Post on 04-Apr-2015
W U R Z W E I L E R S C H O O L O F S O C I A L W O R K l Y E S H I V A U N I V E R S I T Y
WurzweilerUpdateWINT ER 2 0 0 5 The Magazine for Alumni and Friends
Caring for theLatino Community
Washington Heights and Beyond
Caring for theLatino Community
Washington Heights and Beyond
Tool
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P U B L I C A T I O N S A R E A VA I L A B L E F R O M T H E R E S P E C T I V E P U B L I S H E R S O R A C A D E M I C B O O K S T O R E S .
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Tools for the social work professionImportant new publications by Wurzweiler School of Social Work faculty
M. Joanna Mellor & Helen Rehr
(Eds) Baby Boomers: Can My
Eighties Be Like My Fifties? New
York, NY: Springer Publishing, 2005.
This book addresses issues Baby
Boomers face while simultaneously
projecting ahead to challenges and
benefits that are likely to charac-
terize this next generation of older
persons. It is based on keynote
presentations by noted leaders in
the field of aging, who discuss
their expectations of their old age.
It is both an introductory primer to
aging today as well as a book that
raises questions, suggests solutions,
and indicates avenues of planning
for the future. M. Joanna Mellor is
assistant professor at Wurzweiler
School of Social Work. Helen Rehr
is professor of community medi-
cine emerita and consultant on
social health research, education,
and program planning to Mount
Sinai School of Medicine and
Medical Center.
Richard K. Caputo (Ed.) Challenges
of Aging on US Families: Policy and
Practice Implications, Binghamton,
NY: Haworth Press, 2005.
Challenges of Aging on US Families
presents the latest original
research on the changing roles of
caregivers along with the economic
and emotional effects on the family
unit. The papers discuss in detail
long-term care and the standard of
living of families, with a focus on
the effects of changing family
structures themselves and society
at large. Richard Caputo is a pro-
fessor and director of the doctoral
program at Wurzweiler School of
Social Work.
Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, Jeanne
Bertrand Finch, & Cheryl L. Franks
Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn:
A Guide for Social Work Field Edu-
cation, Alexandria, VA: Council on
Social Work Education Press, 2005.
This book lays out step-by-step
how to achieve a quality field
education experience for both
students and field instructors by
placing the field instructor-student
relationship as central to achieving
learning goals and objectives.
Carmen Ortiz Hendricks is associ-
ate dean at Wurzweiler School of
Social Work, Jeanne Bertrand Finch
is assistant dean and director of
the office of field instruction at
Stony Brook University’s School of
Social Welfare, and Cheryl L.
Franks is associate director of field
education at Columbia University
of Social Work.
Nancy Beckerman Couples of
Mixed HIV Status: Clinical Issues
and Interventions, New York, NY:
Haworth Press, 2005.
Nancy Beckerman addresses the
unique emotional challenges fac-
ing today’s couples of mixed HIV
status and provides a conceptual
framework for assessment and
intervention. The book provides
therapists with a range of theoreti-
cal approaches to help mixed HIV
status couples deal with their issues
and concerns. Nancy Beckerman is
an associate professor at
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
F E ATURES
8
21
Dean’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
News & Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Graduation 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Student Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Alumni Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Dinner of Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
DEPARTMENTS
Helping HIV Patients Cope with Life and Loss
Professor Nancy Beckerman’s new book shares her experience counseling ‘mixed’ couples, in which onlyone member has the virus.
Close to Home
How Wurzweiler School of Social Work is helping to solvethe problem of delivering services to the Latino population,the fastest growing minority group in the United States.
A Measure of Justice for Nazi Victims
Longtime Wurzweiler board member Saul Kagan is renowned for his efforts to secure reparations for Holocaust survivors and their families.
10
On the cover: Mural on corner of Audubon Avenue and 182nd Street in Washington Heights.
W U R Z W E I L E R S C H O O L O F S O C I A L W O R K l Y E S H I V A U N I V E R S I T Y
WurzweilerUpdateWINT ER 2 0 0 5 The Magazine for Alumni and Friends
The past six months have been a time of change andtransition at Wurzweiler that has impacted our faculty,staff, and students in a variety of ways. In mid-MarchMargaret Gibelman, DSW, director of our doctoral pro-gram, was diagnosed with lung cancer. On June 3 welost her to the disease, leaving a huge void that was feltmost directly by her students in the final phases oftheir proposals and dissertations. (See the obituary onpage 5.)
We welcomed our new associate dean and profes-sor Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, ’93W, DSW in July. Prof.Hendricks brings a level of enthusiasm and compe-
tence that will enhance the education we provide our students. (See our coverstory on page 10.)
In July we also welcomed Molly Fink as the first Fredda Leff PresidentialFellow at Wurzweiler. Ms. Fink is one of 14 recent graduates of our undergraduateschools who were selected to spend a year working with senior university admin-istrators. See page 5. In August we were joined by renowned bioethicist AdrienneAsch, the Edward and Robin Milstein Professor of Bioethics. (See page 3.)
Faculty continue to generate high-quality scholarship with the publication offive books—by Nancy Beckerman ’91W, Richard Caputo, Margaret Gibelman,Joanna Mellor, and Carmen Ortiz Hendricks ’93W—and more than 40 articlesand/or book chapters in leading social work and related journals. Faculty areon the programs of every national and international professional conference insocial work and related fields and are involved in a wide range of service activ-ities in the community. We are proud of the work that they are doing and theway their research, service, and scholarship are infused in the classroom.
Three Wurzweiler faculty members have been promoted and/or tenuredthis year: Joan Beder ’93W to full professor, David Strug to full professor withtenure, and Jonathan Fast ’99W to associate professor with tenure.
Professors Beder, Heidi LaPorte ’87W,’00W, Susan Mason, Ortiz Hendricks,Strug and Jay Sweifach ’88W,’02W along with faculty from the Department ofFamily and Social Medicine at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College ofMedicine participated in a research program in Havana, Cuba. Their trip willalso include reaching out to the Jewish community in Havana.
This year’s events included conferences on gerontology and child welfareresearch co-sponsored by Wurzweiler, and a successful “Commons Day” dealingwith the genocide in Darfur. For the first time, we coordinated our annual BlockField Instructors Conference and our Field Instructors Breakfast with morethan 100 field instructors from the United States, Canada, France, and Israelparticipating.
I would like to call your attention to our recently renovated and evolvingWeb site www.yu.edu.wurzweiler, which includes information about the school,its activities, and the accomplishments of faculty. The site is under the direc-tion of the innovative and creative Prof. Jonathan Fast.
As you will note, the number of items in the “Class Notes” section of theUpdate continues to grow. Keep in touch.
Sincerely
Sheldon R. GelmanDorothy and David I. Schachne Dean, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Yeshiva UniversityRichard M. Joel
PRESIDENT
Morry J. WeissCHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Robert Schwalbe, PhDCHAIRMAN, WSSW BOARD OF GOVERNORS
v
Patricia Fitzgerald ’99WDIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS, WSSW
Leslie Waltzer PollakDIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT,
WSSW
Georgia PollakDIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
EDITOR
Kelly Berman
DESIGNER
Emily Scherer Steinberg
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Norman GoldbergPeter RobertsonJane Windsor
CONTRIBUTORS
Marcy FrankJune Glazer
David HillstromCara Aidone HuzinecEsther D. Kustanowitz
Wurzweiler Updateis published once a year by
Wurzweiler School of Social Work2495 Amsterdam AvenueNew York, NY 10033-3299
212-960-5373
Designed and produced through theOffice of Communications and Public Affairs
500 West 185 StreetNew York, NY 10033-3201
212-960-5398
Editorial contributions and submissionsto Update are welcome. This publicationaccepts no responsibility for unsolicited
manuscripts or photographs. All submissionsare subject to editing and are used at the editor’s discretion. Opinions expressed inthis publication do not necessarily reflectofficial School and/or University policy.
WurzweilerUpdate
DEAN’S MESSAGE
This fall, Adrienne Asch, PhD,came on board at WurzweilerSchool of Social Work as theEdward and Robin MilsteinProfessor of Bioethics, a new
chair that will spearhead an initiativeof Yeshiva University to put ethicalissues on the agenda of every student’sundergraduate or graduate education.
“Dr. Adrienne Asch is a world-renowned bioethicist and authority onthe rights of the disabled. Her appoint-ment at the university is a majorcoup,” said Sheldon R. Gelman, PhD,Dorothy and David I. Schachne Deanat Wurzweiler.
An alumna of Columbia Univer-sity, where she earned an MS degreein social work and a PhD in socialpsychology, Prof. Asch comes to YUfrom Wellesley College, where shewas Henry R. Luce Professor inBiology, Ethics, and the Politics ofHuman Reproduction; and professorof women’s studies.
With a background in civil rightsand public policy, she has served as amember of the New Jersey Com-mission on Legal and EthicalProblems in the Delivery of HealthCare; senior Human Rights Specialistwith the New York State Division ofHuman Rights; a member of theNational Commission on ChildhoodDisability and of the Bioethics Work-ing Group for the Clinton Task Forceon Health Care Reform, and as a con-sultant to the Secretary’s AdvisoryCommittee on Genetic Testing. Herresearch and policy work has focusedon issues such as reproductive rights,disability, genetics, and surrogacy.
“The field of bioethics broadens asissues emerge,” Prof. Asch said. “Inaddition to the famous debates oncloning and stem-cell research, bio-ethicists wrestle with issues thatinclude how to define death, how todecide who should get healthcareresources if they are limited, or
whether to disconnect patients in in-tractable pain from life support, andwhether to make emergency contra-ception (the ‘morning-after’ pill)available without a prescription.”
Bioethicists, she explained, interactwith government, healthcare profes-sionals, ethics committees in hospitals,biotechnology firms, and people onstate and national policy commissions,helping them to set policy or bringlegislation and recommendations.
The author or co-author of numer-ous books, monographs, and articles,Prof. Asch will also teach at YU’sAlbert Einstein College of Medicine,Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law,Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychol-ogy, and the undergraduate schools.
“Prof. Asch is a world-class acade-mic who adds much strength and lus-ter to our programs in ethics, whichspan across nearly every program inthe university,” said MortonLowengrub, PhD, vice president foracademic affairs. v
Adrienne Asch, Bioethics Expert,Joins Faculty
Agrant from the National Center forGerontological Social Work will soonenrich the training Wurzweiler studentsreceive in the field of aging. Three pro-fessors—Joanna Mellor, Richard Caputo,
and Susan Mason—are attending annual work-shops held by the Curriculum Development In-stitute to infuse content on aging into the cur-riculum.
The initiative, funded by the John A. HartfordFoundation through the Council on Social WorkEducation, aims to ensure that all social workstudents receive gerontological training overthe course of their studies.
“This puts Wurzweiler on the map of thenational effort to bring gerontology educationinto schools of social work,” said Dr. Mellor, assis-tant professor of social work. She said that theproject is extremely important because the agingpopulation is growing by leaps and bounds.
“All social workers, regardless of their cho-sen field, will work with older people—thereare many grandparents caring for children, andthere are older persons among substance abusers,prisoners, and the homeless for example,” saidDr. Mellor.
The three faculty members joined col-leagues from 76 undergraduate and graduatesocial work programs across the country at thefirst workshop in June 2005. The second andthird workshops will be held in June 2006 and2007. During the three years the professors willstudy the Wurzweiler curriculum—from class-room to field work—and assist faculty in inject-ing aging content throughout.
“Several Wurzweiler professors already dealwith aging in the classes they teach,” said Dr.Mellor, who helped organize the Future of Agingconference at Wurzweiler earlier this year (seepage 4). “Getting this grant means we’ll be ableto work with adjunct and full-time faculty tointegrate these issues more comprehensivelyand systematically into the curriculum.
“The idea is not to include [gerontologystudy] at the expense of other content, but by‘infusion,’” said Dr. Mellor. “So if you’re talkingabout policy towards poverty, you make sure todiscuss old people [in this context] in additionto single parents.” v
Gerontology GrantEnriches Curriculum
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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The Future of Aging,” a conference hosted by Wurz-weiler in April, generated much debate about policiesand programs for seniors.
The conference was recognized by the 2005 WhiteHouse Conference on Aging (WHCoA) as an ‘IndependentAging Agenda Event,’ meaning Wurzweiler reported on pro-ceedings and forwarded recommendations from its con-ference to the White House event, a national gathering ofappointed delegates meeting in Washington, DC inDecember.
