige and the
effectiveness of the University, the foundations of which we
had labored to create. Mr. Alpert and his associates, however,
did not find it possible to agree to our views.

Under the circumstances, my return to the active leader-
ship of the project was impossible. The New York members
withdrew from their positions and yielded to the Boston
group who became the controlling factor both in the Founda-
tion and in the Board of Trustees of the University.

Mr. Alpert and his Boston associates proceeded to devote
themselves with exemplary zeal and generosity to the aim of

no BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

opening the College of Liberal Arts in the Fall of 1948. In
the meantime the School of Veterinary Medicine had been
abandoned.

DR. SACHAR APPOINTED PRESIDENT

The most constructive step taken by Mr. Alpert and his
colleagues was the choice of Dr. Abram Leon Sachar as Presi-
dent of Brandeis University. With all my heart I congratu-
lated him.

April 27, 1948
Dear Dr. Sachar:

This morning's announcement of your election as President of
Brandeis University brought me a great deal of personal satisfac-
tion. It was, as you know, my own judgment, shortly after I
launched the enterprise more than two years ago, that you should
be its President. Now it can be told, that my conversation with
you regarding that subject was the major cause of Prof. Einstein's
rift with me.

Though the project has been buffeted by all kinds of difficulties,
it is apparently still afloat, a tribute to the vitality of the idea
and the persistence of the successive groups who have been its
carriers.

Having founded this Jewish-sponsored university project, I
naturally rejoice in every good augury for its future. Frankly, I
have for some time waited for a favorable sign. This morning's
news is a good augury. I still have misgivings which I should like
to see resolved. Nevertheless, it is a tonic to one's confidence in the
future of Brandeis University to know that you will head it.

With every good-wish, I am

Cordially yours,
Israel Goldstein

Dr. Sachar replied on May 13, 1948, as follows:

Dear Israel:

I very much appreciated your gracious letter which was for-
warded to me from Brandeis University to my home in California.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS iii

For a few months until we have closed our affairs here and have
relocated ourselves in a Boston suburb, I shall have to do a great
deal of commuting.

I do not underestimate the difficulties that lie ahead. There is
some ideological opposition to a Jewish sponsored university. The
misunderstandings of the past two years have lost us the coopera-
tion of some very choice and valuable spirits.

At the beginning, the student body and the faculty will be al-
most exclusively Jewish for the average person would rather make
his first choice for study or for career a prestige institution. But I
am not frightened by these hazards. We shall work very patiently,
moving slowly, doing a modest job at the beginning, but doing
well whatever we do, emphasizing integrity rather than numbers.
I have been heartened by the confidence and loyalty of friends and
well wishers from every part of the world.

I cannot permit one brief statement in your letter to pass with-
out comment. So far as I could learn, Dr. Einstein did not object
to the possibility of my coming in as President. He objected to
your exploration without consultation with him. He would have
objected to anybody, if he were not brought into the discussions
before the negotiations opened. Perhaps this is what you meant in
your letter, but I did not want, for the record, any misunderstand-
ing to remain.

I know how much of yourself you put into the pioneering of
Brandeis University. I shall always be grateful to you for the initial
confidence which you expressed in me when you interviewed me
and for all that you did after that to launch an institution in which
Jews would be able to take pride.

With every good wish,

Cordially yours,
A. L. Sachar

My correspondence with Mr. Alpert was in the same vein.

April 27, 1948
Dear, George:

When I saw the announcement in this morning's paper that Dr.
Sachar was elected President of Brandeis University, I felt good.
Events have strange twists. Here was something happening which
I had wanted to happen two years ago. Two years ago, that prefer-
ence on mv Dart was the maior cause of Prof. Einstein's resentment

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

and my self-elimiiiation from the picture. Now the circle was
being completed at the point where it began.

I do not know the general status of the project. No doubt, it still
confronts many difficulties. The choice of Dr. Sachar, however, is a
great factor on the asset side. As the founder of this Jewish-spon-
sored university project, I am heartened by it, and wish to convey
my compliments to you and to your colleagues both in the Founda-
tion Board and in the University Board.

Sincerely yours,
Israel Goldstein

April 29, 1948
Dear Israel:

I have your letter of April 5 7th regarding the Sachar appoint-
ment. As you point out, this is what you wanted to happen two
years ago. Had your plans in this regard been adopted, a great; deal
of grief might have been avoided. However, as you so often stated
to me in our discussions, the creation of a university is not a simple
task. Difficulties and obstacles are to be expected and we have
surely had many.

The favorable comments from many important sources concern-
ing Dr. Sachar's appointment are indeed gratifying and hearten-
ing.

Of course, there are problems with which Brandeis University is
still confronted but what university today is free of problems? I
believe, taking into account the various crises that have confronted
us and the many blockades that have been thrown across the road,
that we have made comforting progress. As you are doubtless
aware, we shall definitely open with a Freshman class this Fall.

I am happy indeed to receive your gracious letter and I know
that the members of the Board will be delighted to learn of it at
our next meeting.

