Beckerman, N.L. (2001). Couple therapyand depression: Assessment and treat-ment approaches. Family Therapy,28(1), 19-29.

Beckerman, N.L. (2002). Couplescoping with discordant HIV status.AIDS Patient Care, 16(2), 57-61.

Beckerman, N.L. (2002). Couples ofmixed HIV status: Psychosocial issuesaffecting intimacy. Journal of Coupleand Relationship Therapy, 1(4), 89-101.

Beckerman, N.L., & Sarracco, M.(2002). Emotionally focused couplestherapy: Intervening with anemotionally abusive couple. TheJournal of Couple and RelationshipTherapy, 1(3), 57-70.

Beckerman, N.L. (2002). Informed con-sent: An overview. Encyclopedia ofDeath and Dying (pp. 842-861). NewYork: Gale Publishing.

Beckerman, N.L. (2002). Intimatesexual violence in the United States:Social work and family therapyinterventions. The Journal of SexualAggression, 8(1), 23-36.

Caputo, R.K. (2001). Depression andhealth among grandmothers co-resid-ing with grandchildren in two cohortsof women. Families in Society: TheJournal of Contemporary HumanServices, 82(5), 473-483.

Caputo, R.K. (2001). Economic mobilityin a youth cohort. Journal of Poverty,5(3), 39-63.

Caputo, R.K. (2002). Adult daughters asparental caregivers: Rational actorsversus rational agents. Journal ofFamily and Economic Issues, 23(1), 27-50.

Gibelman, M., & Gelman, S.R. (2001).Grading: A problem of accountability.Arete, 25(2), 1-11.

Clary, G., Gibelman, M., & Ostrander, S.(2001). Introduction-special issue.Nonprofit and Voluntary SectorQuarterly, 30(4), 654-659.

Gibelman, M. (2002). Managed Careand ethical social work practice: Anoxymoron? The Social Work Forum,35, 47-65.

Gibelman,M., & Mason, S.E. (2002).Treatment choices in a managed careenvironment: A multi-disciplinaryexploration. Clinical Social WorkJournal, 30(2),199-214.

Lens, V. (2001). When the personal andpolitical collide. Journal of Social Work,1(3), 361-363.

Lens, V. (2002). Managed care and thejudicial system: Another avenue forreform? Health & Social Work, 27(1),27-35.

Lens, V. (2002). Public voices and publicpolicy: Changing the societal discourseon “welfare”. Journal of Sociology andSocial Welfare, 29(1), 137-154.

Linzer, N. (2001). Building an inclusiveand caring Jewish community. Journalof Jewish Communal Service, 78(1), 43-48.

Linzer, N. (2002). Teaching values andethics. The Social Work Forum, 35, 29-45.

Miller, R., & Mason, S.E. (2001). Usinggroup therapy to enhance treatmentcompliance in first episode schizo-phrenia. Social Work with Groups, 24(1),37-51.

Pollack, D., & Cavanaugh, K.R. (2001).When foster children get hurt, whois responsible? Family Support, 20(3),57-61.

Pollack, D. (2002). The capacity of amentally retarded parent to consentto adoption. Child Law Practice, 21(1),10-12.

Marsh, J., & Pollack, D. (2002). Con-stitutional rights of foster parentsto adopt foster children. Adoption& Fostering, 26(1), 71-73.

Schnall, D.J. (2001). Six days shallyou toil: Classic Jewish work valuesin summary and comparative religiousperspective. The Torah U-MaddaJournal, 10, 69-94.

In Memoriam—Herbert H. Schiff

Herbert H. Schiff, a highly respected international leader of

world Jewry from Columbus, OH, and the founding chairman

of Wurzweiler’s Board of Governors, died May 2. Mr. Schiff,

who became chairman emeritus of the WSSW Board in 1994

after a decade of leadership, was also a member of the

Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University for 15 years.

Mr. Schiff and his wife, Betty, were YU Benefactors. In

1984, he established the Herbert H. Schiff Chair in Manage-

ment and Administration, currently occupied by Dr. David

J. Schnall YC’69, RE’72, who is now also dean of the Azrieli

Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.

The son of Lithuanian immigrant parents, Mr. Schiff was

born in Columbus. After graduating from the University of

Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, he followed his

father into the footwear business, later becoming chairman

and CEO of SCOA Industries.

Although he was well known for his financial acumen,

he was also admired for his help in developing many local

and national organizations through his philanthropy.

Among the many awards acknowledging his professional

and charitable work was an honorary doctor of humane

letters degree from Yeshiva University.

Mr. Schiff was a key leader in communal endeavors,

including serving as director of the American Jewish Joint

Distribution Committee and American ORT Federation,

chairman of the Foundation of the Columbus Jewish Fed-

eration, president of the United Jewish Fund and Council

of Columbus, a member of the national executive council

of the American Jewish Committee, and a trustee of the

United Jewish Appeal, Temple Israel Foundation, and the

Peddie School.

He was also a member of the President’s Clubs at State

of Israel Bonds, Ohio State University, and the University of

Miami. He served as a trustee of Children’s Hospital and

director of BancOhio National Bank in Columbus, and on

the executive committees of Brandeis University and the

American Friends of Hebrew University.

Mr. Schiff is survived by his wife, Betty Topkis Schiff;

daughters, Suzanne Gallant of Branford, CT, Patricia (and

Richard) Hershorin of Sarasota, FL, and Jane Schiff of

Atlanta, GA; six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren,

and sisters, Florence “Fredi” Levin and Mildred Lee.

Recent Faculty Publications

Thirty additional articles by full-time faculty and staff have been peer reviewed and will bepublished later this year.

Comfort in the Midst of ChaosWSSW Assistant Professor Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer talksabout her extraordinary experience as a Red Cross volunteercounselor after 9-11.

Wurzweiler on the PrairieA steady stream of students from South Dakota have beencoming east to enroll in Wurzweiler’s MSW program sincethe mid-1980s. Editor Kelly Berman asked WSSW alumnifrom the Black Hills state what attracted them here—andhow they coped with the culture shock of the Big Apple.