Over 100 service providers, older persons, alumni andstudents from the New York metropolitan area attendedthe conference, which was sponsored by Wurzweiler, theWashington Heights/Inwood Council on Aging and YU’sFerkauf Graduate School of Psychology. Co-sponsors in-cluded the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College,the Manhattan Borough-wide Inter-Agency Council on Aging,the New York City Department of Aging, and the RavazzinCenter on Aging at Fordham University.
“It is imperative that we rethink policies and developservice strategies both to meet the needs of our currentolder population and to prepare for future challenges. The2005 WHCoA gives us the opportunity to do this,” saidJoanna Mellor, DSW, assistant professor, who helped planthe conference.
Edwin Mendez-Santiago, MSW, NewYork City Commissioner of Aging, dis-cussed the challenges of increased longevityand cultural diversity in meeting thesocial service needs of seniors in the city.
The paradigm of serving two separatepopulations—the mobile and the home-bound—“is blind to the need for more flex-ible in-home services,” CommissionerMendez-Santiago said. “The elderly shouldbe encouraged to leave their apartmentswhen they can, so they are less isolated.”
Rose Dobrof, DSW, professor emerita at Hunter Collegeand founding director of the Brookdale Center on Aging,gave an overview of the history of the White House Confer-ences on Aging. Even though past White House Confer-ences on Aging were influential in legislation such as theOlder Americans Act, Dr. Dobrof warned against attribut-ing too much credit to the conferences in getting legislationpassed. “A lot of advocacy and work comes before the WhiteHouse conference,” Dr. Dobrof said.
Nelson Peralta, MD, project coordinator of the Centerfor the Health of Urban Minorities, Center for CommunityHealth Partnerships, highlighted affordable housing andaccess to medical care as major issues affecting seniors inthe New York City neighborhoods of Washington Heightsand Inwood.
After the speakers, attendees participated in round-table discussions on issues such as retirement savings,financial abuse, and depression.
Among the policy and service recommendations sub-mitted to the 2005 WHCoA were to maintain SocialSecurity as a wage-based government administered in-surance system, and to increase research of depressionamong older persons.
For a complete report on the resolutions submitted to the2005 WHCoA, contact Joanna Mellor at mellor@yu.edu. v
Conference Gives Wurzweiler a Voice inNational Aging Debate
“The elderly should be
encouraged to leave their
apartments when they can,
so they are less isolated.”
— Edwin Mendez-Santiago,
NYC Commissioner of Aging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NEWS AND VIEWS
5W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Presidential FellowWorks in Dean’s Office
This year for the first time, Wurz-weiler got its own PresidentialFellow, one of 14 graduates ofYeshiva University’s undergrad-uate schools who are spending
another year on campus developingleadership skills. The fellowship programwas conceived by President Richard M.Joel and is now in its second year.
Malca Fink, a 2005 graduate of SternCollege, has been working in the officeof Sheldon R. Gelman, PhD Dorothy andDavid I. Schachne Dean, since July.
Ms. Fink is the Fredda Leff Presiden-tial Fellow, which was established by thefamily of the late Fredda Leff ’78W,longtime Wurzweiler board member.
Dean Gelman oversees the programand runs its leadership training semi-nars covering key topics in universityadministration and Jewish communalleadership.
The program takes some of YU’s topgraduates behind the scenes of the in-stitution and gives them the opportunityto be mentored by a senior administrator.
Ms. Fink has “gone everywhere withthe dean,” she said, making valuablecontacts in NY state and city agenciesas she considers graduate studies inpsychology or law. She said she hopedher future career would include advo-cating for children who are hard ofhearing, which was why she choseWurzweiler for her placement.
Ms. Fink has already made a consid-erable contribution to the school, helpingplan Commons Day for Block studentsthis summer, providing administrativesupport, and taking on some researchand writing responsibilities. v
IN MEMORIAM: Margaret Gibelman
Wurzweiler Establishes the Dr. Margaret Gibelman Memorial Doctoral Scholarship Fund
n memory of Margaret Gibelman, Wurzweiler has established a scholarshipfund to support doctoral students. Alumni can help advance the professionto which Dr. Gibelman devoted so much of her energy and life by lendingtheir support to the scholarship fund. Please consider a donation today. Youmay contribute by using the enclosed envelope, visiting www.yu.edu andclicking on “Giving Online to YU,” or contact Patricia Fitzgerald, director ofalumni relations, at fitzgera@yu.edu or 212-960-5400 x 5779. Thank you!
Wurzweiler suffered a great loss June 3 when Margaret Gibelman, DSW, pro-fessor and director of its Doctoral Program, passed away after battling lungcancer. Dr. Gibelman made a substantial contribution to the field of social
work as a scholar, author, researcher, men-tor, and practitioner.
“She was the consummate academic,with a commitment to scholarship, her pro-fession, and her students,” said Sheldon R.Gelman, PhD, Dorothy and David I. SchachneDean at Wurzweiler, where Dr. Gibelmantaught classes in management/administra-tion, child welfare, and social policy.
Before coming to Wurzweiler in 1994, shetaught at Rutgers University and theNational Catholic School of Social Services.Dr. Gibelman’s management expertise was inhigh demand among national organizations.
She served as associate executive director of the Council on Social WorkEducation, and executive director of the Lupus Foundation of America andthe National Association of School Psychologists.
Dr. Gibelman held senior staff positions with the National Conference onSocial Welfare and the American Public Welfare Association. She served asa consultant to the National Association of Social Workers and to theCouncil on Accreditation for Services to Families and Children.
A prolific author, publishing more than 125 articles and book chapters, shealso authored or co-authored eight books, including What Social Workers Do(1995, second edition 2005) and the more recent Navigating Human ServiceOrganizations (2003).
For the past several years Dr. Gibelman ran the mentoring program for allnew faculty at YU and developed the research infrastructure for ManhattanCampus faculty out of the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
During the last few months of her illness, Dr. Gibelman gained insightinto the indignities of the health care system. “The only thing that makesus human is compassion,” she said in a message sent to Wurzweiler stu-dents at graduation in May. “Our job as social workers is to ensure that com-passion will always be a part of who and what we are. In the end, that is allthat is important.” v
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NEWS AND VIEWS
Malca Fink (R) with an MSW student at
Commons Day
6W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Faculty News
Wurzweiler appointed a new associatedean, Carmen Ortiz Hendricks ’93W,DSW, previously professor at HunterSchool of Social Work. For more abouther appointment, see cover story onpage 10. Dean Hendricks was recentlyappointed to a three-year term on theCommission on Accreditation of theCouncil on Social Work Education(CSWE). She co-edited Learning toTeach, Teaching to Learn: A Guide forSocial Work Field Education (CSWEPress).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In June, Joan Beder ’93W, DSW, andDavid Strug, PhD, were promoted tofull professors, and Jonathan Fast ’99W,DSW, was promoted to associate profes-sor. Drs. Fast and Strug were alsotenured at this time.
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Professor RichardK. Caputo, PhD,took over asdirector of theDoctoral Programafter the death ofMargaretGibelman. In July,Professor Caputopublished his sec-
ond book, Challenges of Aging on USFamilies: Policy and Practice Implications(Haworth Press). The book is anoverview of the economic status of agingfamilies in the US. It provides originalresearch regarding the formidabledemands elderly family members create oncaregivers and the beneficent supply ofparenting resources they make availableto needy grandchildren.
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Jade Docherty ’96W, assistant dean,graduated from Wurzweiler with herPhD in July. Her dissertation topic was“Students Entering New York City AreaMSW Programs Following a Hiatus:Adjustment to the Student Role.”
Joanna Mellor, DSW, assistant professor,is the 2005 recipient of the Walter M.Beattie Jr. award from the State Society
for Aging of NewYork for outstand-ing contributionsto the organizationand for commit-ment to its goals.She was alsorecently appointeda fellow of theNew York Academy
of Medicine and of the GerontologicalSociety of America (GSA). She co-editedBaby Boomers: Can My Eighties Be LikeMy Fifties?, published by Haworth Press.
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Raesa Kaiteris, MSW, was appointedassociate director of field instruction.Previously, she worked for Adelphi Uni-versity School of Social Work in severalcapacities, including director of its Hud-son Valley Extension Program in Pough-keepsie, NY, for 20 years and assistantdirector of field instruction at Adelphi’sManhattan Center for five years.
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During his sabbatical in the spring,2005, Norman Linzer ’60W, PhD, SamuelJ. and Jean Sable Professor of JewishFamily Social Work, researched the impactof the Sept. 11 attacks on social workpractice and ethics in various agencies inNew York, New Jersey, Florida, Boston,Toronto, South Dakota, and Israel, alongwith Heidi Heft LaPorte ’87W, ’00W, DSW,and Jay Sweifach ’88W, ’02W, DSW, bothassistant professors. They met with focusgroups of eight social workers each whowere asked to describe the impact of9/11 on them personally, on the demo-graphics of the agency and on theirpractice, and whether ethical issuesarose. They will present their data in afuture issue of Update.
Joyce Brenner ’83W, DSW, director ofthe Block Plan in Israel, is on the boardof the Counseling Center for Women, afeminist therapy organization in RamatGan and Jerusalem. In that capacity shetook part in an outreach program thissummer helping female soldiers in theIsrael Defense Force prepare to go intoGaza and move families out.
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An article in the spring 2004 (vol. 37)issue of The Social Work Forum, co-edit-ed by Professor Daniel Pollack and EricLevine ’94W, DSW, and published byWurzweiler, received an award from theCenter for Child Welfare Policy of theNorth American Resource Center forChild Welfare (NARCCW). The centergave one of five 2005 Pro HumanitateLiterary Awards to Tracey Feild for herarticle “The Child Welfare FundingProblem: The Title IV-E Straitjacket vs.the Medicaid Roadblock.”
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Martin Birnbaum, PhD, Beate andHenry Voremberg Professor of SocialGroup Work, traveled to China inOctober as part of a group who wereguests of the Chinese government. Hespoke to local high school studentsabout his work and the role of thesocial worker in the United States.
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Professor David Strug is conductingresearch on the impact of US govern-ment travel restrictions on CubanAmericans with the support of a summerresearch grant from the Rabbi ArthurSchneier Center for International Affairsat YU. On a trip to Cuba in September,during which they attended the FourthInternational Congress of Social Work,Professors Strug, Heidi Heft LaPorte,and Jay Sweifach also met with leadersof the Jewish community in Havana.They learned about the history of thecommunity and the challenges itsmembers face today. They hope to con-tinue the contact and explore opportu-nities for research.
NEWS AND VIEWS
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Righteous ProtectorSimone Weil Lipman spoke about how she helped hundreds of Jewish childrenescape the Nazis in France at ‘Righteous Protectors,’ a panel discussion sponsored by Wurzweiler and Stern College’s Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence Program. Ms. Weil Lipman was a social worker with OSE, a Jewishchild care agency, but worked under an assumed identity to help find hidingplaces and false identities for children destined for the death camps in Poland.She said that more French families opened their homes to foster children thanany other nationality during the Holocaust.
Sharing the stage with her was Rev. Carl Wilkens, an American who stayed inRwanda during the genocide in 1994 to care for hundreds of orphans.
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Much in CommonStudents took part in games with a comedy troupe (right) and paired up tocomplete a quiz (below) at CommonsDay, held twice a year in February andJuly. The event aims to build a sense ofcommunity among students, faculty, andstaff through informal interaction. It wasstarted by Martin Birnbaum, PhD, Beateand Henry Voremberg Professor of SocialGroup Work, after the 9-11 attacks to“celebrate who we are and our diversity,”he said.
NEWS AND VIEWS
8W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
In her new book, Professor
Nancy Beckerman shares her
experience counseling “mixed”
couples, in which only one
member has the virus.
Helping HIVPatientsCope withLife andLoss
BY ESTHER KUSTANOWITZ
Helping HIVPatientsCope withLife andLoss
BY ESTHER KUSTANOWITZ
Until recently, mental health professionalstreating HIV-positive patients would focus onhow to deal with the diagnosis, prepare for
the impending loss, or cope with bereavement. Butbecause anti-retroviral drugs are giving those withHIV a second lease on life, today’s social workersface new issues in preparing clients to live with thedisease, said Nancy Beckerman, ’91W, DSW, associateprofessor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
“HIV-positive people are turning back to their pro-fessions and relationships, and identifying what they
FACULTY UP CLOSE
need to cope,” said Prof. Beckerman.Prof. Beckerman’s first book,
Couples of Mixed HIV Status: ClinicalIssues and Interventions (New York:The Haworth Press, July 2005),shares her experience counseling“mixed” couples, in which only onemember has the virus.