I do not get to New York as often as I us?d to but I hope at an
early date I may have the privilege of visiting with you to discuss
various aspects of the project and particularly the developments
and progress since our last meeting.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,
George Alpert

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 113

Dr. Sachar's talents were ideally suited for the office to
which he was chosen. Mr. Alpert's advocacy in communities
throughout the country and the generosity of his group of
Boston associates were a powerful help. The campus began
to emerge from the years of neglect. Old buildings were al-
tered and new construction was added, providing dormitory
and dining facilities. A good nucleus of a faculty was or-
ganized. The College of Liberal Arts was opened in the Fall
of 1948.

I was not invited to participate in the Convocation Exer-
cises in June 1948, celebrating the forthcoming opening of
the new university, nor was there any reference to the founder,
in the printed program or in any other form.

Dr. Sachar did ask me, however, to participate in the dinner
on the occasion of his installation and I appreciated his
friendly letter.

June 2, 1948
Dear Israel:

I am being presented formally to the Jewish community of
Boston on the evening of June 14. The occasion has been carefully
planned and should be most gratifying. But for me the evening
would not be complete unless you were there. You are really the
"father" of Brandeis University. You put endless energy and devo-
tion into the building of the concept and the coralling of its first
support. You expressed confidence in me at the very beginning of
the Brandeis history by your discussion with me of possible associa-
tion with Brandeis. I do hope that your heavy commitments will
still permit you to get away. It would add immeasurably to the
prestige of the dais if you were there too.

With every good wish,

Cordially yours,
A. L. Sachar

I gladly accepted, and paid a generous tribute -to the Boston
group and to Dr. Sachar. It was puzzling, however, to have
been introduced by the toastmaster, Mr. Alpert, as "one of

n 4 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

the founders" and as a man who had * 'helped to secure the
campus." Later it was called to my attention that Mr. Alpert
himself had remarked at a meeting of the Board of the Foun-
dation held May 17, 1947, "I was brought into the picture by
Doctor Goldstein and Julie Silver because the University was
in Massachusetts and the difficulty with the legislature and
because I was a lawyer. They sold me the idea. I didn't meet
Albert Einstein until sometime this Fall."

It was gratifying to be asked to address a Brandeis Univer-
sity luncheon in Boston, November 8, 1948. It was a welcome
opportunity to review the chapter of Genesis.

"Mr. Chairman, President Sachar and friends in the fellowship of
Brandeis University,

"I am moved to the depths of my being by your generous tribute
and most of all by this occasion. What has happened here today
and yesterday is a tribute to the power of a vital idea. For many
years the idea of a Jewish sponsored University had been floating
around, the idea that the Jewish community in America owed it
to itself and to America to do what other religious communities
had done for higher education, the idea that such an institution of
learning should be conducted in the best democratic spirit, where
merit only would determine admission to the student body and to
the faculty, the idea that in such a center of higher learning would
be accomplished the synthesis between the best in the cultural
tradition of the Jew and the best in Western culture and American
democracy.

"Like all creative ideas it generated opponents as well as advo-
cates. There were those who shied away from the proposal because
it bore the label Jewish, forgetting that other Jewish sponsored
undertakings, such as philanthropies, to mention one of many, had
long proved a blessing to the general community and a credit to
the Jewish people.

"This idea was projected some thirty years ago, just about the
time that the Balfour Declaration caught the eye and the ear of
the world. Zionism too was a creative idea which on a world scale
generated opponents as well as advocates. But while the daily
reality of a developing Jewish national home and a Jewish na*
life in Palestine dissipated many of the doubts and fears and

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 115

became a tangible demonstration of Jewish genius in social ideal-
ism and in economic planning, in human culture and in agricul-
ture, there was as yet no soil of daily reality, no campus in which
to root the idea of a Jewish sponsored University in America, and
by which to dissipate the doubts and validate the hopes. Time
waited for the "logos" to become a creation.

"More than two years ago it became my privilege to wed the idea
to a tangible reality by the acquisition of a campus, a charter, a
name, an academic and civic sponsorship and initial funds. When
the chronicles of Brandeis University will be written, they will, of
course, begin with the book of Genesis. Genesis was filled with
struggles, misgivings, misunderstandings and frustrations, with
paradise almost lost and then regained, with floods of tribulations,
and new starts at reclamation. The campus, the charter and other
assets, moral and material, were precariously held. But the two
basic realities, the campus and the charter, were the cohesive forces
which held the project together across the changing hands and
across the intermittent heartbreaks. Then a group of noble-spirited
Jewish citizens of Boston made it the passion of their lives to bring
to fruition that which had been planted. Today is the vindication
of the faith and the stubbornness of all who tilled and planted
and hoed and weeded.

"You can imagine my joy on this day when the academic world
greets the new-born infant in its family. I can think of no one who
is better qualified to nurse this infant along than President Sachar.
Two years ago he was my first choice for this important office. If I
am not mistaken his name in Hebrew means "the dawn." How
appropriate that he should take charge of Brandeis College at the
dawn of its career. He is endowed with the wisdom, the experience,
the patience and the tact which parenthood at best invests into the
growing child. And he is himself the model of the kind of per-
sonality which we hope Brandeis is going to produce. For after all,
the function of a college is not so much to train for knowledge as
to prepare for life, not so much to graduate bachelors of arts and
sciences as to produce men and women who are wedded to the cul-
ture of human relations and to the cultivation of intellectual and
spiritual integrity. Nothing less would be worthy of the name
Brandeis, the greatest name in American Jewish history and one
of the noblest in the American tradition.