Messenger of Hope“I don’t need to wear a collar to do what I feel is important forpeople,” says Rev. Evelyn Harrington ’97, a Wurzweiler alumnaand Protestant minister, who has been comforting AIDSpatients since before much was known about the disease.

C O N T E N T S

C O V E R “Next Stop…New York City”, Illustration by Ingo Fast

F E AT U R E S

4

10

14

Dean’s Message 2

Memorial to Israel Miller 3

News & Views 6

Student Profile 13

Alumni Office 15

Leadership Profile 16

Philanthropy 17

Alumni Notes 18

Opinion 20

Alumni Donors inside back cover

D E PA R T M E N T S

WurzweilerWurzweilerUpdateW 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 KY E S H I VA U N I V E R S I T YS U M M E R 2 0 0 2 The Magazine for Alumni and Friends

This has been a most unusual academic year at Wurzweiler and much haschanged since my last message to you.

In the days following the tragic events of September 11 and the subsequentcrash of American Airlines flight #587 bound for the Domi-nican Republic on November 12, Wurzweiler School ofSocial Work faculty and staff lent their knowledge andskills to the families of the survivors and rescue workers.Yeshiva University is situated in a neighborhood thatwas directly affected by the crash in Belle Harbor, as190 passengers had direct ties to the community inWashington Heights.

Dr. Adele Weiner, associate dean of WSSW, served asour representative on a special community task force,which City Councilman Guillermo Linares (WashingtonHeights) asked us to join.

Admissions Director Michele Sarracco and Dr. Martin Birnbaum, Beate andHenry Voremberg Professor of Social Group Work, and Adjunct Assistant Pro-fessor Renee Schlesinger consoled rescue workers, doctors, and families at RedCross headquarters and other venues. Dr. Ronnie Glassman, director of fieldinstruction, together with Assistant Directors of Field Instruction Ruth Bigmanand Roberta Rohdin, and Adjunct Associate Professor David Phillips, offered theirexpertise at Cantor Fitzgerald’s counseling and crisis intervention site at thePierre Hotel in Manhattan. Dr. Beth Grube, assistant professor, continued herwork in debriefing firefighters. Wurzweiler also offered short-term trauma coun-seling to the YU community.

Dr. Joan Beder, ’93, associate professor, assisted the Long Island Red Cross andconducted a memorial service for the Long Island Ethical Humanist Society. Dr.Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer, assistant professor, volunteered as a counselor with theRed Cross in Bergen County (NJ) (see page 4).

Associate Professors Dr. Susan Mason and Dr.David Strug, who have been work-ing in the Washington Heights community on a social service needs study, lenttheir expertise to the local school district and are now working with newly electedCity Councilman Miguel Martinez’s office and community agencies in developinga rapid response plan for the Washington Heights community.

In December, we sent Dr. Beder to a four-day training institute sponsored bythe International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), where she receivedadvanced training in interventions with large and small groups following a criticalincident. She is now registered with ICISF teams in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Since December, Dr. Birnbaum has been facilitating a support group, sponsoredby the Children’s Aid Society, for maintenance workers who were employed at theWorld Trade Center before September 11. Most are suffering from post-traumaticstress syndrome.

Slowly, we are beginning to regain some sense of normality, although check-points at bridges and tunnels, the presence of National Guard troops, and increasedsecurity at the University are a clear reminder that the world has changed. It willtake years for the losses and sense of vulnerability to dissipate. The skills of theprofession have been recognized. We are proud that Wurzweiler was able to playa small part in response to this tragedy.Keep in touch.

Sheldon R. GelmanDorothy and David I. Schachne Dean, Wurzweiler School of Social Work

D E A N ’ S M E S S A G E

WurzweilerWurzweilerUpdate

Yeshiva University

Robert M. BerenCHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Dr. Norman Lamm ’49Y,B,RPRESIDENT

Daniel T. FormanVICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT

Peter L. FerraraDIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Robert R. SaltzmanDIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY ALUMNI AFFAIRS

E D I TO R

Kelly Berman

D E S I G N E R

Emily Scherer Steinberg

P H OTO G R A P H E R S

Norman GoldbergPeter RobertsonJayne Windsor

❖

Adam M. GreenwaldDIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS, WSSW

Leslie Waltzer PollakDIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, WSSW

WURZWEILER U P D AT E

IS PUBLISHED T WICE A YEAR BY

WURZWEILER SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

2495 AMSTERDAM AVENUE

NE W YORK, NY 10033-3299

(212) 960-5373

DESIGNED AND PRODUCED

THROUGH THE OFFICE OF

COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

500 WEST 185 STREET

NE W YORK, NY 10033-3201

(212) 960-5398

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND

SUBMISSIONS TO UPDATE ARE WELCOME.

THIS PUBLICATION ACCEPTS NO

RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNSOLICITED

MANUSCRIPTS OR PHOTOGRAPHS. ALL

SUBMISSIONS ARE SUBJECT TO EDITING AND

ARE USED AT THE EDITOR’S DISCRETION.

OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION

DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT OFFICIAL

SCHOOL AND/OR UNIVERSITY POLICY.

3W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Rabbi Israel Miller

WSSW Governor and WorldJewish Leader Dies

Rabbi Israel Miller, one of thenation’s outstanding Jewish com-munal leaders who championed

Jewish causes and advocated Jewishhuman rights around the globe, diedon March 21 in Jerusalem at age 83.

A high-ranking administrator atYeshiva University for more than 25years, Rabbi Miller joined the Univer-sity administration in 1968, wassenior vice president of the Universitysince 1979 and senior vice presidentemeritus since 1994. He was a mem-ber of the Wurzweiler Board of Gover-nors and of the Rabbi Isaac ElchananTheological Seminary (RIETS) Boardof Trustees.

