The Commentator Welcomes Dean Cypess to YU: Part I
Rivka Krause: How do you envision your first few years at YU going?
Dean Rebecca Cypess: First, I’d like to express my enthusiasm and deep gratitude for having been appointed to the role of Dean of Yeshiva College and Stern College. President Berman, Provost Botman, and the rest of the university’s senior leadership have articulated a bold and compelling vision for the university as a whole, and I am deeply honored that they have invited me to join the team by working on behalf of our two undergraduate colleges of liberal arts and sciences. I am grateful for all the work that Dr. Karen Bacon, now Vice President for Academic Affairs, did in her decades of selfless and visionary service as Dean. I am committed to collaborating with all these leaders — and crucially, with the leadership of the yeshiva — to advance a shared vision for our students and our institution as a whole.
Broadly speaking, my job as Dean is to help Stern College and Yeshiva College renew and articulate their mission, then to set and implement goals that facilitate the realization of that mission. Everyone has a stake in this process — students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and overseers, Roshei Yeshiva and rebbeim, the wider university, and the broader community. It requires that we all come together to chart a course for the future; that’s how I anticipate spending much of my first few years. It will take significant time and collective effort, but my experience has shown me that it will bear fruit in the long run.
To that end, my first steps are to listen, watch, and learn. Yeshiva University is a very complex institution, and it’s important for me to understand the university from the inside. There are so many people doing excellent work on behalf of Stern College and Yeshiva College; I am in the process of meeting them, learning about their contributions to the colleges’ programs, seeing how they work together, and looking for opportunities to collaborate in the service of the colleges and their students.
RK: What is your educational vision for Yeshiva College and Stern? What is your religious vision for YU?
DC: My educational vision and religious vision are one and the same. I am deeply committed to the pursuit of knowledge, both through expansive study of classical Jewish texts and tradition and deep, open-ended inquiry in the sciences, social and behavioral sciences, arts, and humanities. The education that we offer, rooted in the ideals and principles of Torah, must foster in our students a love of learning and a responsibility to serve humanity. I wrote about the unique and vital role of Stern College and Yeshiva College in an article that I published in Tablet when I started my new job over the summer. I think these ideas resonate with the five Core Torah Values articulated by our university’s president, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, and expounded upon in his book The Final Exam. These five principles — Emet, Chaim, Adam, Chesed, and Zion — offer a grand, overarching framework within which to construct our lives as learners and as citizens of the world.
When I characterize the ideal education as “expansive” and “open-ended,” I mean something specific that can be applied in all areas of study: Education is not just about repeating information already discovered and processes already developed, but about gaining the knowledge, skills, and patterns of thought that enable us to ask new, generative questions. Through exploration, experimentation, discussion, debate, and the open exchange of ideas, we are capable of creating knowledge. This kind of intellectual creativity may be understood as a manifestation of the idea in Bereshit Rabba 3:9 that “from the beginning of the creation of the world, the Holy One blessed be He desired to enter into a partnership with the creations below.” HaRav Joseph Dov Soloveitchik zt”l, whose mastery of Torah and secular wisdom is unmatched and difficult even to quantify, was clear that this idea of learning as a creative act refers not only to Halakhic Man’s innovation in the study of Torah, but also his study of the sciences, including the natural world, medicine, and technology. And, in his moving essay “The End of Learning,” HaRav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l articulated with incisive clarity the need for the deep study of literature, history, philosophy, and other humanities disciplines as a means of discovering our tzelem Elokim, the “upper rungs” of God’s handiwork.
RK: What sort of role do you think YU should play in the larger Jewish community?
DC: Yeshiva University is not just an educational institution; it is a living archive of Jewish tradition and a beacon that guides the Jewish people toward a bright future. Yeshiva College and Stern College play a critical role in opening pathways of education and opportunity for their students and in forging the Jewish leaders of tomorrow — leaders who are committed to Torah and the pursuit of wisdom, leaders who engage deeply with the world through the framework of YU’s Core Torah Values.
RK: At the end of their undergraduate experience at YU, what would you like students to have gained?
DC: Beyond what I’ve already mentioned — my hope that all Yeshiva College and Stern College graduates will be deeply committed to knowing the world and to serving others — I think it’s very important that our students learn what it means to lead a life of responsibility. So much of secular society today asks, “What do other people owe me? What is due to me?” Jewish tradition asks the opposite: “How can I serve? What is my duty?” When we produce graduates who feel that sense of duty — duty to a life of Torah, duty to others — we have the potential to create a kiddush Hashem and to change the world.
RK: What is your leadership philosophy? And who are your leadership mentors?
DC: My leadership philosophy is that of the “servant-leader.” In this model, I am not here to dictate policy unilaterally, but to guide, to ask questions, to facilitate, and to support excellence wherever it appears. I was mentored in this philosophy by the dean with whom I worked at Rutgers, Dr. Jason Geary, who saw potential in me and who has always been — and continues to be — very supportive.
More broadly, I have been blessed with countless teachers and mentors over the years who have taught me to love learning and discovery. This is what drives me to serve as an academic leader even as I continue my own research (when I have time). It’s also a fundamental principle that my husband and I have tried to teach our own children.
RK: As you’ve mentioned, the response to October 7th and campus antisemitism at Rutgers is what pushed you to apply for this position. How do you think the YU community can help students who are facing antisemitism on other campuses?
DC: To be clear, I would have been interested in the position of dean at Stern College and Yeshiva College under any circumstances. I view Yeshiva University as an anchor institution of the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S. and one that embodies the ideas that have been central to my life. (That’s why I earned a master’s degree from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies under the guidance of Dr. Richard Steiner, even though the program was unrelated to my graduate study in music.) However, it’s true that the timing of this job worked out perfectly for me, given all that has happened at Rutgers since October 7, 2023, and I feel extremely fortunate in that respect.
After October 7th, as I was struggling with antisemitism at Rutgers and across academia, I was buoyed by Rabbi Berman’s leadership: he built a coalition of universities, reached out to political and intellectual leaders, and appeared in news outlets to call out hatred. That was more than two months before I knew about the search for a new dean at Yeshiva College and Stern College. From my vantage point at Rutgers, I looked to YU for strength and valued its role as a beacon for Jews throughout higher education. In the months and years ahead, I hope I can contribute to YU’s role not just as a safe haven, but also as a leader of individuals and institutions seeking to disrupt and eradicate antisemitism.
RK: What are you most excited for in this new role? DC: Above all, I am excited to get to know the students and faculty here. I’m also excited for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead: What does a Yeshiva College/Stern College education look like in 2025, 2030, and beyond? How can we foster excellence in all disciplines and promote cross-pollination between Jewish and secular learning? How do we educate the complete student — one who strives for a life of Torah, intellectual curiosity, and ethical behavior, one who serves as a force for good and a “light unto the nations”? These are the big questions that motivate me.
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Photo Caption: Dean Cypess
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University