"Dear friends, I have just come from Israel, the glorious living

n6 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

embodiment o a vital idea, and I am shortly to return thither, for
a period of service, to add my humble mite to a grand program.
My cup is full to overflowing today that I see here in your midst
the fulfillment of another great ideal in which I have invested
much effort and high hopes, and I shall want to add my humble
rnite to this grand program too as God grants me the years and the
strength."

My innermost feeling for Brandeis University was once
expressed in a letter to Mr. Julius Silver, my dear friend and
colleague.

July 15, 1947

Dear Julius:

I am taking the plane to Palestine this evening. Such a trip is
usually an occasion for setting one's affairs in order.

One thought goes through my mind regarding Brandeis Uni-
versity. It would please me no end to know that if the project goes
forward with or without my official participation, my name will
be identified with it as its founder. I consider it one of the signifi-
cant enterprises in the agenda of American Jewry.

Is

On October 11, 1948, I addressed a letter to a number of
friends who had indicated an earlier interest, urging them to
pay up their pledges and to continue their support.

In October, 1949, an opportunity presented itself to me to
designate several beneficiaries of a portion of a bequest. I took
pleasure in designating Brandeis University as one of the
beneficiaries. Dr. Sachar's acknowledgment was in a very
cordial spirit,

October 5, 1949
Dear Israel:

You have not let ariy grass grow under you, since your return
from Israel, as far as friendship for Brandeis University is con-
cerned. I note that you have urged Samuel Dorfman to include the
University among the benefactors in the Will of Jacob R. Schiff.
We shall express our thanks by trying to keep to the standards that
tsrere in your mind when you began pioneering the institution.

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 117

I hope that the New Year will bring you choicest blessings.

Cordially yours,
A. L. Sachar

As late as June 13, 1950, in a letter to Dr. Sachar, I wrote:

"I have followed with great interest and admiration your ad-
ministration of Brandeis University, both intra-murally and extra-
murally. You and George Alpert are doing a tremendous job and
deserve every success. If I could only stay put on this side of the
Atlantic long enough, I should love to 'pitch in' and take a Bran-
deis University fundraising assignment here and there. From time
to time people in New York and elsewhere talk to me about
Brandeis University and ask my opinion. Invariably it is a warm
affirmative and a "plug" for a contribution. The way it looks now,
I shall be up to my neck from September through January with
my Congregation's i2$th anniversary, the J.N.F. Jubilee Year, the
U.J.A., and the World Zionist Congress in December January.
But I may have a spot of time after February which I should be
glad to put at the disposal of Brandeis U., if it is desired."

ENCOURAGING PROGRESS

The development of Brandeis University in the two years
since its opening has been steadily forward. Important addi-
tions and improvements have been made on the campus. It
is being conducted with dignity. Eminent Jews and non-Jews
have joined its Board of Trustees. Its faculty is of good cali-
ber. The principle of admission to faculty and student body
on merit only is being scrupulously upheld. It is winning
ever wider acceptance and support, not only in Boston but
throughout the land. A broad base of public support is being
built up in communities throughout the land. It is growing
slowly but soundly. The post-graduate schools and the pro-
fessional schools are still a long way off, but basic to future
developments is the merit of the College of Liberal Arts. In
little more than a year it will have its first graduating class.

More than once I have had occasion to think back upon

1 1 8 BRANDEIS, UNIVERSITY

the discussions with the Boston group. I am happy to acknowl-
edge that my misgivings have not been realized. From what I
have been able to observe, these men, while dedicating them-
selves generously and selflessly to the building of Brandeis Uni-
versity, have given Dr. Sachar a free hand in academic policy.
Moreover, they have made excellent additions to the Board
of Trustees. Perhaps the misgivings which had been ex-
pressed by some of us gave an extra fillip to their determina-
tion to make a success of their undertaking. As things have
turned out, it was truly for the best, from every point of view.
Brandeis University has fared well. Neither have I had oc-
casion to feel any personal regret, as long as the project, in the
hands of others, moved forward satisfactorily. The interven-
ing time which I was able to spare from my congregational
duties, was used by me in the service of what is to me, the high-
est of all Jewish causes, Zionism, and in the service of the
Jewish Agency as its Treasurer, in the first year of Israel's
statehood.

It is a source of abiding satisfaction, in looking back upon
the acquisition of the campus and charter five years ago, to
know that without these assets Brandeis University would
not be in existence today. It is a commentary upon the vitality
of the idea of a Jewish-sponsored secular university in Amer-
ica, that having been given initial tangible form, it was able
to survive the storms and stresses. And it is a tribute to the
devotion of all those who have been the principal carriers of
the responsibility at successive stages in the history of the
project, that Brandeis University is a flourishing reality to-
day.

HORIZONS

What is the future of Brandeis University? It takes decades
and generations for a university to grow. Before long Brandeis

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 119

University will graduate its first class. Then it will remain to
be seen what record its graduates will achieve in post-graduate
schools. Brandeis University will also develop its own post-
graduate schools. Many years will elapse before these will
make an impress upon the academic and professional world.
Will Brandeis University achieve first-rate quality, or will it
be just another good college? Its present administration seems
to be fully aware of the problem. They seem to be nurturing
their charge and planning its growth and expansion with care
and wisdom. -

One wonders whether a medical school will be added to the
plan in the near future or whether a law school will be con-
sidered as deserving priority because of the name of the great
American jurist which the university bears.