Most mixed couples, regardless ofrace or sexual orientation, feel closerafter the diagnosis, she said, experi-encing “a second honeymoon.” Prof.Beckerman also found that thelonger the couple doesn’t tell otherpeople about the diagnosis, the moreinternal conflict there is within therelationship.
It is not uncommon for bothheterosexual and gay mixed couplesto think about starting a family. “Ifone of the partners is asymptomatic
and the other is healthy, having achild is not out of the question,” saidProf. Beckerman. Couples withchildren face the issue of how todisclose the illness to their children,and how children might react to thenews.
Still, Prof. Beckerman acknowl-edged, her work with families andpartners of patients with HIV/AIDS“has made it apparent that at theheart of this epidemic lies thehuman condition, as individuals andtheir loved ones must learn to copewith the emotional pain of loss orpotential loss. HIV/AIDS has magni-fied this spiritual and emotionalchallenge for individuals, their fam-ilies and their communities.”
Prof. Beckerman has served as
an AIDS training consultant at hos-pitals and educational institutionsin the New York metropolitan area(including the Department of Sub-stance Abuse at YU’s Albert EinsteinCollege of Medicine), training healthcare professionals to deal with ethi-cal issues specific to those patients.
That work is ongoing “as the faceof the epidemic has been continu-ally evolving,” she said.
That evolution also requires acertain flexibility from both profes-sors and students; as the virusspreads to new populations and iscounteracted with new treatments,the curriculum needs to be updated.
“In an urban center such as NewYork City,” she said, “all students willbe working with families affected byHIV at some stage of their careers.”
As important as staying currenton HIV/AIDS treatment is under-standing its history. In her class ‘TheSocial Dimensions of AIDS, Prof.Beckerman sketches the historicalcontext of epidemics and plagues.
“Students are shocked to see that[the way] HIV/AIDS [is stigmatizedtoday] is not terribly different fromthe way other diseases were handledhundreds, even thousands of yearsago,” she said.
Prof. Beckerman became a full-time faculty member when shereceived her doctor of social workdegree from Wurzweiler in 1991.Since then, she has taught a range ofcasework, group work, and health-related courses, including ‘FamilySystems,’ ‘Social Work in Health Care,’
and the doctoral course ‘Ideology II.’Social work runs in the Becker-
man family: her father, Aaron, was onthe Wurzweiler faculty for 27 years,ten of which overlapped with herown tenure; her mother was a recre-ational therapist in a nursing home;and her late uncle, Hyman J.Weiner, was dean of the NYU Schoolof Social Work and a professor atColumbia University School ofSocial Work.
A medical social worker atMount Sinai Medical Center in NewYork City for five years before sheearned her doctorate, Prof. Becker-man retains a strong interest inethics and healthcare, and has pub-lished widely in the area. Her dis-sertation addressed the topic of“Ethical Dilemmas Facing Hospital
Social Workers: Implications.”“Hospitals are often less than
holistic in their view of eachpatient,” she said. “Sometimes,what the doctor thinks is importantmay come into conflict with socialwork values, such as informed con-sent or confidentiality.”
For instance, she said, if a patientis to be discharged into a poten-tially unsafe environment, socialworkers need to consider the emo-tional, social, and economic impli-cations to determine the patient’sbest interest.
In many cases, such choices are“not a question of right or wrong;you’re looking at the least harmfuloption. It’s a complex, life-and-death issue.” v
9W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
“ In an urban center such as New York City
all students will be working with families affected
by HIV at some stage of their careers.”
FACULTY UP CLOSE
Close toHome
BY KELLY BERMAN
Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, DSW, Wurzweiler’s new associate dean
1 1W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Wurzweiler School of SocialWork is situated in thepredominantly Latinoresidential neighborhoodof Washington Heights innorthern Manhattan. Thecommunity moves to therhythms of merenguemusic, spilling out of
passing cars or played by impromptugatherings on street corners. Bins ofCaribbean vegetables line the streets out-side supermarkets, where most storesigns are in Spanish.
After hosting waves of Greek andIrish immigrants in the early 20th cen-tury and German Jews fleeing NaziEurope in the 1930s and 1940s, Wash-ington Heights has become home tothousands of Spanish-speaking immi-grants from Mexico, the DominicanRepublic, and Puerto Rico, searching forwork and affordable housing.
This burgeoning Latino communityjust beyond Wurzweiler’s doorstep isbut one small spike in a massive nationalgrowth spurt. Latinos are the fastest-growing minority group in the UnitedStates. According to US Census Bureaufigures for 2000, the Latino populationhas grown from 22.4 million in 1990 to35.3 million in 2000, an extraordinaryjump of 57.9 percent. It’s a fact Wurz-weiler faculty are keenly aware of.
“The numbers are increasing in un-
precedented ways,” said Carmen OrtizHendricks, DSW, a 1993 doctoral gradu-ate of Wurzweiler who was appointedassociate dean and professor at theschool in July. “If this growth rate con-tinues, the Latino population is expectedto increase to 2050 or almost one quar-ter of the US population. But I thinkwe’re going to get there before 2050.”
Immigration is driving the numbers—more so than birth rate, Prof. Hen-dricks said. “There isn’t a single studentin this school who isn’t going to workwith Latino clients, because Latinos aregoing to be in every agency,” she said.“So how do we as social workersrespond to their needs?”
VALUE OF CULTURE
For the associate dean, herself a nativeof Puerto Rico, the answer lies in pro-viding culturally competent social ser-vices to the Latino population. Culturalcompetence entails more than speak-ing the client’s language. “It meansunderstanding the values of culture asperceived by the clients and appreciat-ing how culture guides behavior andgives meaning to life,” she said.
Prof. Hendricks has spent a signifi-cant portion of her career dealing withthis issue, helping to draft the NationalAssociation of Social Worker’s (NASW)Standards for Cultural Competence inSocial Work Practice (2001), consulting
with agencies on how to deliver cultur-ally sensitive services, training agencystaff, and developing and teaching aSpanish-language course for socialworkers. Her book, Intersecting ChildWelfare, Substance Abuse and Family Vio-lence: Culturally Competent Approaches,will be published in spring 2006 by theCouncil on Social Work Education Press.
“People don’t understand the kindsof services they’re getting because pro-fessionals don’t speak their language,”she said. “We need interdisciplinary peo-ple who are culturally and linguisticallycompetent, and who understand thediversity within the Latino community.”
Furthermore, the problem is exacer-bated by an underutilization of mentalhealth services by Latinos. “They’renot using them if they have them avail-able,” Prof. Hendricks said.
At stake, she believes, is the futureof the next generation of Latinos. “Weare faced with a serious dilemma forthe future. Who are these kids? What’shappening to them?” she said. “We’ll berelying on them as the future work-force, but we’re not paying themenough attention.”
Latinos are not well representedamong NASW members, and the gradu-ates and faculty of schools of socialwork, she pointed out. The New YorkCity Chapter of NASW and the PuertoRican Family Institute, Inc. convened
Latinos make up the fastest growing minority group in the
United States. Wurzweiler School of Social Work is uniquely
placed to reach out to this growing population and help solve
the problem of delivering much-needed services.
1 2W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
the Latino Social Work Task Force toaddress this shortage through strategiessuch as mentoring, outreach, and in-creasing financial aid. The Task Force isa coalition of educational leaders, NewYork City agency executives, and Latinosocial workers.
Prof. Hendricks, a founding mem-ber of the Task Force, compiled muchof the available data from the US Cen-sus Bureau, government offices, andprofessional publications into a posi-tion paper for the Task Force, entitled“The Supply and Demand for HispanicSocial Workers.” The report drawsattention to structural barriers con-tributing to the shortage of Latinosocial workers in the United States andsuggests a variety of ways to avert thecrisis. Social work schools, for example,should evaluate how they recruitLatino students and should securefunding for stipends and scholarshipsspecifically for them.
The report has been disseminated tothe deans of social work schools inNew York City and executives frommajor agencies. “The agencies have beenusing the report to get more funding forservices for Latinos and to hire moreLatino social workers.” Prof. Hendrickssaid. “It has become their ammunition.”
WURZWEILER KUDOS
Prof. Hendricks and Wurzweiler’sDorothy and David I. Schachne Dean,Sheldon R. Gelman, also a member ofthe Latino Social Work Task Force,were honored by the Task Force earlier
this year for their contribution to thefield. Also among the group of hon-orees were two Latina doctoral gradu-ates from Wurzweiler—Evelyn Nieves’00W, PhD, and Evelyn Laureano, ’04W,PhD, who both lead agencies in theBronx, where Latinos represent 48 per-cent of the population according to the2000 US Census figures.
Both women are highly accom-plished in their fields. Dr. Laureano isexecutive director of NeighborhoodSelf Help by Older Persons Project(SHOPP), which provides social ser-vice programs for Latino elderly in theSouth Bronx. She sits on MayorMichael Bloomberg’s Senior AdvisoryCouncil for the Department for theAging. Dr. Nieves is executive directorof Fordham-Tremont CommunityMental Health Center, where she over-
sees 16 outpatient programs for adultsand children, substance abusers, andvictims of domestic violence.
Dean Gelman said he was com-pelled to get involved in the Task Forcebecause “Wurzweiler can help make acontribution to the Latino community,both specifically in Washington Heightsand more generally in the UnitedStates.”
STUDENTS IN THE FIELD
The school places a number of its stu-dents at settings in the local community,where they complete the field workportion of their master of social workdegree. “The placements keep us con-nected to the community,” said RonnieGlassman, DSW, Wurzweiler’s directorof field instruction. “We have forgedrelationships with agencies to broadenstudents’ exposure the local Latinopopulation and to show that we care.”
Wurzweiler’s Gerontology StudentProject clearly illustrates this collabora-tive dynamic. The school of social workestablished the project about 10 yearsago in partnership with the WashingtonHeights and Inwood Council on Aging(WHICOA), a coalition of more than 25agencies serving the elderly, to placestudents in community-based organiza-tions in need of trained social workers.The project receives funding everyyear to hire a roaming supervisor forthe students because the agencies arenot funded well enough to employ anMSW supervisor.
Susan Bendor, DSW, associate profes-
“There isn’t a singlestudent in this school
who isn’t going towork with Latino
clients, because Latinosare going to be in
every agency”.
—Carmen Ortiz HendricksAssociate Dean
1 3W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
sor at Wurzweiler and one of thefounders of the Gerontology StudentProject, said the students bring a valu-able range of services to their elderlyclients. “They run groups that no one hadthe opportunity or expertise to runbefore, and they provide more intensivecounseling to seniors getting basic ser-vices such as Meals on Wheels,” she said.
EXPERTISE AND ADVOCACY
Wurzweiler’s participation in WHICOAextends beyond its student placementshowever. Faculty members have servedon the council since the early 1970s,lending expertise and support to advo-
cate for the local elderly population.“Wurzweiler faculty provided testimonyto the New York City Council on theimpact of welfare reform on the elderly,”said Dr. Bendor, who co-chaired thegroup from 1994 to 2003 and is now amember of its executive committee.
When, for example, the Departmentof Aging wanted to substitute frozenmeals for the hot food served in theMeals on Wheels program in 2004, Dr.Bendor testified with the local commu-nity board that the elderly needed thehuman contact during the daily deliveryas much as the food.
FACULTY RESEARCH
Wurzweiler professors have also reachedout to the Latino community throughtheir research. David Strug, PhD, and
Susan Mason, PhD, have conductedstudies focusing on Latino elderly liv-ing in Washington Heights.
Professors Strug and Mason identifieda host of social service needs amongthis population in a study conductedover a six-month period from 2000–2001. They found a shortage of afford-able health and mental health care,adequate and affordable housing, bettersanitation, and help negotiating publicassistance. Social workers, they asserted,have an important role to play in help-ing Latinos overcome barriers such asa limited knowledge of English.
Subsequent studies by Professors
Mason and Strug have explored the in-fluence of culture on the reactions ofLatino elderly to stressful life events.In a study conducted in 2003–2004 thatthey presented at the GerontologicalSociety of America in November, theyfound that “destino,” or the belief thatevents unfold in a way intended byGod, may have helped some of theirLatino subjects cope with traumaticevents.
In a later study comparing the reac-tions of Latino and Chinese immigrantsin New York City to the Sept. 11 attacks,they demonstrated that this concept ofdestiny helped elderly Latinos dealwith the impact of the World TradeCenter tragedy.
Over the past five years, Prof. Strughas traveled to Cuba to research that
country’s approaches to public health,working with the elderly, and socialwork education.
“Cuban social work is communityoriented and stands in contrast to themore individual focus of social workpractice here in the United States,”Prof. Strug said. Much of his researchhas explored ways in which Cuban andAmerican social workers can learnfrom one another.