“During Rabbi Miller’s long andillustrious career, he served his people,his country, and his faith with dis-tinction,” said Dr. Norman Lamm,president of Yeshiva University. “How-ever, for most of his life, he was alwaysdevoted to his university, which heserved with wisdom and love.”

Rabbi Miller’s association with theUniversity spanned more than 60years. He earned his bachelor’s degreein 1938 from Yeshiva College and in1941 was ordained at RIETS, where

he later taught applied rabbinics andinfluenced countless students. Hereceived a master’s degree fromColumbia University in 1949. RabbiMiller was awarded an honorarydoctor of divinity degree fromYeshiva University in 1967.

Rabbi Miller played a singular rolein modern Jewish communal life. Agentle, soft-spoken man, he wasreceived by the last six United Statespresidents and negotiated with for-eign governments on behalf of worldJewry with his trademark gentilityand grace. He was president of almostevery major Jewish organization, mostrecently serving as president since1982 of the Conference of JewishMaterial Claims Against Germany.His tireless energies helped achievea landmark compensation agreementfor the criminal theft that was part ofthe barbarity of the Holocaust.

He was chairman of the prestigiousConference of Presidents of MajorAmerican Jewish Organizations, thecoordinating body of religious, secular,and Zionist groups in the UnitedStates, serving as its spokesman inmatters relating to Israel and interna-tional affairs in the US and abroad.

Rabbi Miller’s special interest inSoviet Jewry found expression in thethree years of his national leadership

of the American Jewish Conferenceon Soviet Jewry. Earlier in his career,in 1965, he led a delegation of theRabbinical Council of America to theSoviet Union, where he was accordedthe privilege of speaking from thepulpit in Moscow.

A native of Baltimore, MD, for morethan 25 years Rabbi Miller providedinsightful and compassionate guid-ance as spiritual leader of KingsbridgeJewish Center in the Bronx, NY.

Rabbi Miller is survived by his wife,Ruth (who graduated from WSSW in1965), and four children, Rabbi David(and Miriam) Miller, associate direc-tor of RIETS’ Caroline and JosephGruss Institute in Jerusalem and analumnus of Bernard Revel GraduateSchool of Jewish Studies (’72); RabbiMichael (and Phyllis) Miller, executivevice-president of the Jewish Com-munity Relations Council of GreaterNew York, also a Revel graduate (’76);Deborah (and Norman) Kram ofBrookline, MA, director of Maayan, aJewish Women’s Study Institute;Judith (and Jay) Kalish of Jerusalem,an administrator at Hebrew Universityand an alumnus of Stern College forWomen (’80); 19 grandchildren, eightgreat-grandchildren, and his brotherDavid and sister Dorothy who residein Netanya, Israel. ❖

4W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

■ What motivated you to get involved insocial work education?I started out as an elementary and highschool teacher, but I quickly learnedthat I wanted to be in social work becauseI became very involved with my students.Working with children and families hasalways been my special interest. I’vebeen in the field for about 37 years.

■ Why are you drawn to working withchildren and families?I think of families as the basis of society,and I’m from a very large family—ninechildren, in fact! When I was an undergradI realized that there were many familiesthat needed external intervention to func-tion properly. It was a natural choice for me.

■ What aspect of your teaching doyou enjoy most?I enjoy being in the classroom and talkingwith the students, developing experientialexercises that translate theory into prac-tice issues. I walk in the class preparedthematically to teach but the students

direct what happens in class.One of my favorite courses is “Practice

with Children” because we talk aboutdevelopmental issues and the practicallanguage of working with children. Welearn about play therapy and sometimeslearn to play, so that’s fun!

■ How does the experience of teaching atWurzweiler compare with other universitieswhere you’ve taught?Wurzweiler’s Jewish setting is unique—and I’m always aware of that. There’s aninteresting mix of students. It’s the onlyprogram where the practice teachers arealso the field advisors, so the studentsexperience an important continuity fromclass in the field. I decided to join Wurz-weiler because I could do both and theclasses are small—about 10 to 15 students.

■ Can you tell me about your experienceas a Red Cross mental health volunteer afterthe September 11 tragedy?It was absolutely chaotic right after ithappened. But I saw some of the best

social work I have ever seen in the mid-dle of that chaos. Someone would comein who was hysterical, and five minuteslater they’d be working with a volunteer.You really tested your inner resources.

The Red Cross called the relatives ofevery single person on the list of victims,and as the mental health workers, wewere the first line of contact. That wasreally hard because we didn’t know any-thing about them and yet we had toengage them around their grief. We hadto figure out in the moment what theirneeds were.

If they wanted grief counseling orother practical services, we went to theirhomes, we saw them at schools, we metthem at hotels—we spoke to them wher-ever we could find them. It was one ofthose times when you didn’t stand onceremony. If the most comfortable placefor someone to meet with you was at thediner, that’s where we met. I’ve neverexperienced anything like it.

I’ve done a lot of trauma work butthis was totally different because it was

Giving Comfort in theMidst of Chaos WSSW Assistant Professor Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer

talks about her extraordinary experience as a

Red Cross volunteer counselor after 9-11.

FA C U LT Y U P C L O S E

5W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

pervasive and because it touched us associal workers. Usually, I am the expert,but this time I wasn’t. There were timeswhen I would say, “Would you see thenext client because I really need to gofor a walk?”

■ Was this one of the more difficult thingsyou’ve had to do in your volunteer work?It’s been overwhelming at times as acounselor, because I have no idea howpeople have managed to come throughthis and because I also feel the pain ofthe loss. We’ve all dealt with loss anddeath but this was different. This wassomething about which we could makeno sense.

Sometimes there was nothing to sayor do. I would just hold the person.

In some instances, the very publicnature of this trauma has taken away thefamilies’ ability to grieve. Reporters arealways calling them or writing about it,there’s no way of getting away from it.I’m still counseling people and I thinkthis is going to go on for a long time.