Perhaps it is not too early to start thinking of establishing
counterparts of Brandeis University in other sections of the
country, a possibility which had been contemplated when
the foundations for the present institution were laid in 1946.
(See pp. 3 1,35, 69, 77.)

It is gratifying to note that the major public relations prob-
lem seems to have been largely solved. The resistance to a
Jewish-sponsored secular university, which made our task dif-
ficult in the initial stage, is barely in evidence. Thanks to the
manner in which the institution has been conducted since
its opening, it is accepted by Jewish and non-Jewish public
opinion, as indeed had been our hope and expectation. The
administration is also proceeding wisely in developing a
broad base of popular support. The apprehensions of those
who had opposed the choice of the campus because of its as-
sociation with a school which had failed, have not proved
justified. The faith of those who believed that the new institu-
tion would be judged on its own merits and that the campus
was beautiful and well situated, has been vindicated. The fear
lest it become a "ghetto school," has likewise proved un-

120 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

founded. There are Protestant and Catholic students in its
student-body, who are attracted by the campus, the teachers
and the pleasant atmosphere.

There is, however, one test and one criterion which has not
as yet been met. One hopes that the administration is con-
cerned with it. In what sense will this university be Jewish,
the inculcator of uniquely Jewish values, an intellectual and
cultural center of Jewish import, and the training ground
for American Jewish leadership of tomorrow? Many years
will be required to achieve these aims, but even with the pass-
ing of the years they will not be achieved unless there is a
sense of purpose and direction toward such goals.

From the beginning, I had hopes that our university, in
addition to its general values, would also have special Jewish
values. (See pp. 9, 10.) There were leading Jewish educators
who held similar views. (See pp. 55, 56.) Among them was Dr.
Alexander M. Dushkin, one of my earliest associates in the
founding of Brandeis University, who summarized his views
in an editorial in "Jewish Education/ 7 November, 1946.

"What is there to be Jewish about Brandeis University, apart
from its name and its sponsorship, and apart from the probability
that many of its students and faculty will be Jews? We can only
surmise the answer, because its program is as yet not available. We
can envisage several phases of university life in which Brandeis
University can be naturally Jewish. First, although the religious
life of its campus will be as varied and tolerant as in the best
American Universities, any official 'chapel' will naturally be de-
nominational, namely Jewish, just as it is denominational in other
universities. The Sabbath and the festivals can be observed in the
scheduling of classes and examinations. In the cafeteria, dietary
laws can be observed, so that Jewish students will not need to
squirm or compromise with their traditions. Secondly, the faculties
of the University, particularly those dealing with the social studies,
can be encouraged to include as part of their research and study
certain projects which are of particular concern to American Jews
especially studies in the history and 'in the economic and social

SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS 121

problems of American Jewry. This type of continuous objective
academic research, carried on thoroughly and systematically by
academicians, can be of enormous benefit to us as a community.
Thirdly, the Hebraic and Semitic studies, as well as Jewish student
activities, can take on special meaning in such a university. Lastly,
Brandeis University can reflect and express for our day the great
liberal human tradition which Jews have handed down through-
out the generations in an unbroken chain from the Hebrew
prophets down to such men as Brandeis and Einstein."

It was Justice Brandeis himself who in 1925 cautioned that
money alone cannot build a worthy university. "To become
great/' he wrote, "a university must express the people whom
it serves, and must express the people and the community at
their best. . . . The aim must be high, and the vision broad.
(Alfred Lief, "Brandeis, a Personal History," New York,
1 936, p. 480.)

Even if Brandeis University may fall short of some of these
goals, it can still be tremendously worthwhile. There are so
many facets to its worthwhileness. American Jewry, however,
relatively young and unseasoned in its totality, is much in
need of all the potential values which such an institution can
generate, including its specifically Jewish values.

It will be for the historian of American Jewry to suggest
why a Jewish-sponsored secular university in America waited
so long for its realization. Was it because successive com-
ponents of American Jewry were too preoccupied in striking
their own roots in the new soil and then helping the newcom-
ers to adjust themselves? Was it because the priorities be-
longed inevitably to Jewish philanthropic and religious insti-
tutions? Was it the increasing difficulties confronted by Jew-
ish students and teachers in securing admission to colleges and
professional schools which provided the spur to the fulfill-
ment of an idea sporadically advocated over many years? Or
was it merely an accidental circumstance that the organizing
hands in American Jewish life which organized so many

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

splendid institutions did not turn with zeal and zest to this
particular task? Probably the answer lies in a combination of
factors.

What has been neglected hitherto will probably proceed
apace henceforth, now that there is a Jewish-sponsored secular
university on the American scene. There is every indication
that Brandeis University will flourish. It will probably not
remain, for long, the only institution of its kind. The need
will create other institutions like it, once the feasibility and
value of such an enterprise have been successfully demon-
strated. Brandeis University, however, should be the proto-
type, the model, and the alma mater in its field. It is therefore
the more necessary that it should exemplify not only the best
academic values but also those uniquely Jewish values which
are to be expected of such an institution.