Recently, he led a team of facultyfrom Wurzweiler and YU’s Albert Ein-stein College of Medicine on a researchprogram in Cuba Dec. 5-9. They metwith public health practitioners and
social workers, and exchanged in-formation about community-basedapproaches to social work and healthcare with their Cuban counterparts.
Cuba is a long way from WashingtonHeights. But the lessons Prof. Strugand his colleagues learn there aboutdelivering health care and social ser-vices could help alleviate the shortageof such services among the growingLatino population in this country.Rather than build an ivory tower in themidst of this Manhattan neighborhood,Wurzweiler has opened its doors sothat its students learn about diversity,its faculty uncover new bodies ofknowledge, and the profession beginsto answer questions about the future ofthe Latino population in the UnitedStates. v
Susan Mason Ronnie Glassman Susan Bendor David Strug
1 4W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Reaping the Rewards
Wurzweiler yielded a bumper crop of graduates at its commencement ceremonies in May and July: altogether, 178MSWs and 11 PhDs were awarded. The school established two new awards this year to recognize students’ achieve-ments in the areas of gerontology and Jewish communal service. The speakers were agency executives Robert P.Aronson ’78W and Barry Shrage, who shared their insights about working with the Jewish and general communities.
MSW graduate Doretha Bryant
Ruth Stavsky graduated from Wurzweiler the same
day that her son, Jonathan, graduated from
YU’s Sy Syms School of Business Doctoral graduates (L-R): Naomi Katten, Myra Harris, Carolyn Gutman,
Varda Gilad, Michael Cronin, and Blenda Crayton
Recipients of the Faculty Award, pictured with Dean Gelman (L-R): Jonathan Zucker,
Marci Benzaquen, Diana Weilgus, Amanda Fialk, and Leonard Brill
May Commencement
“I dare any of the tough politicians who think they understand the realities of poverty to follow a social worker around for a day. They would learn just howtough you have to be to do our job.”
—Barry Shrage, President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
GRADUATION 2005
Ronette Bloom received a number of awards,
including the Research Award, presented here
by Associate Dean Carmen Ortiz Hendricks
GRADUATION 2005
1 5W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
“It all comes back to you, to each one of you.You must be absolutely committed to making adifference through your work, despite theobstacles you will certainly face. That is howwe build Jewish community.”
—Robert P. Aronson ’78W,chief executive officer of Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
Block Commencement
Robert Aronson ’78W received a Distinguished
Service Award from Dean Sheldon Gelman
Canadian graduates (L-R): Michelle Nagy, Lauren Greisman, and Jodi Robinson
WSSW’s assistant dean, Jade Docherty, graduated from the PhD program
1 6W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
efore she arrived in New YorkCity to begin classes in Wurz-weiler’s Block Plan in June,Michleen Khoury planned toreturn to Israel in the fall to
complete the field work portion of herMSW degree. But living in New Yorkchanged her perspective.
Shakespeare in Central Park, fla-menco dance performances, and Arabicmusic concerts gave this Palestinianstudent an appreciation of the city’scultural energy, but it was the oppor-tunity to work in a different place withnew methods of practicing socialwork that convinced her to stay.
Wurzweiler placed Ms. Khoury atSunset Terrace Family Health Center,an all-purpose mental health clinic atLutheran Hospital in Brooklyn. Shedoes case management and runs indi-vidual and group therapy sessions withmentally ill patients across a broaddemographic, including Hispanic andArabic clients.
“Most of my life I have only knownPalestinian or Jewish people in Israel,”said Ms. Khoury, who grew up inFassouta, a village in the north ofGalilee. “Meeting people from differ-ent backgrounds can open your mind.Social workers need to know how todeal with difference because if wejudge people, how can we work withour clients?”
After graduating with a Bachelor ofSocial Work degree from The HebrewUniversity in 1996 (entitling her tocomplete her MSW in a year ratherthan the obligatory two years), sheworked with developmentally disabledpeople at Elwyn El Quds in the OldCity of Jerusalem.
For five years thereafter, Ms. Khourycounseled battered women andhelped rehabilitate the relationship be-tween divorced parents and their chil-dren at The Family Center in EastJerusalem. She found her calling asan independent-minded Palestinianwoman helping her clients assertthemselves, whether that meant keep-ing the fabric of the family whole orchoosing to strike out on their own.
“Having my MSW, together withmy professional experience, will nodoubt widen my skills as a social work-er and a therapist,” she said.
For now, her work at Sunset TerraceFamily Health Center has presentedreal-life lessons in how the focus of
therapy needs to be on the client. Thetherapist and client at the clinic worktogether to devise and implement atreatment plan. “I am learning howtherapists must be highly conscious oftheir authority in the relationship anduse it only to promote the client’sinterests,” Ms. Khoury said. “The clientis an equal part in this process.”
She feels grateful to her clients forsharing their private, painful experi-ences with her. “I am witnessing howchildhood traumas, oppression, dis-crimination, and poverty break thehuman spirit and hinder people’s abil-ity to enjoy life and fulfill their dreams,”she said. On the other hand, she ismoved by her clients’ determinationto enjoy as much of life as they can.
“I will take so much from this wholeexperience of witnessing their struggleand reflecting on their pain with meto other places and points in my life,”noted Ms. Khoury, who graduates inMay. “It will contribute to my growthboth as a person and therapist.” v
From the Old City to New York CityBY KELLY BERMAN
B
“Having my MSW,together with my
professional experience,will no doubt widenmy skills as a social
worker and a therapist.”
STUDENT PROFILE
1 7W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Graduate studies at Wurzweiler gave
Vukani Nyirenda ’69W a footing in
the world of international social work
For Zambian native VukaniNyirenda, DSW, ’69W, Wurz-weiler School of Social Workwas a gateway to a career ininternational social work. Heleft his home in 1967 to pur-sue an MSW at Wurzweilerafter studying with MortonTeicher, who took a sabbaticalfrom his duties as Wurzweiler’sfounding dean to help estab-lish the Oppenheimer Collegeof Social Service in NorthernRhodesia (as Zambia was then called).
The move prepared him to negotiate the twists and turnshis life would bring.
“My social work training at Wurzweiler turned me into achild of the world community,” he said from Inglewood, CA,where he settled after moving between the two continentsa number of times. “I had no problem adjusting, whether itwas in Zambia or elsewhere. Wherever I served, social workwas my weapon.”
One of the first of a group of Zambian students who fol-lowed Dean Teicher back to Wurzweiler for graduate studies,Dr. Nyirenda said he nonetheless always felt as if he were amember of the Wurzweiler family. He forged lasting friend-ships and joined his Jewish classmates for High Holidaycelebrations.
After graduating, Dr. Nyirenda set his sights on an acade-mic career in the United States while working at ShelteringArms Children’s Service in New York, where he helpedestablish a social group work program for foster children.
But change was afoot in Zambia and he was needed backhome. His alma mater, which had subsequently developedinto the University of Zambia, tapped him to be assistantlecturer in social work. Initially, he was reluctant to return.“I had laid out a vast array of research and my academicplans were advanced,” he said. “But my services and skillswere needed in Zambia and it was my honor to oblige.”
Dr. Nyirenda worked at the university for twenty years,during which he rose through the ranks to acting dean ofthe School of Humanities and Social Sciences, to registrar,and then to university secretary.
In 1988, he began a 10-year career in public service forthe Zambian government. He oversaw financial manage-ment, policy implementation, and personnel matters invarious government ministries. In the early 90s, he served
as secretary of the Constitution Committee, which pavedthe way for the return of multiparty democracy in Zambia.He held a similar position at the Civil Service SalariesCommission and was principal of the National Institute ofPublic Administration, which trained civil servants.
In his doctoral dissertation, completed at the Universityof California Los Angeles during a three-year return to theStates in the early 1970s, he advocated that social servicesin Zambia must be in tune with the cultural and socialneeds of the people being served. “Zambian social welfareservices were based on ancient and discarded British laws,”he said. “I recommended a revision of the planning processto come up with services that were useful. After all, youdon’t use foreign recipes and borrowed tools to create yourfavorite local dish!”
Throughout his career, he participated in regional andinternational conferences and organizations, and helpedfound the Association of Social Work Education in Africa.
In 1998, at his professional peak, Dr. Nyirenda was struckby meningitis, and suffered a significant hearing loss. Despitethe advanced technology of a cochlear implant, he was forcedto retire. He relocated to California to be nearer to his chil-dren and grandchildren.
With his medical condition limiting social work opportu-nities, the indefatigable Dr. Nyirenda began writing storiesfor children. One of his stories, “Too Clever By Half,” wasrecently published in an anthology, The Gathering of theMinds (San Francisco: Deadpoets’ Bazaar Publishing).
He draws on his own experience for his story ideas andis inspired by the rich storytelling tradition of African cul-ture. “Although my mother had no formal schooling, shewas a captivating storyteller,” he said. “Her stories madesuch an impression on me. Growing up in that environ-ment—now so far away from where I live—I learned a lotthat I want to share with others, especially children.” v
ALUMNI PROFILE
Out of Africa, aLifelong Dedicationto Social WorkBY ESTHER KUSTANOWITZ
1 8W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Thank you to our alumnidonors, who contributedto Annual Fund 2005(July 1, 2004–June 30, 2005)
Marynne Aaronson ’91WRabbi David B. Aberbach ’80WJanet S. Adler ’96WFelecie Akerman ’83WIrene G. Ash ’87WRabbi Abraham Avrech ’51WAri J. Bandler ’99WStacy Abroms Bandler ’99W Shira Carol Barnett ’78W Vivian Becker ’69W Nira Miriam Beer ’81W Sheryl Bellman ’72W Dr. Lois Bernabo ’79W Nina Deborah Bieler ’04W Yuditha R. Bienenfeld ’75W Michael A. Bierman ’81W Harriette L. Birnbaum ’79W Tracey A. Blumberg ’82W Renee Bomzer ’79W Zelda Braun ’70W Rabbi Abraham H. Bruckenstein’99W
Aidel Buchwald ’72W Heidi Carmel ’81W Rebecca Ciment ’97W Rabbi Herman Lester Cohen ’82W Jeremy Cohen ’82W Betsy Collins ’82W Annette Colton ’89W Richard A. Corman ’76W Pamela G. Cott ’83W Emily Damron ’84W Joel Daner ’62W Dahrys Druck ’73W Sheila B. Ebbin ’87W Nathan Etrog ’69W Melinda Dianne Fasman ’05W Elise Hahn Felix ’81W Adell Fine ’70W Dr. Mark J. Flanzraich ’79W Faith Fogelman ’76W Bryan B. Fox ’78W Robert Fritz ’85W Adina Faith Galbut ’97W Mildred Galonsky ’75W Paula Galowitz ’71WDonald Geller ’99WVictor B. Geller ’50WNechama H. Ginzberg ’93WIvan Joseph Godfrey ’98WRoberta I. Goldstein ’87WSorie Goldstein ’81WDr. William Goldstein ’62WLorie J. Gombin-Sperling ’79WJoshua Gortler ’60WRabbi Mel Gottlieb ’73WRegina Gradess ’76WShari Pearlman Gregory ’87WWilliam Gris ’99WSanford B. Gruenfeld ’93WRocco Guglielmo ’73WLynne Miller Guss ’80WSharon B. Harow ’96WRabbi Joseph Harris ’99WPatricia Cecile Harte ’79WCarol Anne Harvey ’99WAnn Heller ’82W
Julio A. Hernandez ’00WIngrid E. Herskovics ’80WSharon Herzberg ’81WEsther Heyman ’67WAnita Hilewitz ’79WDavid Himber ’82WIlene Himber ’82WMarvin Hochberg ’59WJennifer M. Hunter-Seaton ’90WBetsy Imershein ’77WJudah E. Isaacs ’86WNatalie Jacobson ’74WSheila Japko ’73WLeslie R. Kallus ’79WSimon Kaminetsky ’79WAmy Linda Katz ’78WJoan Sadinoff Katz ’80WPatricia L. Kent ’94WLydia L. Kievit ’85WKaren Stein Kissileff ’80WYona I. Kollin ’80WBarbara Korson ’93WLeslie Kozupsky ’80WMeri Kraidman ’62WFlorence Kraut ’76WLois Kroll ’78WEmma Leaf ’71WLouis I. Leeder ’87W Lynn Susan Levanda ’89WRabbi Hyman Levine ’82WJanice A Levy ’69WDr. Neal D Levy ’76WDelma A. Lewis ’88WEllen Lightman ’71WDr. Norman Linzer ’60WRhonda J. Liss ’99WDr. Elaine Marshack ’84WBen A. Mayer ’69WSheryl Millstein ’76WSusan Enid Mintz ’81WRabbi Meir E. Mitelman ’82WLisa Dale Moore ’78WFrady Moskowitz ’81WDr. Efrem Nulman ’81WJoan O'Donnell ’80WWilliam Olson ’81WSarah A. Orenstein ’77WNaomi S. Oxman ’81WHelga Pamm ’79WDr. Joan K. Parry ’83WGretchen Phillips ’72WAdeeva Pomeranz ’95WLinda Stein Poskanzer ’79WDebra L. Prince ’77WJinsheng Qiu ’99WSam Rausman ’78WRose S. Reiss ’67WMichael E. Rose ’89WDr. Dina J. Rosenfeld ’74WDaniel Rosenstein ’96WRabbi Michael S. Rosensweig ’86W
Dorothy G. Ross ’67WFrancine Ross-Laurence ’79WDebra Roth ’80WWilliam Rothchild ’63WDr. Eleanore Rothenberg ’92WMadlena Rozenblyum ’93WStephanie K. Sabar ’70WCecilia Sacharow ’66WHope Salmansohn ’78W
Barbara Sarah ’72WSusan G. Sawyer ’96WMiriam Schechter ’81WEsther M. Schlesinger ’80WRabbi A. Irving Schnipper ’50WLizbeth Schoen ’79WDr. Sybil Schreiber ’86WDr. Charles Schwartz ’61W Dorit Cohen Seed ’94WRabbi Hyim G. Shafner ’95WDr. Rebecca Shahmoon-Shanok ’70W
Donna J. Shakin ’80WBetty M. Shapiro ’71WRebecca Shein ’66WMina T. Shonek-Fund ’00WAbraham Siegelman ’63WEllen Rhoda Silberman ’83WDr. Edwin Simon ’75WDr. Alan M. Singer ’78WRichard Sipser ’78WRatzi Skovronsky ’97WLeah Slivko ’78WJudith B. Smith ’82WJudith Sue Sokolow ’79WRuth F. Solomon ’87WDr. Meryl Nadel Spigelman ’94WZvi S. Spiler ’76WGershon M. Steinberg ’88WIra J. Steinmetz ’60WMarjorie Stern ’76WDr. Frederick Jerome Streets ’81WLeah Stromberg ’80WSylvia D. Taubenfeld ’02WEthel Teichberg-Sabath ’96WLilly Tempelsman ’79WRabbi Isadore Tennenberg ’99WRobyn K. Teplitzky ’88WTheodore L. Thomas ’70WJoseph M. Tierney ’99WA. Lillian Trilling ’84WStuart D. Trosch ’86WEllayda Trubetskoy ’02WGene M. Tullio ’76WAdena Twersky ’82WJeffrey Michael Wallach ’79WRabbi Norman AvinoamWalles ’82W
Abraham J. Wasserberger ’74WAnita Weidman ’89WLiora Weinberg ’76WCaryl Paula Weinstein ’76WMuriel G. Weisel ’64WJoel A. Weisenberg ’64WLaurie Weiss-Braunstein ’84WRoselyn Weitzner ’76WSandra Wintman Welkes ’76WRabbi Michael JonathanWolff ’88W
Dr. Ludwig Wurzelmann ’85WJackie Youra ’82WRuth Zachary ’79WRabbi Philip W. Zimmerman ’99WMiriam Zuckerman ’72W
Thank you to the followingfriends and foundations, whosupported Annual Fund 2005
ACCU Weight Loss System/Dr. Charles Schwartz
Mr. and Mrs. David AlpertAmerican Economic Planning Group
Mr. and Mrs. Edward AnfangApollo Technologies International Corp.