■ What did you do when it all becametoo much? I called on the people in my life whom Ialways call on—friends, colleagues, fam-ily. Sometimes I just went home and hadquiet time. And I prayed—that’s alwaysa major source of strength for me.

The second day, after the tragedy, onan index card I wrote a list of all the con-tact numbers of people I turn to for sup-port. I carried that wherever I went. Itwas more important than my driver’slicense. It’s still in my purse.

■ When you’re not involved in your work,what do you do to relax and enjoy yourself?I love listening to music—mostly jazzand classical. I also love dance, the the-ater, movies and reading. I spend a lotof time at Lincoln Center. I love to readand knit—I often knit while listening tomusic to relax.

■ What do you think makes a goodsocial worker?Really caring for people, being empath-ically attuned to them and having asound body of knowledge. People think ofsocial workers as friendly visitors, butwe are so far from that. You have tohave knowledge, experience, andpatience because it’s a long process.

■ Can you tell me about an especiallyrewarding case you’ve worked on?There is one case which stands out,from a long time ago, when I workedin child welfare. I was the social workerfor a young kid who was truly a thornin my side for six years, from the age of

7 to almost 14. He had a knack for get-ting into more trouble than I have everseen. He had good reason to be angry,but someone who has that intensity ofanger is also capable of the same inten-sity of loving. I grew to love him andadmire his resilience. His family disap-peared on him, and he simply didn’thave anyone else. He was a black kid,and I was the only black woman in his life who was a constant. I refused togive up on him. We at the agency thoughthe was going to either do somethinggreat or end up in jail. We had no ideawhich it was going to be. I recentlyfound out that this young man finishedmedical school. ❖

WSSW in Canada

B Y S T UA R T R A Z I N YC ’ 6 3 , F G S’ 6 8National director of the Canadian Friends of Yeshiva University

Canadians interested in social work careers have long beenmaking the trip south to New York to enroll in Wurzweiler’sMSW program. There are currently 13 Canadian students at

the School and about 100 alumniin the Greater Toronto areaalone, many of whom holdimportant positions in avariety of Jewish communalorganizations.

After a lull in activities amongCanadian WSSW graduates overthe past several years, a groupof WSSW alumni are gettingtogether to build a stronger net-work and help raise the School’s

profile. Presently, I am acting as chairperson. Members of oursmall working committee are: Judy Weinryb ’75, Phyllis Fien’79, Irene Borins Ash ’87, Judy Cohen ’82, and Susan Mintz ’81.

We got underway with an event on March 17, held at analumna’s home in Toronto. The guest speaker was Dr. DavidSchnall, Herbert H. Schiff Professor of Management andAdministration at WSSW and Dean of Azrieli Graduate Schoolof Jewish Education and Administration. Sheldon Gelman,Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean of WSSW, is expected tobe the speaker at the group’s second meeting later this year.

Professor Vicki Meyer, adjunct instructor at WSSW, alsomade her second visit to Toronto in March to supervise thisyear’s Block students and their agency-based field instructors,and to meet with prospective students.

The alumni working committee hopes to introduce moreCanadian students to Wurzweiler’s innovative Block Programand its Jewish communal service component.

The group is generating new ideas with much enthusiasm.Among them are speeches and seminars, networking for pro-fessional and communal growth, helping Block Programstudents in their field placements at WSSW, and fundraisingfor the School.

With Canadian alumni participation and support, WSSWis set for an even brighter future. ❖

6W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

N E W S & V I E W S

Where can you find a rabbi, aminister, a nun, a Buddhist orChristian monk, and a

rebbitzin (a rabbi’s wife)studying “CulturalDiversity”? At WurzweilerSchool of Social Work.The WSSW ClergyProgram is the onlyMSW program in the countrythat teaches social work skills toclergymen from all faiths.

“Since the ClergyProgram’s inception over20 years ago, we have

graduated studentsrepresenting avariety of religionswho have continued

to minister to theircongregations,newly equipped

with special knowledge, values, andskills regarding human behavior,” saysDr. Norman Linzer ’60, coordinator ofthe Clergy Program and holder of the

Samuel J. and Jean Sable Chair inJewish Family Social Work at

Wurzweiler.“Some graduates have left their

religious callings and enteredsocial work full-time. Our

alumni attest to the quality ofthe education at Wurzweiler thathas inspired them to move in newdirections while integrating theirreligious and social workorientations,” says Dr. Linzer.

In more recent years, however,there has been a decline of inter-est in the Clergy Program, says Dr.Linzer, so last year he embarked ona promotional drive to recruit clergythrough a series of seminars in theirrespective communities.

Among these was a meeting with agroup of seminarians and members ofthe Interfaith Council on the Holocaust,who visited Yeshiva University’s WilfCampus in Manhattan in November.

The Council consists of Christian andJewish clergy from Philadelphia whosemission is to educate Americans about

the Holocaust. Sister Gloria Coleman,one of the ICH’s founding members,

said:“We hope that in teachingpeople about the Holocaust, we canpromote dialogue between Christiansand Jews.”

This they certainly did, in the formof a lively discussion with faculty andstudents in the Clergy Program. Thegroup was intrigued by the Program’sinclusive approach, which brings

together students of various religionsand encourages them to resolve anyconflicts between their theologicalbeliefs and social work practice. ❖

Reaching Out to Recruit Clergy

Dr. Eli Levy Retires After 28 Years at WSSW

Wurzweiler School of Social Work bids farewell to

Dr. Eli Levy , associate professor, who retires at the

end of this semester after 28 years at the School.

During this time, Dr. Levy has had a profoundeffect on the culture and curriculum at WSSW. Aschair of the curriculum committee, he played amajor role in developing the curriculum to meetthe requirements of the Council on Social WorkEducation so that the school could be reaccredited.

“You’ll always know Dr. Levy was here,” saidDr. Charles Auerbach, WSSW professor. “He defi-nitely left his mark at Wurzweiler. He was a rolemodel for me on how to be respectful of students,and a man of great moral integrity.”