It is to be hoped that the American Jewish community will
be found increasingly responsive to enterprises and institu-
tions in the field of culture and education. Its responsiveness
will be a test of its own seasoning and maturity.

The future of Brandeis University, and all it represents, is
bound up with the growing awareness in the American Jew-
ish community that the cultivation, promotion, and support
of its full intellectual, cultural and spiritual resources, is an
obligation it owes to itself and to America.

American Jewry faces a new era in which its cultural and
spiritual contributions must be as important in the future as
its philanthropic contributions have been in the past, The
barbaric decimations which have ravaged Jewish communi-
ties in Europe during the black Hitler decade, and the blight
now withering Jewish cultural and spiritual self-expression
in totalitarian regimes on that continent, challenge American
Jewry to become, next to Israel, the chief saving remnant in
the realm of Jewish spirit, intellect and culture.

APPENDIX I

Address Delivered by Dr. Israel Goldstein
Before the Meeting, of the Board of Trustees of Middle-
sex University at the Harvard Club, Boston, February 7,

1946

On January 8th I received a letter from Mr. C. Ruggles Smith
which has set in motion a series of conversations and consultations
resulting in our meeting here tonight.

The proposition to which I addressed myself had been ferment-
ing in my mind for many years, namely, to establish a Jewish-
sponsored university that would be truly American in that students
would be admitted on merit and not on any other basis and
teachers would be appointed on merit and not on any other basis.

Mr. Smith's letter encouraged me to believe that your premises
might become the nucleus of such an institution as I had in mind.

Thereupon I turned to Mr. Julius Silver in whose judgment and
ability I have unlimited confidence. He strengthened my convic-
tion that the enterprise was worthwhile and feasible. Mr. Silver
and I then turned to Mr. George Alpert of Boston whose standing
in the community and whose public spiritedness are of exceptional
quality.

Then began a series of consultations with educators to ascertain
their reaction to what we had in mind, their opinions as to the
need of such an institution, their advice as to how the plan should
be formulated and their views as to whether a first class faculty
could be assembled and their estimate as to the cost of administra-
tion. The response was encouraging. Most encouraging of all was
the response of Prof. Albert Einstein whom I went to see in Prince-
ton once alone and the second time with Mr. Silver.

It is an ancient maxim of the rabbis, "If there is no flour, there
is no Torah." Freely translated, it means that the maintenance of
an institution of learning costs money. Therefore, my next ap-
proach was made to businessmen, friends whom I had cultivated
in the course of many years of fund raising for many causes. I

1553

124 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

found this cross-section convinced of the merit of the idea and
eager to help. This report Mr. Silver and I brought to Mr. Smith
whom I found to be a most useful asset to your institution and a
man dedicated to his task.

What we have in mind is the following:

1. We should like to see a college of Liberal Arts built up not
merely as a pre-medical course but as a cultural entity in and for
itself, with a faculty and with courses which would compare well
with those given in other colleges of comparable size. We believe
that a worthwhile faculty as well as a worthwhile student body
can be attracted. l

2. We should like to see a school of veterinary medicine continue
to function with incidental strengthening in faculty and student
body. If any of our friends can be of help in securing public recog-
nition for the school of veterinary medicine and in enabling the
school to be included among those where returning veterans can
study under the G.I. Bill of Rights, we hold ourselves ready for
such cooperation.

Our investigations indicate that it might require more than a
year for even the first stage of our plans to mature, both in or-
ganizing a faculty and in mustering financial resources. There-
fore, we believe it would be wise to draw up a time schedule for
the inauguration of the new and enlarged enterprise, preferably
under a new name, in October 1947.

We recognize, however, that in the meantime the current pro-
gram of Middlesex, on its present reduced scale of operations, must
continue and that some funds would be required to meet its operat-
ing deficit. We stand ready, therefore, to cooperate in that regard.

Serious consideration will, in due course, be given to the re-
opening of the medical school. It is hardly necessary to point out
how eager all of us are to see a medical school functioning. The
need for it is acute. Almost without exception, however, those
whose advice we sought, a group of distinguished personalities in
the medical and in the general education fields, have cautioned us,
urgently, that we must not undertake the reopening of the medi-
cal school until we would have large resources in hand, by which
we mean millions of dollars, and that we must proceed cautiously"
before plunging into such a venture. It is our view, therefore, that
we should develop in the meantime a college of liberal arts and
maintain the school of veterinary medicine.

APPENDIX 1 125

So for the present, we mean to address ourselves to the tasks
which we believe are most immediately realizable.

Gentlemen, these, in brief, are our plans. We feel that a past and
a future are converging on this group this evening. You gentle-
men who are here and your colleagues who are not here, and the
late Dr. Smith who pioneered Middlesex University, have labored
valiantly in the face of overwhelming odds to maintain an institu-
tion for the training of American youths in the liberal arts and
sciences and in medicine. We who join you, come to you now in
the same spirit of public service.

We recognize that the campus and the buildings which have
been in your charge can become the seat of an educational enter-
prise capable of yielding great good to the community. We hope
that through its class rooms and laboratories will pass many hun-
dreds of young men and women who will become valuable citizens
and public servants in communities throughout the land.