Atran FoundationMr. and Mrs. Joseph BartlettRita C. BaumanMr. and Mrs. Andrew BenerofeBenito RistauranteMr. Madeleine Berley andMr. Arnold Penner
Mr. Herbert L. BlankDr. Allan J. Blau/Ramapough RiverCounseling
Dr. and Mrs. Eugene L. BodianEric S. BodnerMilton J. BornsteinMr. and Mrs. David B. ChapnickFred CohenCarol Smith DanielsDanzig Garubo & Kay, LLP/Mr. David L Kay
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. DavidsonDePaul Community Services, Inc.Kenneth DichterBruce Breimer and Lorna DoranShelly DubinDoris EhrlichRobert EhrlichCheri Ehrlich EisenIrving A. FayeMr. and Mrs. Noel M. FranceseDr. and Mrs. Sheldon GelmanFred Geller Electrical, Inc.Geriatric Resource Consultants/ Sam Rausman
GMA Electrical Corp.Estate of Lilian Kitt GoldenMyron GreennshnerMr. and Mrs. Martin GrossRuth GrupperElaine HalperKaren HeiligClaire HershHughes, R. K. Inc./Mr. Robert Hughes
Gustave M. JacobsJewish Fed Of Greater Clifton-Passaic
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. JosephJ.R. Realty Associates, LLC/Mr. Jamie Ross
Mr. and Mrs. Saul KaganJoel KarppFerne KatlemanHenry KatzDeborah KazisGordon KeilAaron KianofskyMr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. KobrinMollie KornbluthNancy S. KridelDr. and Mrs. Ira KukinBruce Leff
Mindy B. LewisMr. and Mrs. Vincent LoiaconoCecile E. MactaggartMr. and Mrs. Scott D. MargolisEvelyn and Martin MayblumMeisel Tuteur & LewisRichard L. MillerMinneapolis FoundationJudith MoskovitzAlan NorthGeorge M. NullOcean PsychotherapyJonathan W. PappPark West - Riverside ChapelsPodvey Sachs Meanor CatenacciMilton PolevoyMr. and Mrs. Henry PollakMr. and Mrs. Steve PollakMr. and Mrs. William M. PollakDavid M RaimResults Staffing, Inc./Mr. David Epstein
Mr. and Mrs. Peter RhulenIrving M. RosenbaumDoreen RosenbergMr. and Mrs. Robert RosenbergBeverly RothDr. and Mrs. David I. SchachneJoan SchapiroMr. and Mrs. Stuart SchapiroWolf ScheckBetty SchiffRudy SchottJacob SchusterDr. and Mrs. Robert SchwalbeMr. and Mrs Jerry SchiffCarmi SchwartzArthur ShankmanWilliam SilversteinSisters of the SorrowfulMother/Dr. Thomasina GebhardCharles SmithTerrence M. SmithMr. and Mrs. Harvey F. StraussAnnette StreetsMaurice TempelsmanTemple Beth ShalomAndrew TischDr. Charles TrentLloyd TrotterUnited Jewish CommunitiesRuth Warshauer-MetzgerMarshall WeinbergFritz WeinschenkMr. and Mrs. Joseph WilfLeonard WilfDorothy ZaroEli ZborowskiZwicker Electric Co., Inc./Mr David Pinter
Thanks for Your Generosity
WSSW DONORS
1 9W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Students ReceiveGrants from theJewish Foundation forEducation of Women
Two Wurzweiler students recentlyreceived generous grants fromthe Jewish Foundation for Edu-cation of Women, one of Wurz-weiler’s partners in pursuing its
mission to promote the advancementof social work.
“The support that the foundationhas provided in scholarship assistancehas made it possible for women in spe-cial circumstances to complete theirsocial work education,” said Sheldon R.Gelman, Dorothy and David I. SchachneDean.
The grant recipients are second-yearstudents who have demonstrated bothacademic achievement and financialneed. One of the two grants is designatedfor a student specializing in gerontology.
“This fits our school’s new designa-tion as a Council on Social Work Educa-tion/Hartford Foundation Gero-EdCenter,” Dean Gelman said.
By providing scholarship assistancefor higher education to women withfinancial need in the New York Cityarea, the foundation helps women ofall ages attain the education they need to
make them productive, economicallyindependent members of the commu-nity, said Marge Goldwater, the foun-dation’s executive director.
“We provide scholarship assistancefor women training to enter professionsthat are not terribly remunerative—such as the performing arts, math andscience teachers in the public schoolsystem, and social work,” she said.
“We’re committed to helping socialwork students because typically theydon’t earn a lot of money and if they’resaddled with debt when they graduate,there will be pressures for them to leavethe field to pay it off. We don’t want thatto happen because we believe they do alot of good in the world.”
In addition to these two scholarships,many Wurzweiler students receive jointUJA-Federation Biller/JFEW scholar-ships.
The Jewish Foundation for Educa-tion of Women was founded in NewYork City in 1880 as the Louis DownTown Sabbath School for the purposeof helping under-privileged children ofJewish immigrants on the Lower EastSide. From 1895 to 1932 it was knownas the Hebrew Technical School forGirls and offered courses in commer-cial and industrial arts to youngwomen. In 1932 its board of directorsclosed the school and developed in itsplace a program of direct scholarshipassistance to women. v
Wurzweiler Schoolof Social WorkBOARD OF GOVERNORS
Robert Schwalbe, MSW, PhDChair
Joan Sadinoff Katz, ’80W*Vice Chair
Arthur JosephTreasurer
Herbert BarbanelSecretary
Joan O’Donnell, ’80W*Assistant Secretary
David I. SchachneChair Emeritus
Janet Adler, ’96W*David A. AlpertEdward AnfangJoseph BartlettFroma Benerofe*Madaleine Berley*David B. ChapnickJoel Daner, ’62W*Philip P. GoodkinRichard M. JoelSaul KaganLawrence KobrinMeri Kraidman, ’62W*Ira KukinRobin Hirtz Meltzer, PhDEileen RhulenPeter RhulenIrving M. RosenbaumElaine J. Schott*Lilly Tempelsman, ’79W*Morry J. WeissRoselyn Weitzner, ’76W*
Ira YavarkovskyHonorary Governor
* MSW
Alumni Gatherings
Wurzweiler reached out to alumni acrossthe country at gatherings in Boca Raton,FL (January 6), Miami, FL (January 10),Great Neck, NY (March 20), Boston, MA(16 May), Toronto (May 24), and SanDiego (Nov. 11, 2004).
Special thanks to the following people,who helped organize the events: Dr.Jaclyn Faffer ’82W; Gary BomzerYH,’79W; Joan Sadinoff Katz ’80W, WSSWboard vice chair, and husband Henry;Eleanor Shrage’76W and husband Barry;Stuart Razin ’63Y,F, national director ofCanadian Friends of Yeshiva University.
The Annual Fund 2006 campaign is under way! Yourgift is vital to ensuring that students benefit from the same quality educationthat you received. In addition to the monetary value of your contribution,the support and energy of Wurzweiler’s alumni is an indication that ourgraduates remain committed to the unique dual mission of our school,which continues to have an impact on the face of social work worldwide.
There are several convenient ways for you to give: send in a donationin the enclosed envelope, contribute online by visiting www.yu.edu andclicking on “Giving Online to YU”, or contact WSSW director of alumnirelations, Patricia Fitzgerald, via email at fitzgera@yu.edu or by calling212-960-5400, ext. 5779. We’d love to hear from you!
As you think about a contribution, please give special consideration tothe Dr. Margaret Gibelman Memorial Doctoral Scholarship Fund.
Thanks!
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2 0W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Wurzweiler’s board of governors hon-ored fellow board member Saul Kaganand remembered the late Fredda S.Leff ’78W, also a board member, at aDinner of Tribute June 28.
About 200 people—includingYeshiva University President Richard M.Joel, Wurzweiler and other YU boardmembers, and friends and members ofthe Leff and Kagan families—gatheredat the Pierre Hotel in New York City.
Ms. Leff served on Wurzweiler’sboard from 1990 until her untimely pass-
ing from pancreatic cancer in 2004. TheLeff family generously committed a giftin her name to support a PresidentialFellow at the university. This year, thefellow is in the office of Sheldon R.Gelman, Dorothy and David I. SchachneDean (see page 5).
Mr. Kagan received a HumanitarianAward for his more than 50 years offighting for compensation for JewishHolocaust victims. A member of Wurz-weiler’s board since 1986, Mr. Kagan isexecutive vice-president emeritus of
the Conference on Jewish MaterialClaims Against Germany (see profile onopposite page).
Proceeds from the dinner wenttoward supporting the Fredda andBruce Leff Jewish Communal ServiceScholarship, the Michael Kagan Mem-orial Scholoarship Fund, and otherscholarships at Wurzweiler.
Special thanks to dinner chair andboard member Elaine Schott for herleadership in planning and coordinat-ing this event.
Dinner of Tribute to Fredda Leff and Saul Kagan
Fredda Leff’s family—son, Matthew; daughter, Fara; and husband, Bruce.