Although Dr. Levy has taught almost all the courses offered at WSSWover the years, he is most well known for his more recent classes in“Jewish Social Philosophy”, and Values and Ethics. He has learned somuch from his students, he said, that he will miss this contact the most.

One of his former students, Rev. Evelyn Harrington (see page 14),now a social work case manager for the HIV and prenatal departmentsat St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, recently recalled how Dr. Levyencouraged her to express her views as a Christian minister learningabout Jewish Social Philosophy. “I gave Dr. Levy a hard time,” sheconfessed. “He was so patient and wise. He used to say I would help tomake some changes around there.”

Dr. Levy said he will undoubtedly also miss his weekly contact withhis colleagues, whom he appreciates for their warmth and non-competi-tive help with research, writing, and teaching.

Dr. Susan Bendor, WSSW associate professor, who has known Dr.Levy for 13 years, described him as “a dignified and extremely helpfulcolleague, who is always available to give advice.”

“He has a quick sense of humor, is totally devoid of self-pity, and looksat personal and professional situations realistically,” she added.

Dr. Charles Trent, associate professor, said Dr. Levy is a “man of princi-ples, who fought to get students in the Community Practice course, to en-sure its place in the curriculum.”

Dr. Levy plans to keep busyduring his retirement. He wantsto catch up on his religious stud-ies and is looking into becoming adocent at the Jewish Museum inManhattan. An ardent traveler andpassionate supporter of Israel, heplans to continue making tripsthere with his wife.

Then there’s his much-neglected stamp collection, andthe piles of Biblical Archeologymagazine waiting to be read. Butthat will have to be in betweenvisits to his grandchildren—all21 of them. ❖

The CLERGY PROGRAM has con-tinued its outreach this year witha series of seminars led by a fac-ulty member or an alumnus.Thesetwo-hour seminars have included:■ “Dealing with the effects of trauma”

for an interfaith group, led by Dr.

Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer, assistant

professor at WSSW, co-sponsored with

the Interfaith Brotherhood and Sister-

hood Committee and the UJA-Federa-

tion of Bergen County and North

Hudson, NJ.

■ “Reaching out: The role of the

minister in the community” led by Rev.

Evelyn Harrington ’97, WSSW clergy

alumna, social work case manager for

HIV and prenatal OB GYN department,

St. Vincent’s Hospital, New York, co-

sponsored with the Brooklyn

Tabernacle.

■ “Dealing with the effects of trauma”

for an interfaith group, led by Dr. David

Phillips, WSSW adjunct faculty, co-

sponsored with the Isabella Geriatric

Center and the Alianza Dominicana of

Washington Heights.

■ “Understanding domestic violence”

for Reform rabbis, led by Dr. Cheryl

Kramer ’95, WSSW faculty, co-spon-

sored with the New Jersey- Hudson

Valley Association of Reform Rabbis.

■ “Crises of the Clergy: Sources of

Stress and Strategies of Survival” for an

interfaith group, led by Dr. Frederick

(Jerry) Streets ’81, ’97, WSSW clergy

alumnus, co-sponsored with the

Ossining Ministerial Association.

■ “Taking the shanda (shame) out of

it: Counseling parents on their at-risk

teenagers” for rabbis of all denomina-

tions, led by Trish Attia ’83, WSSW

adjunct faculty, co-sponsored with the

Synagogue Leadership Initiative of the

UJA-Federation of Bergen County and

North Hudson.

■ “Positive pastoral approaches to

trauma” for an interfaith group, led by

Dr. David Phillips,WSSW adjunct faculty,

co-sponsored with the Rockaway-Five

Towns Interfaith Clergy Council,

Inwood, NY.

If you or the clergy in your commu-

nity would like to know more about

these seminars or the Clergy Program,

contact Dr. Norman Linzer ’60 at 212-

960-0841 Tuesdays to Thursdays.

7W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

MSW Program Reaffirms ItsAccreditation Status

The master of social work program at Wurzweiler Schoolof Social Work has received reaccreditation for the nexteight years, until June 2009.

The Commission on Accreditation of the Council onSocial Work Education, the accrediting body for more than600 MSW and BSW programs in the United States, voted toreaffirm the program with a progress report on two issues.The Commission on Accreditation commended Wurzweiler’sfaculty and administration for their efforts in meeting theaccreditation standards and affirmed the many strengthsof the program.

News of the reaccreditation, in late November last year,followed the submission of a three-volume self-study, a sitevisit by a team of social work educators and practitioners, inspring 2001, and the MSW program’s response to the sitevisitors’ report.

The site visitors identified more than 20 programstrengths in their report. As a follow-up, Wurzweiler willsubmit a progress report to the Commission by August thisyear, clarifying certain processes, procedures, and coursecontent of the master’s program. ❖

Terrorism on Block Conference Agenda

Wurzweiler School of Social Work’s Second Conferenceon Field Education in a Global Perspective gatheredtogether field instructors and educational coordina-

tors from America, Canada, and Israel to discuss “CrisisIntervention in a Cross-Cultural Context” on January 14.

The terrorist attacks on America on September 11 and the

N E W S & V I E W S

Faculty News

■ DR. LOUIS LEVITT, professor emeritus at WSSW,

was recently elected to Columbia University

School of Social Work Alumni Association’s Hall of

Fame. Dr. Levitt was honored for his work as a

consultant and expert witness for the Children’s

Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union

and the Legal Aid Society in several landmark cases.

Also noted was his leadership and staff support

for the IMPACT 97 conference that examined the

consequences of cutbacks in funding for health

and social services.

■ DR. MARTIN BIRNBAUM, Beate and Henry

Voremberg Professor in Social Group Work at WSSW,

presented The Beulah Rothman Memorial Lecture,

sponsored by Barry University School of Social

Work and the Florida Chapter of the Association

for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups

in Miami at the end of January. He spoke about

“The Power of Purposeful Sessional Endings in

Each Group Encounter” to Barry University faculty,

students, and members of the community.

■ ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUSAN BENDOR was

invited to be a guest speaker in the Holocaust

course at Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA, in March. Dr.

Bendor also gave a second address to the college

community and small town of Ferrum on “The

Importance of Hope in Times of Adversity.”

■ What makes a great professor? According to a

recent article with that title in The Penn Stater,

published by the Penn State Alumni Association,

DEAN SHELDON R. GELMAN is well-remembered

by former students at that university, where he

taught from 1969 to 1990. Said one:“Sheldon

Gelman was adept at taking an ordinary subject

(for instance, what is “average?”) and expounding

on it while soliciting lots of input from the

students…His courses are the ones I think about

when someone asks what I learned in college.”

■ DEAN GELMAN was also honored by the New

York State Social Work Education Association as

“Educator of the Year (2001)” at its 34th annual

conference in Albany.

■ PROFESSOR RICHARD CAPUTO’s article in the

Journal of Family and Economic Issues (volume 21,

2000), titled “Race and Marital History as Correlates

of Women’s Access to Family-Friendly Benefits,”

was nominated as one of the top articles pub-

lished during the 2001 Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research

competition.

■ ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOAN BEDER was

one of two academic professionals invited to

attend “Social Work Faculty Leadership Training

in Working With HIV-Affected Families,” a pro-

gram at Paul Newman’s Hole-in-the-Wall Camp,

in September last year. Dr. Beder drew on that

experience for her presentation at The 14th

Annual National Conference on Social Work and

HIV/AIDS, held at the end of May in New Orleans,

LA, and sponsored by Boston College Graduate

School of Social Work.

■ The latest volume of The Social Work Forum

(Winter/Spring 2001–2002), published by WSSW,

is a cutting-edge issue about values and ethics

in social work, say the journal’s co-editors,

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DANIEL POLLACK and

DR. ERIC LEVINE ’94, adjunct assistant professor.

The journal carries seminal articles by leading

writers on the topic of ethics, such as Professor

Frederic Reamer of Rhode Island College School

of Social Work, Professor Ralph Dolgoff of the

University of Maryland, WSSW Professor Emeritus

Charles Levy, PROFESSOR MARGARET

GIBELMAN, director of the School’s doctoral

program, and Samuel J. and Jean Sable Professor

of Jewish Family Social Work DR. NORMAN

LINZER ’60. Five hundred extra copies were

printed to send to every social work school in

the country. ❖

8W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Dr. Ronnie Glassman (left), WSSW director of field instruction, with

Dr. Joyce Brenner ’83, Dr. Barbara Draimin, and Fred Tully

Wurzweiler School ofSocial Work’s fifth an-nual HIV and Diver-

sity conference, held Decem-ber 10, explored social workresponses to changes in theHIV/AIDS epidemic.

Three keynote addresses,on the topic of “The Multi-Generational Impact ofHIV/AIDS,” emphasized thecontinued importance of

overcoming negative socialattitudes as the impact of thedisease affects broadeningsegments of society.

Ivy S. Gamble, deputydirector of The Family Centerin New York, tracked changesin the demographics of andsocial responses to AIDS dur-ing the past two decades. Ms.Gamble said that even thoughthe past 20 years have seenmore services such as coun-seling and long-term planningbeing offered to patients, socialworkers still face enormousdifficulties in working toovercome the challenges ofthe disease.

Tom Sentell and LennyRabb, the two other keynotespeakers, drew attention to thehidden or under-representedsectors of society affected byAIDS. Mr. Sentell, vice chairof the New York Association

on HIV Over Fifty (NYAHOF),spoke of the prejudices thatolder patients face when seek-ing treatment. Not conven-tionally thought of as a sectorat risk, over 50-year-olds areoften not diagnosed whenthey arrive sick at the hospital.

Mr. Rabb, a campaigner for

pediatric AIDS awareness andfounder of Men’s Education,Needs, and Services (MENS)—an advocacy organization formen raising HIV/AIDSinfected and affected chil-

dren—spoke about the lack ofprograms available for malecare-givers.

Both men, who are HIVpositive, testified to the cen-tral role social workers playin helping to cope with thedisease. “Social workers arethe backbone of the fightagainst AIDS,” said Mr. Rabb,a single father and a formerdrug user before he was diag-nosed as HIV positive.“Doctors obviously play a pri-mary role, but if it weren’tfor social workers, manypatients wouldn’t go to hospi-tal to get their medicine.”

Workshop topics this yearincluded “Racism, Discrim-ination, Cultural Bias and ItsImpact on HIV/AIDSPopulations: A Global Issue,”“Practicing SpirituallySensitive Social Work withPersons with AIDS,” and“Beyond Survival: Recog-nition of HIV/AIDS as aLong-Term Disability.” ❖

escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict informed thediscussion at this year’s conference. Three socialworkers, from three different socio-cultural contexts,gave opening presentations. Barbara Draimin, DSW,executive director of The Family Center in New YorkCity, gave advice about planing intervention withclients, workers, and students, and identified the riskfactors for those most affected by the Septemberattack. Joyce Brenner ‘83, DSW, coordinator ofWurzweiler’s Block Program in Israel, spoke aboutthe coping mechanisms of accepting, confronting,and denying the political tension in Israel. FredTully, MSW, clinical director of The Children’s HomeSociety in Rapid City, SD, suggested that the eventsof 9-11 could effect a change in terminology whenworking with children who have been terrorized byviolence and abuse.

The keynote address by the Honorable C.Virginia Fields, MSW, Manhattan borough president,highlighted the challenges facing social workers inNew York after 9-11.