There is a hunger for higher education and there are not enough
institutions of higher learning to satisfy that hunger. There is a
desire for professional training and there are not enough uni-
versities to supply it. By enabling your and our facilities to be
made available to the American youth, we shall be making a con-
tribution to the good life of our community. By keeping high the
banner of freedom from discrimination, we shall be serving the
ideal of American democracy.

I am sure that my colleagues, Mr. Silver and Mr. Alpert and the
others whom we represent, feel that there is a special appropriate-
ness in our undertaking this effort with you in this area which is
American history conscious and where the early settlers were
deeply aware of the "Hebrew mortar which has cemented the
foundations of American democracy/' Therefore, as American
Jews we feel a special sense of dedication to this effort.

Gentlemen, please accept our compliments. May a benevolent
Providence guide us so that the work of our hands may be estab-
lished.

APPENDIX II

Address delivered by Dr. Israel Goldstein before National
Community Relations Advisory Council Chicago, June

16, 1946

I am grateful for the opportunity of discussing an important
subject before an important body of American Jewish leadership,
which is deeply concerned with the status of American Jewry, as it
is with American Jewry's rights and opportunities to play its full
part and make its full contribution to the multi-faceted life of our
country. The theme tonight touches on an important facet, namely
education. Needless to say, we have our own problems of Jewish
education, but Jewish education is not our subject tonight. Our
subject, I take it, is secular education and the question before us
is the advisability of establishing a Jewish-sponsored University in
America.

Let it be said at the very beginning that the principle of a de-
nominationally sponsored university is not a new principle in
American higher education. On the contrary, it has been the rule
rather than the exception. There are probably a dozen Quaker
colleges and universities; scores of Catholic colleges and universi-
ties; and hundreds of Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian,
and Presbyterian sponsored schools. To have one or more uni-
versities sponsored by the Jewish group in America would be alto-
gether consistent with the American pattern, and there is reason
to believe, on the basis of samplings made, that the non- Jewish
community would accept it as a matter of course. More than one
educator, himself a product of a denominationally sponsored col-
lege, has said to me: "Why have you waited all these years; why
haven't you done it before?"

When we speak of denominational sponsorship in connection
with the Jewish group, it does not necessarily mean religious
sponsorship. We must bear in mind that the adjective "denomina-
tional" does not quite describe the nature of the Jewish group. I
suppose it would be fair to say that the Jews are something more

126

APPENDIX II 127

than a denomination and something less than a race. Without go-
ing into the hazardous field of definitions, it is enough to observe
that the Jewish group as an entity is not strictly analogous to the
Baptist, Quaker or Catholic groups. A Jewish group may sponsor
a religious university or it may sponsor a secular university. A
group of Jews bound together for the purpose of founding and
maintaining an educational institution, just as groups of Jews who
have banded together to found and maintain hospitals, orphan
asylums and homes for the aged, represents the analogue to the
Christian denominational sponsorship.

Dr. Hartstein is here tonight representing the Yeshivah Uni-
versity, an institution sponsored by a religious group, primarily
the Orthodox segment within the Jewish religious constituency. I
am here tonight to represent a group of Jewish laymen interested
in establishing a secular university under Jewish sponsorship. The
fact that I happen to be a Rabbi is quite incidental, as well as
accidental, just as it is accidental that Rabbis may be at the head
of the American Jewish Congress or the United Jewish Appeal or
the Zionist Organization of America, all of which are secular or-
ganizations.

With these introductory remarks, may I approach the main
question.

There are two approaches to the question. One is that of meet-
ing the evil of the quota system based on racial-religious grounds.
This evil is prevalent in many American universities who deny
thousands of splendid Jewish youth the right, in proportion to .
their scholastic merit, to equal opportunity for higher education
and professional training. While the problem is most acute in the
field of medical education, it is also felt in other fields. And it ap-
plies not only to students but even more rigorously to faculty ap-
pointments. The argument is sometimes advanced that numerous
and generous Jewish contributions to university funds would
bring about a change of policy. The facts, however, leave consider-
able doubt as to the nexus of cause and effect in that situation.
Jews, of course, should make their contributions to university
funds but if they do so in the hope that these contributions will
mitigate the quota evils, they may be disappointed.

I shall not take the time to dwell upon the prevalence of the
quota system. It may be safely assumed that it exists. Needless to
say, every effort should be made to combat it, whether by exposing

12 8 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

to public criticism those institutions who practice it or by urging
withdrawal of their tax exemption, though it seems unlikely that
the Courts will sustain the contention, or by agitating for the
establishment of more State Universities. As Americans, we have
the right and duty to try to expurgate un-American policies from
the sphere of higher education. Yet one cannot be at all sure how
successful the effort is likely to be and how long it will take. We
have a generation growing up which is clamoring for higher edu-
cation now, next year and the year after. The proponents of a Jew-
ish-sponsored university, at least those whom I have the honor to
represent, do not propose to limit the student body or the faculty
to Jews. What is being proposed is a non-quota university where
the sole criterion for admission to the student body and for faculty
should be merit. Since it is contemplated that this university is to
be located in or near a large metropolitan center with a large Jew-
ish population, it is to be expected that where merit will be the
only criterion for admission, Jewish boys and girls will be able to
enter in large numbers.