Saul Kagan, standing, with members of the Conference
on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Gustov
Jacobs, Julius Berman (board chair of Rabbi Isaac
Elchanan Theological Seminary) and his wife, Dorothy
(board vice chair of Stern College), Eli Zborowski, and
Fritz Weinschenk.
President Joel presented the
award to Saul Kagan.
Leslie Waltzer Pollak, WSSW director of
institutional advancement, with Bruce Leff and
WSSW board chair Robert Schwalbe, PhD.
2 1W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
LEADERSHIP PROFILE
Finding a Measure ofJustice for Nazi Victims
Saul Kagan is renownedfor his efforts to securereparations for Holocaustsurvivors and their fami-lies. But many people
don’t realize that he has also been amember of Wurzweiler’s board ofgovernors since 1986.
It is a natural fit, said Mr. Kagan,who points out that social workersplay a key part in developing pro-grams that help Holocaust survivors.
“We depend on social workers inthis country and worldwide to helpadminister social care programs forHolocaust survivors and counsel in-dividual survivors who, due to theirincreased physical and emotionalfrailty, still need therapy,” Mr. Kagansaid.
He is especially proud to be asso-ciated with Wurzweiler because ofthe school’s emphasis on service tothe general as well as Jewish andHolocaust survivor communities.
Mr. Kagan’s own life reflects hispersonal commitment to publicservice.
Born in Vilna, Lithuania, he cameto the United States before PearlHarbor. After the Japanese attack,he enlisted in the US Army andreturned to Europe. It was there thathe had the experiences that wouldmold the rest of his life.
Fighting his way from France in-to Germany during the last monthsof the war, he saw the survivors ofNazi brutality as they were liberated.“This sight and memory one cannever forget,” he said.
It became Mr. Kagan’s life’s workto help bring “a measure of justice”to victims of Nazi persecution.
Shortly after World War II ended,Mr. Kagan began working for the USMilitary Government in Germany.His initial task was to research the“Aryanization” of Jewish property—a term for the Nazi theft of Jewish-owned assets.
His research helped recoverJewish property and documentedthe Nazi regime’s economic crimes,which provided material for theNuremberg war crimes trials. Hewas subsequently promoted tochief of financial intelligence.
In August 1948, Mr. Kagan tooka year-long leave of absence frommilitary government to assist in theoperations of the Jewish RestitutionOrganization in Germany, the firstJewish organization dedicated to therecovery of heirless and unclaimedJewish property in Germany.
“That year-long leave of absencecontinues to this day,” he said.
This led to his association withthe Conference on Jewish MaterialClaims Against Germany, whichwas established in 1951, the yearthe first postwar chancellor ofGermany accepted that country’sresponsibility to pay reparations forwrongs perpetrated by the ThirdReich. Mr. Kagan became the con-ference’s first executive secretary.
He was a member of the ClaimsConference delegation that negoti-ated the Luxembourg Agreementswith the German Federal Republicin 1952, as well as subsequentnegotiations concerning propertyrestitution, individual compensa-tion, and global payments for thebenefit of Jewish victims of Nazipersecution.
Mr. Kagan is also executive vicepresident emeritus and specialconsultant to the Committee forJewish Claims on Austria, whichnegotiated with the Austrian gov-ernment to compensate Nazi vic-tims from that country.
Now 83, Mr. Kagan stresses thatthere are still many thousands ofHolocaust survivors in desperateneed of help.
“After the fall of the Sovietempire, we gained access to sur-vivors who experienced doubletrauma: Hitler and the Soviet sys-tem,” he said. “For nearly 50 years,these people received no compen-sation from West Germany, and EastGermany refused to accept anyresponsibility.”
“This year the world marked the60th anniversary of the liberation ofNazi concentration camps. Muchremains to be done, especially inEastern Europe. We owe this to thesurvivors and to the memory of thesix million,” Mr. Kagan said. v
. . . . . . . . . . . .
BY MARCY FRANK
2 2W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
1960s
Harriet Burns Pappenheim ’68W,
a self-employed psychotherapist
and psychoanalyst, is the co-
author of Bringing Home the
Bacon: Making Marriage Work
When She Makes More Money
(HarperCollins, 2005). She lives
in New York City.
William Rothchild Y,’63W was
appointed executive director,
Toward a More Perfect Union
(TMPU), a non-profit organization
that he helped found in 2000 and
that promotes civic participation
and open dialogue among com-
munities in Palm Beach County, FL.
Previously, he was director of
development/principal gifts and
foundations at the University of
Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive
Cancer Center. He also held lead-
ership positions at the Anti-Def-
amation League in New York and
West Palm Beach for nine years.
Muriel G. Weisel ’64W has been
working with Selfhelp Community
Service in New York City since her
Wurzweiler graduation 40 years
ago. She works exclusively with
Holocaust survivors. She lives in
Riverdale, NY.
Terry (Reitman) Zalma ’67W retired
as a credentialed alcoholism and
substance abuse counselor at
Zucker Hillside Hospital/Mineola
Community Treatment Center,
where she also served as field
instructor to MSW students and a
faculty field liaison at Adelphi
School of Social Work. She runs a
private practice for individuals,
couples and families, focusing
on relationship issues, substance
abuse, and mental/emotional
dysfunction, in Baldwin, NY.
1970s
Rima (Greenberg) Caspary ’77W
is a psychoanalyst in private
practice in New York City.
George J. Friedman ’77W is a
supervisor and child evaluation
specialist at the Administration
for Children’s Services in New
York City.
Dr. Martin Garfinkle ’76W is
associate professor and chair of
the human services department,
New York City College of Tech-
nology in Brooklyn.
Michael Hyman ’75W, executive
director of the Cleveland Jewish
Community Center, was featured
in the Cleveland Jewish News in
February. According to the article,
membership increased by 20
percent and retention to between
60 and 70 percent during his first
year at the JCC. He instituted a
budget that significantly reduced
the JCC’s deficit, oversaw the sale
of a building, relaunched the JCC’s
cultural arts program, and began
moving the JCC’s preschool pro-
gram into a different building. He
was previously executive vice
president of the JCC in Buffalo, NY.
His work in the JCC movement
grew out of a scholarship com-
mitment to the national JCC Asso-
ciation that he spend two years
working at a JCC after graduating
from Wurzweiler.
Carol Kamine-Brown ’74W is
executive director of Concerned
Home Managers for the Elderly, a
home healthcare agency, licensed
by NY State Department of Health,
specializing in care for the frail
elderly and people with Alzheimer’s
disease. She also has a psycho-
therapy practice in Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn, and serves as an IPRD
consultant, evaluating patients
for nursing home placement.
Bruce Karp ’70W is a self-employed
social case worker who does
individual, marital, and family
therapy, early intervention, and
geriatric social work supervision.
Sara Mills-Cohen ’73W is a school
social worker at Putnam-Northern
Westchester Board of Cooperative
Education Services, where she
deals with special-education and
mainstream elementary students
and serves as the clinical team
coordinator for staff training. She
lives with husband Bob Cohen in
Croton-on-Hudson, NY, and has two
children, Evan, who graduated
from Brandeis University in May,
and Arielle.
Dr. David Ribner Y,R,BR’74W and
wife Mindy (Ganz) ’74S,B, who
live in Jerusalem, celebrated the
birth of a grandson.
Nava Rephun YH,’76W presented
marriage workshops at the
Sephardic Bikur Holim in Brooklyn,
NY; Cong. Shomrei Emunah in
Englewood, NJ; and Bayit Vegan,
Jerusalem. She is a licensed clini-
cal social worker and a certified
Imago Relationship Therapist
with a private practice in NYC.
Marjorie (Vezer) Skutelsky ’78W
is executive director, South Shore
Association for Independent Living,
a mental health agency providing
residential services and clinical
treatment in Nassau County. She
helped the agency grow from a
budget of approximately $300,000
to more than $4 million. She was
the former regional director for
Long Island at Association in
Community Living.
Lilly Tempelsman ’79W, WSSW
board member, is the compeer
coordinator at the Jewish Board
of Family and Children’s Services
in New York City, where she
recruits, trains, and supervises
volunteers, and matches them with
adults with a chronic mental ill-
ness who have been referred by
their therapists.
Dr. Meir Wikler ’72W, ’83W spe-
cializes in individual, marital, and
family therapy for Orthodox and
Chassidic clients in Brooklyn, NY.
Congratulations to him on the
marriage of son Yeshaya to Miriam
Baila Aron in March 2005.
Ruth Zachary ’79W is managing
member of Private Practice
Managed Care in Cliffside Park, NJ,
where she does financial, market-
ing, and administrative manage-
ment consulting for agencies,
social service and medical orga-
nizations, hospitals, and providers
of medical care and mental health
services. She is also an aspiring
fine arts photographer, and her
work can be seen at
www.ruthzachary.com.
1980sNancy Hilsenrath Abraham ’87W
runs a private practice in Great
Neck and Queens, NY, and works
with pediatric oncology patients
and their families at Winthrop-
University Hospital in Mineola, NY.
Previously, she was program
director, St. Vincent Services in
Brooklyn. She would love to hear
from her former classmates.
Barbara (Schwartz) Arfe ’80W is
a related service social worker at
the NYC Department of Education,
and a delegate in the United Fed-
eration of Teachers. She lives with
husband Louis Arfe ’73Y in New
York City.
Dr. Allan Barsky ’88W published
two textbooks, Alcohol, Other
Drugs, and Addictions, and Social
Work Education: A Student’s
Manual. Dr. Barsky is a professor
of social work at Florida Atlantic
University, where he teaches
CLASS NOTES
2 3W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
CLASS NOTES
In June 1940, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the consul-general ofPortugal in Bordeaux, defied his goverment’s ruling in order tosave thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied France. His act ofmoral courage went unrecognized for 55 years until an inter-national group, co-founded by Robert Jacobvitz ’75W, pressured thePortuguese government to reclaim Dr. Sousa Mendes’ reputation.
“Dr. Sousa Mendes consulted with his wife and children, andthey decided they had a higher value to uphold than thePortuguese government at the time,” said Mr. Jacobvitz. “I couldnot but work on their behalf.”
The Portuguese diplomat helped save the lives of about30,000 people—including 10,000 Jews—by issuing visas to thoseseeking safe passage through his homeland. But for defying gov-ernment orders, Dr. Sousa Mendes was dismissed from his job.
He fell into poverty and died a pauper in 1954. About 30 years later, Mr. Jacobvitz, then the executive direc-
tor of the Jewish Community Relations Council for Oakland,CA, read in a local newspaper about the efforts of Dr. SousaMendes’ son, John Paul, to clear the family name.
“I thought, if I were a Jew standing in front of his door at thetime and someone other than him had been in his place, I andmy children wouldn’t be alive today,” said Mr. Jacobvitz.
In 1986, Mr. Jacobvitz co-founded the International Commit-tee for the Commemoration of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendeswith John Paul and his wife Joan Abranches, and AnneTreseder, an attorney in San Francisco.
They worked with Jewish communities in Lisbon, France,and Canada, gained major media coverage, and rallied the sup-port of US politicians.
“We created a momentum and constituency for the family’scause that they never had,” said Mr. Jacobvitz.
Their efforts culminated in a public apology from MarioSoares, Portugal’s first democratically elected president, in 1995.During a ceremony at the Portugal National Theater in Lisbon,Dr. Sousa Mendes was awarded the Medal of Liberty, the coun-try’s highest civilian honor, posthumously and was advancedto the most senior grade diplomatic rating.
“The family now has a sense of satisfaction that the worldknows the pain they went through and the good work theirfather did,” Mr. Jacobvitz said.
For his efforts, Mr. Jacobvitz was awarded the Aristides deSousa Mendes Medal by the International Raoul WallenbergFoundation at the Museum of the Jewish Heritage in New YorkCity on April 6. The reception marked the opening of themuseum’s exhibit of the registry book used by Mr. SousaMendes for the first 2,000 visas issued.
Mr. Jacobvitz, now executive director of the BuildingOwners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Silicon Valley,said he was inspired by the man whose cause he championed.
“Dr. Sousa Mendes was one of those individuals who soughtjustice and truth in his life, no matter the consequences,” hesaid. “It was part of the fiber of who he was.” v
Robert Jacobvitz ’75W HelpsClear Holocaust Hero’s Name
professional ethics, conflict resolu-
tion, and addictions.
Marcia (Salmansohn) Bronstein
’83W was appointed vice presi-
dent for development, Jewish
Community Centers of Greater
Philadelphia, where she oversees
annual and capital campaigns,
grants, sponsorships, and endow-
ments. Previously, she was vice
president of institutional advance-
ment at Martins Run, a life care
community in Media, PA.