“We chose a cross-cultural perspective so we couldsee how social workers are dealing with the crisesin their different locales,” said Roberta F. Rohdin,MSW, assistant director of field instruction. ❖

Fifth HIV Conference Tracks Changes in the Disease

F R O M A F R I C A , W I T H L O V EAttendees at this year’s HIV and Diversity conference eachreceived a beaded Zulu ‘love letter’ depicting the AIDSribbon. For centuries, the beaded tokens have been madeby Zulu women of SouthAfrica as gifts to theirlovers. But with onein nine South AfricansHIV-positive, a highproportion ofwhom are Zulus,this traditionaldesign now de-livers a more ur-gent, modern-daymessage of aware-ness and solidarity. Thelove letters are also a sadcomment on the long-gonedays of carefree courting and areminder of the ever-present risk of sexual intimacy. ❖

Ivy Gamble of The Family Center

9W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

AIDS campaigner Lenny Rabb

South Dakota and New York are as

different from each other as Mount

Rushmore and the Empire State

Building. Large and mid-western,

South Dakota is predominantly rural

and sparsely populated. It is home

to the Sioux tribe, many of whom

live on reservations that are among

the poorest communities in the U.S.

From the acres of flat grasslands

east of the Missouri River to the arid

ranchlands and hills in the west,

the vast open expanses mean social

workers often have to drive hours

to see their clients.

on the PrairieWurzweilerP

ho

to b

y So

uth

Dak

ota

To

uri

sm

A steady stream of

students from South Dakota

have been coming east to

enroll in Wurzweiler’s MSW

program since the mid-1980s.

Editor Kelly Berman

asked WSSW alumni from the

Black Hills state what

attracted them here—

and how they coped with

the culture shock of

the Big Apple.

1 1W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Ph

oto

by

Sou

th D

ako

ta T

ou

rism

/Mt.

Ru

shm

ore

Ph

oto

by

Sou

th D

ako

ta T

ou

rism

/Pin

e R

idg

e R

eser

vati

on

So what brings social work stu-dents all the way from SouthDakota to New York City to studyin the Summer Block Programat Wurzweiler School of SocialWork? In an informal poll,many cite “convenience” as theprogram’s main attraction. Moststudents were already in jobsthat they didn’t want to leave orhad families they were reluctantto uproot. In the Summer BlockProgram, they could come toWSSW for three consecutivesummers, going back home todo their required field work.

“Wurzweiler is set up in a waythat is conducive to getting amaster’s degree if you’re alreadyin the working world,” saysPatricia Mechling ’86, who joinedBonnie Rigenbach ’86 andConstance Watson ’86 in thefirst group of South Dakotansstudying at the School.

“Much of my graduate workcould be done on the job and Iwas able to keep my costs down.”Ms. Mechling works as the direc-tor of programming for mentalhealth and substance abuse ser-vices at Behavior ManagementSystems, a community mental

health center in Rapid City.Because the program is

designed to appeal to workingpeople and compresses its classesinto 8 weeks instead of the usual14, it attracts students who arefocused and determined, accord-ing to Daniel Pollack, associateprofessor at WSSW. “The BlockProgram students are a stronggroup because they are self-selecting. They have to leavetheir families and come to thisbig city that they don’t know.That can be a frightening thing,but they dive into it with greatinitiative,” he says.

The tight network of socialworkers in South Dakota, par-ticularly among returning grad-uates and field instructors, hashelped build Wurzweiler’s solidreputation.

Eileen Leir, supervisor ofclinical services at Casey FamilyPrograms, a national network ofpermanency programs for chil-dren in Rapid City, is currentlya field instructor for two Wurz-weiler students based in SouthDakota. “We have sent peopleout to Wurzweiler to work onmaster’s degrees because our

people benefit from the diversecultural makeup of New YorkCity, and because we believethere are some parallels betweenthe Jewish experience and theNative American experience,”she explains.

Wurzweiler’s Orthodox Jewishsetting also adds a unique dimen-sion to the university experienceof many South Dakotan students,as it introduces many of themto the values and culture of thereligion. Some students havehad surprising reactions. Ms.Mechling says, “I didn’t knowmuch about Judaism before Istudied at Wurzweiler. I wasstruck by the rich culture,strength, and diversity withinthe Jewish community.”

For Charles Edler ’97, a sub-stance abuse and mental healthtreatment team leader at theBlack Hills Health Care System,Veteran’s Affairs Hot SpringsHospital, learning about theinteraction of Judaism and socialwork was one of the unexpectedhighlights of his degree. “‘JewishSocial Philosophy’, taught byDr. Norman Linzer ’60, was thecrown jewel of my master’s. I

1 2W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Ph

oto

by

Sou

th D

ako

ta T

ou

rism

Ph

oto

by

Sou

th D

ako

ta T

ou

rism

/Rap

id C

ity

really enjoyed the philosophyand exchange of ideas. The classwas a mixture of different peo-ple—including a Catholic priestand a Native American—andDr. Linzer allowed us all topresent our opinions.”

“That’s the way a class shouldbe. I’ve modeled a lot of the psy-cho-educational seminars I’vegiven to our patients on Dr.Linzer’s approach,” says Mr. Edler.

The students also enjoyedWurweiler’s emphasis on learn-ing about social work practicethrough experience. Ms. Watsonrecalls, “One of our earliest pro-jects was to write a paper onwhat we had to do to prepare forour arrival at WSSW. At first Ithought it was a bit strange to bestudying that, but then I realizedthat it made perfect sense tobegin with ourselves as subjects.”

Most South Dakota alumniagree that after adjusting to thefrenetic pace and crowdedstreets of Manhattan, the culturaldiversity both in the classroomand the city broadened theirperspective as social workers.

Carol Sasse ’92, is a psycho-therapist in Rapid City workingmainly with couples. “Before Icame to Wurzweiler,” she says,“I had never ridden on a bus!Being exposed to people from allover the world—in the Block

Program and in the dorms atColumbia University—gave me astrong new insight into people.I grew up with Native Americanson a reservation, so I hadn’tlived with a diverse populationbefore. It was intriguing just tobe out on the streets, just goingto and from the grocery store.”

With many ethnic neighbor-hoods packed so closely together,New York City offered SouthDakotan students an urbanexperience in dramatic contrastto the rural sprawl of their lesspopulous state.