At this point, the question may be asked, "Will one university
provide for the need?" Obviously not. We are not proposing The
Jewish University of America, but A Jewish Sponsored University.
If the first one or two experiments prove successful and achieve a
high academic standard, there will probably be more such uni-
versities established subsequently. One can only hope that every
such attempt is going to be in responsible hands, in the hands of
men who represent high standards of public responsibility.

The second approach to the question is on a different level. One
might say that it is on a higher level, namely, that the Jewish group
in America ought to make its offering to American higher learn-
ing, like all the other groups. Why should the Jewish group be the
only one to withhold its offering as a group in this field? Individual
Jews may do a great deal for other universities but it does not
register as a Jewish contribution unless it is done by a Jewish
group. Here, again, there is an instructive analogy with other
groups in American life. Quakers, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists,
Catholics, as individuals, have surely given great sums to institu-
tions of learning. Yet it is the establishment of a Quaker college in
Haverford or Swarthmore, the establishment of a Baptist College
in Chicago, the establishment by Catholics of Notre Dame, which
registers most impressively as the offerings of these groups to

APPENDIX II 129

American education. It will be so in the case of the Jewish group
as well. Therefore, a Jewish-sponsored university will signify and
symbolize more effectively than any other method, the Jewish con-
tribution to American education.

From the point of view of this approach, a Jewish-sponsored
university would be an important and long overdue enterprise,
even if there were no quota system making it difficult for the Jew-
ish youth to enter American institutions of higher learning, and
even if State Universities were more widespread than they are.
Such a Jewish-sponsored university is important and long over-
due as a matter of Jewish dignity and Jewish participation in the
responsibility of rearing an intellectually and professionally
equipped American youth. It is high time the Jews followed all
other groups who are not only beneficiaries but also benefactors,
who are not only on the receiving end but also on the giving end
of our educational foundations. A university sponsored mainly by
Jewish funds, conducted in the democratic manner upon a high
level, would redound most impressively to the credit of American
Jewry.

It needs to be frankly recognized, however, that in the minds of
some of our people there are misgivings regarding this project.
Let me address myself to these misgivings in an effort to dissipate
them. They are stereotyped objections.

The fear is sometimes expressed lest the existence of a Jewish-
sponsored university be used by other universities as an "alibi" for
denying admission to Jewish applicants by saying to them, "Here
is your Jewish College, go to it." I have put this hypothetical
"alibi" to a number of educators, Christian as well as Jewish. Pre-
ponderantly, they are of the opinion that anyone using such an
"alibi" would be guilty of dishonesty and prejudice; he would
know that one institution or even several Jewish-sponsored in-
stitutions, would not solve the need. Being dishonest and prej-
udiced, he would never lack for pretexts to deny admission to
Jewish students. On the other hand, it is also pointed out that
there would be hesitancy to reduce quotas beyond their present
meager numbers because of the fear of intensified -agitation or the
fear of impairing the scholastic standards of the institution in con-
sequence of further limitations upon the admission of Jewish
students.

Another misgiving often ventilated is that a Jewish-sponsored

130 BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

university will result in the segregation of Jewish students. In re-
ply to that argument one might ask how much social commingling
between Jews and non-Jews goes on in the average university with
its fraternity and sorority systems. One might also ask why the
Catholics do not seem to be worried about that problem. It is,
however, the premise itself which I challenge. Why assume that
there will be no Christian students at this university? There are
serious minded Christian students who would be glad to come to
such a university if the faculty will have something worthwhile to
offer.

Let us take a hypothetical example. If Professor Einstein were
to teach mathematics and physics; if Professor Morris Cohen were
to teach philosophy; and if Professor Alvin Johnson were to teach
social science, there would be no lack of Christian students. Chris-
tian students coming to such a university would be not only serious
minded, but liberal spirits. Much would depend upon the caliber
of the faculty. We are assured by eminent college administrators
that a first rate faculty could be organized consisting of Christian
and Jewish scholars. Some would come out of a sense of mission,
others who would come because of more attractive teaching op-
portunities, permitting them more time for research. There would
also be first-rate Jewish scholars who, at present, cannot find ad-
mission into universities because they are Jews. A first-rate faculty
would attract a first-rate student body of all races and creeds.

It might be apropos to invoke a bit of American Jewish history
in this connection. When the movement for the building of Jewish
hospitals was first started fifty, seventy-five and nearly one hundred
years ago, similar objections were registered. A good deal was said
about the dangers of segregation. It should be added that the move-
ment for hospitals did not, for the most part, originate from the
desire to make Kashruth available to Jewish patients. Some of the
Jewish hospitals did not and still do not observe the dietary laws,
though in my judgment they should observe them. At the time
that the question of Jewish hospitals was discussed in our large
cities, many raised the query, "Why Jewish hospitals? Why segre-
gation?" Yet see what has happened. The Jewish hospitals in great
cities throughout the land, far from being liabilities, have become
great assets to the Jewish community in terms of Jewish-Christian
relations. Because of their non-sectarian character and because of
their high standards, they have redounded to the credit of the Jew-

APPENDIX II 131

ish community. It can be so with a Jewish-sponsored university if
its policy is non-sectarian and if it maintains a high standard. Far
from being a liability, such a university would redound to the
credit of the Jewish group.