Ada (Gonzalez) Delgado ’82W is
a member of the school child
study team at Paterson Public
School in Paterson, NJ. She
assesses students to help deter-
mine eligibility for special instruc-
tional assistance. She also provides
Employee Assistance Program
services for one of the local
hospitals, and conducts drug
assessments of referred students.
Marci Mayer Eisen ’81W is coor-
dinating a new social justice
initiative at the St. Louis Jewish
Community Relations Council
after running family programs at
the St. Louis Jewish Community
Center for 24 years.
Wendy (Lache) Freund ’87W is
administrative supervisor of record
information, New York Foundling,
where she specializes in adop-
tion search and reunion. She also
runs a private psychotherapy
practice.
Anita (Charzinoff) Galvan-Henkin
’88W is a self-employed psy-
chotherapist in private practice
in Westport, CT. She specializes
in post-traumatic stress, anxiety,
and depression, and is certified
in psychoanalysis and EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitization
and Reprocessing).
Sister Thomasina Gebhard ’88W
was featured in The Star-Ledger,
January 2005. She is the director
of Partnership for Social Services
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Robert Jacobvitz, second from the left, with three of Dr. Sousa Mendes’
grandchildren.
Family Center in Franklin, NJ. In
2004, she was named New Jersey’s
Social Worker of the Year by the
state chapter of NASW, and a
“Hometown Hero” by Cub Scout
Pack 90 of Franklin for her many
years of charity work, particularly
with the Partnership’s food pantry.
Dr. Andrew R. Gottlieb ’82W is in
private practice in New York City
and on the editorial board of the
Journal of GLBT Family Studies. He
has published three books: Out
of the Twilight: Fathers of Gay Men
Speak (2000), Sons Talk About
Their Gay Fathers: Life Curves
(2003), and Side by Side: On
Having a Gay or Lesbian Sibling
(2005). He has two new projects
in the works: From the Inside Out:
Clinical Interventions with Families
of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender People and On the
Meaning of Friendship Between
Gay Men, both due out next year.
His publisher is The Haworth Press.
Rabbi Andrea Gouze ’83W, spiri-
tual leader of Congregation Shaare
Tefilla in Norwood, RI, was ap-
pointed director of pastoral care,
New England Sinai Hospital and
Rehabilitation Center. She is also
spiritual group facilitator at the
Jewish Seniors Agency in Provi-
dence and board member of the
National Association of Jewish
Chaplains.
Diane Gross ’87W works with
adults and latency-age children
in her private psychotherapy
practice in New York City.
Rabbi David G. Grossman ’80W
is director of pastoral services,
Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric
Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is also
heavily involved in Bikur Cholim
of Boro Park, which organizes
visits to Jewish hospital
patients.
Jackie (Buchman) Kaufman ’89W
is a child developmental social
worker in the Munroe County
school district in Rochester, NY.
Martin S. Neier ’82W was appoint-
ed regional director of the
Washington/Baltimore office of
American Associates, Ben-Gurion
University. His work focuses on
fundraising.
Robert Ornstein ’81W is a psy-
choanalyst in private practice and
a hospice social worker in
Mohegan Lake, NY.
Gail (Fenbert) Paige-Bowman
’86W is in private practice in
Norwalk, CT, and New York City,
where she specializes in addic-
tions and co-dependency, aging
issues, chronic illness, and spiri-
tual counseling for individuals,
groups, and couples. She
obtained her master’s degree in
divinity in 2002.
Diane (Grill) Penner ’81W is asso-
ciate professor of gerontology,
Hostos Community College (CUNY)
in the Bronx, NY. She developed,
and currently coordinates, the two-
year gerontology degree program.
Rabbi Samuel B. Rosenberg
’89W, spiritual leader of the
Elmora Hebrew Center in Elizabeth,
NJ, was honored by his synago-
gue for 25 years of service to the
Jewish people and the community.
A licensed clinical social worker
and certified family therapist, he
received certification as a psycho-
analyst from the Contemporary
Center of Advanced Psycho Analytic
Studies in 2004.
Laurence Segall ’84W is a geri-
atric care consultant at United
Methodist Homes in CT and Life-
care Inc. in CT and NY, and critical
incident/stress debriefing consul-
tant at United HealthCare. He lives
in Trumbull, CT.
CLASS NOTES
Hector Rivera CreatesReferral Website
The process of making social service referrals can some-times be time-consuming and inefficient. Recognizing anopportunity to improve this process, Hector Rivera ’99W
created a Web site to connectproviders more easily with theclients who need their spe-cialized services.
123Referral.com is a refer-ral system for social workers,discharge planners and virtu-ally anyone who is searchingfor services, local events, grantinformation, and employmentopportunities. It includes a
database of social work and child care referrals, a databaseof available grants, and a calendar of events, all of whichare free for both care providers and potential clients.
The site is designed to be as user-friendly as possible,said Mr. Rivera, assistant administrator at Casa Promesa,which provides long-term care for people living withHIV/AIDS.
“Not everyone can spend hours on the Internetsearching for information to help a client or friend,” hesaid. “The time factor is important for a fast and effectivereferral. With 123Referral, you do not have to subscribe.You log on, you search, and boom, you’re there.”
With new advertising revenue, the site will extend itsrange from the New York metropolitan area across theUS and into his native Puerto Rico, which is experiencinga rampant outbreak of HIV/AIDS, Mr. Rivera said.
“The need for services to this population is immi-nent,” he said, noting that substance abuse, methadonemaintenance, diabetes, and immigration “are becomingissues with no solutions on the island. Organizations sendclients to New York for services, but 123Referral.com willhelp address these issues for those who live there.”
Mr. Rivera encouraged organizations, professionals, andany other service providers to add listings for their ser-vices, post special events on the calendar, and search forgrants.
Mr. Rivera said his education at Wurzweiler inspired himto search for a way to improve the referral process.
“Our professors encouraged us to change the world byhelping others help themselves,” he said. “I am doing justthat.” v
2 4W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
2 5W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Frederick Jerome Streets ’81W,
’97W, chaplain of Yale University,
edited Preaching In the New
Millennium: Celebrating the Ter-
centennial of Yale University (Yale
University Press, 2005). The col-
lection includes sermons by Rabbi
Laura Geller, senior rabbi of Temple
Emanuel in Los Angeles; former
Yale chaplain William Sloane Coffin,
Jr.; and Rev. Peter Gomes, minis-
ter at the Memorial Church and
Plummer Professor of Christian
Morals at Harvard University.
Dr. Selma Willner ’86W runs a
private practice for adults from
her home in Port Washington,
NY. She also volunteers as a
speaker for the AARP.
Paulette (Hiller) Yaged ’80W runs
a private psychotherapy practice,
specializing in affective disorders
and working predominantly with
the Orthodox Jewish population.
She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with
husband Rabbi Moshe Yaged ’58Y,
’61R, a spiritual counselor at YU’s
MSTA-Yeshiva University High
School for Boys.
Dr. Stefan Zicht ’84W is a clinical
psychologist/psychoanalyst in
private practice. He is a faculty
member at William Alanson White
Institute, Manhattan Institute for
Psychoanalysis, and the Postgrad-
uate Center for Mental Health. He
co-chaired the annual meeting of
Division 39 of the American
Psychological Association in
spring, 2005.
1990sCynthia (D’Angelo-Cardinali)
Better ’96W is a psychotherapist
in private practice in River Edge,
NJ, specializing in sexual and
domestic violence, incest, trauma
intervention, and women’s issues.
She also runs a post-partum
depression group.
Arlene Brofsky ’98W is supervisor
of special education, Secaucus
Board of Education in Secaucus,
NJ. In addition, she is a therapist
for the Family Service League in
Montclair, NJ.
Alan E. Caro ’90W recently joined
Kol Shalom, a Conservative synago-
gue in Bethesda, MD, as principal
of its Talmud Torah and Hebrew
High School. He previously worked
at Jewish Community Centers, in-
cluding the Washington, DC JCC as
assistant executive director, High
Holiday program coordinator,
and Hebrew school teacher.
Marlene (Schweid) Charnizon
’90W is an associate editor at
Reed Business in New York City,
where she edits reviews of chil-
dren’s books for a library publi-
cation. She also works part-time
as a psychotherapist at the Wash-
ington Square Institute, where
she received her certificate in
psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
Aaron Cohen ’96W, a psychiatric
social worker at Health Insurance
Plan (HIP) of New York in Brooklyn,
specializes in treating dual diag-
nosis and psychiatric clients. Mr.
Cohen, a Jewish Quaker, describes
his practice as “spiritually-based.”
Sherri (Kilpatrick) Duchenne
’92W is coordinator of managed
care, Fordham Tremont Community
Mental Health Center. To keep her
skills sharp, she continues to
take courses in policy and com-
puter training.
Barbara (Buchsbaum) Gilford
’93W, who previously worked for
a behavioral health agency, now
has her own psychotherapy prac-
tice for individuals and couples.
Her specialties include treating
post-partum depression.
CLASS NOTES
Leslee Mavrovic Receives‘Top Ten Women in Queens’ Award
Leslee Mavrovic ’96W, DSW, vice president for social work services at Parker JewishInstitute in Queens, was recently honored by the Queens Courier Newspaper group asone of the Top Ten Queens Women in Business. The awards ceremony was attended by
local government officials, including New York City PublicAdvocate Betsy Gotbaum and Queens Borough PresidentHelen Marshall.
“I was delighted to be part of the group of award win-ners, women whose careers have improved the quality oflife in the communities in which we live and work,” said Dr.Mavrovic. Other honorees represented various fields inbusiness and health care, ranging from Citibank andConEdison executives to nurses and doctors.
The annual event is also a fundraiser; a silent auctionheld during the event helped to raise money for the School
for Language and Communication Development in Glen Cove, NY, a non-profit schoolfor children with language disorders.
Dr. Mavrovic earned her master’s degree from New York University and her DSWfrom Wurzweiler. She began her professional social work career as director of socialwork at Parker Jewish Institute 20 years ago, and has since become a passionate advo-cate for those in need of health care and rehabilitation.
In her job, she helps patients and families cope with the impact of aging, illness, disabil-ity, and institutional and community living. She is also responsible for patient satisfaction—the subject of her Wurzweiler dissertation—as well as the management and supervision of fivedepartments: social work, volunteers, admissions, psychological services and pastoral care.
Her research interests include Alzheimer’s disease, patient/family satisfaction, andadvance directives, and she has run workshops, seminars and presentations on thesesubjects throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties for various professional organizations.
A founding member and past chairperson of the Social Work South Council of theNew York Association of Homes and Services for the Aged, Dr. Mavrovic chairs the Satis-faction Measurement Committee of the Alliance for the Continuing Care Network. v
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2 6W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Dr. Rosalie (Russo) Gleicher
’95W and husband Adam Gleicher
’86Y, YU investment accounting
manager, celebrated the birth of
their first child, Max Joseph, in
December 2004.
Dr. Ivan Godfrey ’98W is a foren-
sic psychologist with the NYS
Office of Mental Health, where he
creates, develops, and enhances
supportive resources and services
for inmates returning to the com-
munity from state prison and
court jail.
Elka (Wolloch) Klarsfeld ’92W
is a social worker at the Hudson
Valley Dialysis Center, where she
provides counseling and concrete
and psychosocial services for
patients ranging in age from
19–90. She is married with two
daughters, ages 7 and 10, and
lives in Hartsdale, NY.
Shea Z. Lerner ’99W is director
of development, New York College
of Osteopathic Medicine/New
York Institute of Technology. He
lives in Plainview, NY, with wife
Pamela and son Noah Jacob.
Steven Lieberman ’93W is direc-
tor of social services, Sephardic
Bikur Holim in Brooklyn, NY,
where he does clinical work with
families, couples and individuals,
supervises other staff, and man-
ages the budget. He lives with
wife Sivia and three children in
Elizabeth, NJ.
Dr. Donald L. Paine ’97W, a certi-
fied clinical marriage and family
therapist with his own Web site
(www.paraklein.com), recently
married Deborah E. Goodwin, an
educator, in Gibraltar.
Alan J. Podber ’97W is a senior
supervisor of the home care ser-
vices program at NYC Human
Resources Administration. He is
a blues and old-time country
guitarist, and created the music
for the play “Wholly Mother
Jones,” a CD of which was
recently released by Green Eagle
Press (www.greeneagle.org).
Dr. Reuben Romirowsky ’98W left
his post as chief executive officer,
Jewish Family Services of
MetroWest, to become regional
director, UJA-Federation of New
York in Westchester. He lives in
Teaneck, NJ, with wife Diane and
his two daughters, Sjai and
Aliza.
Cecilia (Meyers) Sacharow ’96W
moved to Israel. Previously, she
was a guidance counselor at
Yeshiva Darchei Torah in Far
Rockaway, NY, and ran a private
practice specializing in marriage
and bereavement issues.
Gabriela (Kamensky) Sadote
Sleppin ’93W is assistant direc-
tor of program and budget,
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee in New York City,
where she oversees the system-
wide planning process.
June Ann Smith ’90W, PhD, asso-
ciate professor of education at the
C.W. Post Campus of Long Island
University, was awarded the uni-
versity’s 2005 David Newton Award
for Excellence in Teaching earlier
this year. Dr. Smith specializes in
counseling and development and
has coordinated the Mental Health
Graduate Counseling Program at
C.W. Post since 2002. In her pri-
vate practice, she provides family
and child adolescent counseling
as well as career counseling.
Paul E. Stevens ’90W is a super-
visor at the outpatient behavioral
health clinic at St. Joseph’s Medical
Center in Yonkers, NY. He married
Elena M. Rocco in June 2004.
Robyn (Kerzner) Teplitzky ’99W
is annual fund director, Hamden
Hall Country Day School in
Hamden, CT, and president, J&R
CLASS NOTES
Lynne Levy Brings Jewish Family Expertise to Wurzweiler
When looking for someone to teach the course“Jewish Response to Communal Needs,” Wurz-weiler tapped a woman who has been at theforefront of helping American Jews cope withmodern-day change. Lynn Levy ’98W, who taught
over the summer in the Block Plan, has been helping theUnion for Reform Judaism—the “home address” for the
largest Jewish movementin North America —to com-bat the growing problem ofdivorce within its con-stituency since 1999.
As the Union’s directorof premarital education,Ms. Levy drew heavily onJewish ethics and ritual tocreate a curriculum to helpengaged and newly marriedyoung couples strengthentheir relationship.
“We begin by exploringour expectations for mar-
riage and our families of origin, then move to communica-tion skills, highlighting the Jewish values of communicatingwith respect and honor,” Ms. Levy said.
They cover topics such as conflict and its successful reso-lution, the creation of the Jewish home and the partnershipof marriage.
Piloted at Union-affiliated synagogues in 11 cities, the curri-culum is now being promoted by the Union to the rest of itsmore than 900-member synagogues.
In the meantime, Ms. Levy, who trains facilitators and over-sees evaluation, is at work on a follow-up program. She is alsodeveloping a new curriculum to help empty-nesters bolstertheir relationship after their children leave home, and sheenvisions curricula for couples married three to five years,for blended families, and for teens thinking seriously aboutdating and marriage.
“My work is in the realm of strengthening Jewish fami-lies—helping them make healthy choices and encouragingthem to explore their Jewish identity,” Ms. Levy said.
This summer, Ms. Levy shared her experience and know-ledge with students in the Certificate program, addressingissues such as changes in the Jewish family paradigm andthe evolving needs of the American Jewish community. Herreturn marked her first experience as a classroom teacher,but not her last—she is back this fall to teach ‘Jewish SocialPhilosophy’ to a new group of students. v
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2 7W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
Consulting, a not-for-profit fund-
raising firm. She has earned state-
wide recognition for her work
with the Jewish community and
the Anti-Defamation League,
among other organizations. She
lives in Woodbridge, CT, with her
husband Jeffrey and two chil-
dren, Molly and Jacob.
Albert John Treadwell ’98W is a
clinical social worker at North
Shore Long Island Jewish Health
System/Zucker Hillside Hospital
in Glen Oaks, NY.
Regina (Palasek) Wall ’93W is a
psychoanalyst and psychothera-
pist in private practice and at
Family and Children Services of
Central NJ in Princeton.
Darcy F. (Shatkin) Wallen ’91W is
a social work consultant and
psychotherapist whose private
practice focuses on the Hasidic
community of Crown Heights,
Brooklyn. She runs parenting and
staff development workshops, and
travels throughout the US and
Canada providing Jewish educa-
tional workshops and groups. She
enjoys continued involvement with
Wurzweiler by supervising WSSW
students.
Lucy (Rosenberg) Wardimon
’94W runs a private practice and
mental health clinic in Tel Aviv,
Israel, where she offers psycho-
analytic and body-psychotherapy,
and trauma-centered therapy.
Lisa Weissbach-Efrat ’97W joined
the Jewish Family and Children’s
Service in New Jersey earlier this
year as coordinator of its Jewish
Family Life Education program
and Project SARAH (Stop Abusive
Relationships at Home) Domestic
Abuse Services. Before that, she
was a social worker at Woman
to Woman, a domestic violence
shelter in Israel.
2000s
Marjorie A. Allen ’04W is a social
worker in the family support unit
at the Metro NY Developmental
Disabilities Services Office in the
Bronx, NY.
Nicola Bingham ’02W is a super-
visor at the Administration for
Children Services in New York City.
She is also working with WSSW
professor Martin Birnbaum on a
steering committee at ACS to
revitalize group work services
within the agency.
Alison Brown ’03W is a social
worker at Covenant at South
Hills in Pittsburgh, PA. Among
her duties is helping to run the
Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support
Group.
Michael Cronin ’05W, DSW,
received the 2005 International
Rhoda G. Sarnat Award from the
National Association of Social
Workers Foundation in July for
advancing the public image of
professional social work. Since
1997, Dr. Cronin has been the
main representative for the Inter-
national Federation of Social
Workers, acting as the public
face of social work at the United
Nations. He is the social work
manager at St. Luke’s Roosevelt
Hospital Center in New York City.
In September, he became an
assistant professor of social
work at The Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey.
Faith (Zuckerberg) Fisch ’04W
is currently a full-time mother in
Brooklyn, NY.
Dr. Cesar Garces ’02W works in
the intensive care unit at Bronx
Lebanon Hospital Center in the
Bronx, NY. He also runs a private
practice at the Queens Neuro-
psychiatric Institute in Jackson
Heights, Queens, NY.
Judith L. Harris ’04W is a staff
attorney at the Juvenile Rights
Division of the Legal Aid Society of
New York, Bronx office, and a
member of the Social Welfare Law
Committee of the Bar Association
of the City of New York.
Frances K. (Eichholz) Heller ’03W
works as an oncology social
worker at NY Presbyterian
Columbia University Medical
Center in New York City.
Mandy (Belfer) Kaiser-Blueth ’03W
is planning and allocations asso-
ciate, United Jewish Communities
of MetroWest New Jersey.
Allison Predmore ’04W is family
specialist for the ACT Team at
Transitional Services in Jamaica,
Queens, NY, a program that pro-
vides services for persons affected
by severe mental illness. She is
also part-time service coordina-
tor, New Frontiers in TBI, in Man-
hattan, which serves people
affected by traumatic brain injury.
Marilyn Rivera ’03W, a social
worker at HHC/Gouverneur
Hospital in New York City, prac-
tices clinical social work in a
Spanish-language day treatment
program for the persistently
mentally-ill population.
Dr. Jessica Rosenberg ’03W co-
authored “No Need to Hide:
Out of the Closet and Mentally
Ill” in Best Practices in Mental
Health: An International Journal
(Winter 2005) and “Clinical Work
With Immigrants and Refugees:
An Ethnographic Approach,” in
Multicultural Perspectives in
Working With Families (Springer:
New York) in April. She is assis-
tant professor at Long Island
University. She and husband
Samuel Rosenberg edited Com-
munity Mental Health: Challenges
for the 21st Century (Routledge:
New York).
Sheilah Ann Rourke ’00W is
director of operations, America
Works of Albany, which provides
welfare-to-work services in Albany
County. She also works at
Altamont House, a not-for-profit
residential rehabilitation facility.
WE MOURN
Jeffrey M. Katz ’82W, who passed
away in December 2004. He was
a co-owner in the family business,
City Scrap & Salvage Co, and had
previously worked at JCCs in Akron,
NY, and the District of Columbia.
Ruth (Goldman) Miller ’65W, who
passed away in August 2005. She
was the wife of the late Rabbi
Israel Miller ’38Y,R, YU senior
vice president emeritus.
Maria McDonald West ’75W, who
passed away in March.
CONDOLENCES TO
Joan Beder ’93W, professor, on the
loss of her sister, Ellen Clements.
Judith Gottesman ’95W on the
loss of her father, Rabbi Aaron, a
chaplain of the San Diego police
and fire departments. San Diego’s
mayor proclaimed Aug. 4, 2003,
Rabbi Aaron Gottesman Day, and
he was 2004 Man of the Year in
Southern California’s St. Patrick’s
Day Parade.
Amanda Loving-Moses ’97W, and
Philip Loving ’98W, on the loss of
their father, David, a longtime
field instructor and advocate of
WSSW in South Dakota.
Susan Mason, professor, on the
loss of her brother, Theodore
Mason.
CLASS NOTES
I graduated from Boston UniversitySchool of Social Work in 1970, at a timeof anger and hope and revolutionarypromise. We protested against the warin Vietnam, the invasion of Cambodia,and the death of fellow students atKent State University in Ohio. The greatgift of growing up then was the beliefthat each of us individually and as agroup could make a difference.
So there I was in 1970, raised as anOrthodox Jew, but no longer practicing,committed to changing society but nolonger quite sure how to do it. Trainedas a group worker and a communityorganizer, I began working in a Jewishcommunity center with teenagers, whowere also confused and committed,seeking and searching.
My job was to help them stop usingdrugs, rejoin society, go to college, andlive normal productive lives. But ofcourse in 1970, Richard Nixon was the
President of the United States, the warstill raged on, and the society we wereasking those kids to rejoin seemed attimes unjust and alienating.
How do we heal our clients andchange our society at the same time?How can we find a way to live in theworld without accepting its injustices?
I began to believe that the idea ofcommunity itself provided a kind ofanswer. The teenagers I was workingwith needed to feel that they could beuseful. They needed to feel connectedto something larger than themselves.The more I worked with those teen-agers, the more I realized that none ofthis could take place outside the con-text of community and that helpingthem build community was about themost important thing I could do.
Since then we’ve come to under-stand even more clearly the power ofcommunity to provide meaning andvalues for ourselves and our children.Through the work of brilliant writersand researchers like Robert Bellah andRobert Putnam, we’ve learned that com-munity is becoming increasingly frag-ile in America with devastating resultsfor the stability of our families.
The deterioration of community alsoexacerbates social inequality and injus-tice. How can we raise children to be-come responsible adults in the absenceof positive community norms and val-ues? How can even the best education,job training, welfare or social programssucceed in a chaotic environment with-out the support of community?
For the last 30 years I’ve workedwithin the Jewish community and I’ve
come to believe that communities offaith remain the most powerful institu-tions of community development andstrength in American society.
In the 19th century, Alexis deTocque-ville noticed that interlocking commu-nities of caring and civic responsibilityformed the basis of America’s civilsociety and capacity for cohesion inthe face of our wild diversity.
Two years ago, at the beginning ofthe 21st century, Nancy Tatom Ammer-man’s groundbreaking study, “Congre-gation and Community,” revealed thatreligious institutions were the mostimportant and widespread form of face-to-face community in America. Sheasserted that churches in America areuniquely open and connected acrossdenominational lines, transformingparticularistic religious experiencesinto opportunities for unity.
With its tradition of religious toler-ance, democratic values, and civil soci-ety, America may well representhumankind’s best hope for a world inwhich pluralism is a real alternative toreligious fundamentalism as a path toGod. As we strengthen congregationallife and pluralistic communities of faith,we also strengthen America’s handagainst fundamentalism and terrorism.
One core belief is central to theHebrew Bible of Moses, the Gospels ofChristianity, and the Koran of Moham-mad: a community of faith must be acommunity of justice. The God we allbelieve in hears the cry of the poorand oppressed and will hold thosewith power responsible for their suf-fering. And in these dangerous times Ibelieve that good people of faith mustjoin together to create a religiousworld view in which religious murderbecomes impossible. We must take ourfaith and our communities back fromthose who believe otherwise. v
Barry Shrage, MSW, is president of Combined
Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. This
article was adapted from his speech at Wurz-
weiler’s commencement in May 2005. His
wife, Eleanor ’76W, is a WSSW alumna and
his daughter, Nili Sarles, is a student.
2 8W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E
PERSPECTIVE
Keeping the FaithBY BARRY SHRAGE
Religious communities have always offered cohesion and
comfort. With the rise of fundamentalism, that role has
taken on new meaning, says Barry Shrage.
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