I have tried to present frankly a few of the mental reservations
which are inhibiting some of our people from supporting the idea
of. a Jewish-sponsored university and I have tried to meet their
arguments. An eminent layman said to me recently, "I know that
there may be arguments against it, but what interests me most are
the arguments for it." If there is still a residue of mental reserva-
tion, let it be weighed against the arguments on the other side in
favor of the idea, namely the benefits which may result from fol-
lowing the example of other denominational groups, the value of
having it known that a Jewish-sponsored university is a non-quota
university, so that our fight against the quota system would have a
powerful weapon in the very existence of such an institution, and
the dignity of the Jewish group which would be enhanced by its
contribution to American higher education. There is an addi-
tional benefit which ought not to be lost sight of. It has to do with
the future of Jewish-Christian relations in this country. Christian
boys educated in a Jewish-sponsored university would feel an abid-
ing sense of indebtedness to the Jewish group for their careers.
They would become a leaven of good will in whatever community
they would choose for their homes and careers, They would gene-
rate the kind of good will which would mean more than the back-
slapping "Brotherhood Day" demonstrations. Men of creative
achievements coming forth from a Jewish-sponsored university,
whether they would be in the sciences or in the humanities or in
the field of medicine, would enrich and enhance the good name of
the American Jew.

From the point of view of the training of Jewish leadership, it is
not to be overlooked that in a Jewish-sponsored university there
would be extra-curricular Jewish influences available for the bene-
fit of Jewish students, both secular and religious influences calcu-
lated to mold the young people who are to be the leaders of
tomorrow in American Jewish life. These influences would not be
compulsory but would be so attractive and so accessible as to be
compulsive.

In a Jewish-sponsored university the Jewish Sabbath, Festival
;and Holy Bays would be respected just as much as the Christian

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Sabbath, Festivals, and Holy Days. There would be no need for an
observant Jewish student to suffer because of his observance. The
curriculum would be so arranged that there would be no classes on
those days which are important in the religious calendar of the
Jewish faith.

As I bring my discussion to a close, may I say a few words about
the specific project which is now engaging our attention.

A group of men, organized under the aegis of The Albert Ein-
stein Foundation For Higher Learning, Inc., with the warm ap-
proval of Professor Einstein, has taken over the campus and the
charter of Middlesex University in Waltham, Massachusetts, ten
miles out of Boston. This institution had encountered difficulties
on account of its unapproved medical school. Its Board of Trustees
was unable to go on with the maintenance of the institution. The
premises, consisting of 100 acres of beautifully situated land and
several good buildings, seemed well suited for the project we had
in mind. The site is in an area which is the cultural cradle of
America, with access to great libraries and great institutions of
learning. It is close to a large Jewish population and is not far from
other large cosmopolitan centers. The former Board of Trustees
of Middlesex University, eager to see an educational institution
functioning in those premises and unable to maintain such an
institution themselves, were ready to have the Board reorganized
in favor of a predominantly Jewish group. This group is now in
control of the Board of Trustees. It plans to open a College of
Liberal Arts in October, 1947, to continue and improve the exist-
ing School of Veterinary Medicine, which is an important asset
because of the acute shortage of veterinarians in the United States,
and to open a School of Medicine some years later when adequate
funds and hospital training facilities can be provided. Other de-
partments will be added as resources permit. A new name will be
attached to the university shortly. It is estimated that the sum of
six million dollars will be necessary for the fulfillment of the plan,
namely the College o Liberal Arts, the School of Veterinary
Medicine, and the School of Medicine. Of this amount, the sum of
two million dollars will be needed to open the College of Liberal
Arts in October, 1947. Jewish communities and individuals
throughout the United States will be asked to support this project,
which is to be one of national scope, admitting students from all
parts of the country. We trust it will also be national in its prestige
and reputation.

APPENDIX II 133

The President and the members of the Board of the Albert Ein-
stein Foundation For Higher Learning, Inc., and of the university
itself, consider themselves as a holdover, interim group until the
larger sponsorship will be developed. There are fourteen vacan-
cies on the Board of the university and ten on the Board of the
Foundation, which we hope to fill with men of eminence.

The project has been welcomed by a splendid cross-section of
Jewish and Christian leadership. The letters from the Archbishop
of Massachusetts and the Governor of that State may be of interest.
The idea has been endorsed by the New York Board of Jewish
Ministers, the Jewish War Veterans of the United States and other
groups. Professor Einstein is taking a warm personal interest in
developing the project on its educational side. A National Com-
mittee of Sponsors has been formed consisting of distinguished
citizens in various walks of life, Christian and Jews, Orthodox,
Reform and Conservative Jews, Zionists and non-Zionists.

If the American Jewish community will respond to this project,
we can have here a great center of learning and of training for pro-
fessions. At a time when there is tremendous pressure for addi-
tional college facilities, this institution will open its doors. One
Jewish boy, in his application for admission, states: "I want to go
to a non-quota college which belongs to my people/' In that simple
statement is contained the essence of what we are trying to do. It
will be a Jewish contribution to American education as a matter
of pride and dignity. It will set a Jewish example, among others,
for the benefit of whomever it may concern, of a university where
the American democratic principle of equality of opportunity will
be applied in the field of higher education, just as Jews have ap-
plied it in the field of philanthropy.

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