According to Peter Compton’92, a professional servicescounselor at Behavior Manage-ment Systems, the geographicarea some agencies cover isenormous, extending, for exam-ple, from Rapid City—whose50,000 residents make it thesecond-largest city in the state—to nearby ranches and smalltowns. By contrast, in New York,you can walk to a nearby neigh-borhood and see different socialconditions for yourself.

Because of the vast distancesthey travel to see clients, saysMs. Sasse, South Dakotans havea high level of patience. It isn’tunusual for people to drive upto 400 miles for a doctor’s ap-pointment or to get medication.

South Dakota’s pastoral setting

may create the perception ofpeace, but domestic violenceand abuse are just as prevalentthere as in metropolitan areas,observes Fred Tully, a consul-tant for the Children’s HomeSociety in Rapid City, who gavea presentation at WSSW’sSecond Conference on FieldEducation in a Global Perspectivein January (see page 8).

Ms. Sasse says that wide-spread poverty, particularly onthe Native American reserva-tions of Rosebud and Pine Ridge,has had a significant impact onsocial conditions. Homelessness,sexual assault, child abuse, andalcoholism on reservations areparticular problems, and thereis an ingrained dependence onthe welfare system. As peoplemigrate between urban areasand reservations, their lifestylesbecome more transient andtheir families more unstable,which only exacerbates theirproblems.

Virtually all of our SouthDakota graduates agreed thatNew York and WSSW had offeredthem indispensable academicand cultural enrichment. PhilLoving ’98, an at-risk coordinatorat a high school in Sioux Falls,says, “I loved studying atWurzweiler. It was one of thebest experiences of my life!” ❖

1 3W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Among the Wurzweiler graduates of2002 is Osayame Osemwegie, whoreceived the National Association ofSocial Workers Award at commence-ment this year. A PEP student fromNigeria, Ms. Osemwegie’s enthusi-asm for helping people saw herchange careers from law to teachingto social work.

Trained as a lawyer at theUniversity of Ibadan, Ms.Osemwegie practiced as anattorney in Lagos before shecame to New York in 1991.Here she worked as anelementary school teacherin New York’s public schoolsystem. “I saw children suffer-ing in school because theyhad problems at home, andrealized that these problemshad to be addressed in orderfor them to function inschool, so I went into socialwork,” she says.

Her first role was in directfoster care services at NewYork City Administration forChildren’s Services (ACS),where she worked with 20children. She has been work-ing for ACS for the past eightyears, most recently as asupervisor in pre-placementservices at The Children’s Center inManhattan.

Talkative and brimming withenthusiasm for what she does, Ms.Osemwegie has found her callingas a social worker. “I love helpingpeople—sometimes to my owndetriment!” she says.

Strong interactional skills havehelped her get through to the many

troubled youngsters she has workedwith in her field placement withchildren in foster care at ACS’sDivision of Foster Care and Preven-tive Services in Brooklyn. As part ofthe mental health “screen team,” anew initiative to assess children asthey enter foster care, she oftenmade home visits to talk with themand their families.

One day a depressed 19-year-old—who had moved around from relativeto relative, had lived on the street,and was now in his grandmother’sfoster care—came in to the divisionwanting to commit suicide. Ms.Osemwegie’s ability to engage himin direct, non-threatening conversa-tion helped defuse the situation.

“I just really talked to him. After

he calmed down, we wrote a list ofthe pros and cons of continuing thebehavior that was causing conflict athome,” she says. “He had refused tocontribute financially to the upkeepof the house, but once he looked atit rationally, he changed his mind.”

Ms. Osemwegie’s field placementgave her the tools to help her youngclients express their anger and anxi-eties. “I know now what to ask thechildren when assessing their mentalhealth. You know they’ve beenthrough a lot and need to talk. A car-ing ear is so important for them,” shesays. Her field placement alsotrained her in infant developmentand early intervention.

Drawing from her immi-grant experience, Ms. Osem-wegie says her perspective asan outsider to American soci-ety helps her empathize withher clients. “I understand whatpeople are going through whenthey are trying to fit in and aredifferent in some way—be itlooks, accent, skin color,” shesays. “I’m not preoccupied withmy difference, but it’s there.”

Studying social work in anacademic environment hasequipped Ms. Osemwegie witha broader professional contextin which to place her skills.

“I wanted to get my MSW sothat I could serve my clientsbetter. It also helps to put aname to what I have beendoing,” she says.

If the mark of a good schoolis the extent to which it stimu-

lates students to learn more, thenMs. Osemwegie is a brilliant adver-tisement for Wurzweiler. Althoughshe is relieved to have less on herplate now, she is leaving the Schoolwith a renewed appetite for learn-ing. “There are many courses Iwould still love to study,” she says,rattling off a list of subjects that shedidn’t have a chance to take. ❖

S T U D E N T P R O F I L E

A Sympathetic Ear

Nigerian student Osayame Osemwegie is

helping children in foster care deal with what

they’ve been through—by getting them to talk.

1 4W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

A L U M N A P R O F I L E

When the time came to find anMSW course, Evelyn Harrington’97 set her sights decisively on

the Clergy Program at Wurzweiler.After receiving her master’s degree,

she sent only one letter of application:to St. Vincent’s Hospital in the WestVillage district of Manhattan.

In both cases, she got what she want-ed. Rev. Harrington is motivated by sucha steady sense of faith that you can’t helpbut feel she is deeply in touch withsome underlying order of things.

For certain, her spiritual belief andactions in the world are intimatelybound together. Religion flows into hersocial work practice, and social work toher religion. “My roles as a member ofthe clergy and a social worker embraceand engulf each other. One is not any-thing without the other,” she explains.

That is why she was drawn to St.Vincent’s, which accepts patients whocan’t otherwise afford health care. Sheworks at the hospital as a social workcase manager for the HIV and prenatalOB/GYN departments. “I felt I couldidentify with its mission of service topeople in need,” she says. “St. Vincent’swas founded by the Sisters of Charity,who were agents of help and hope, char-ity and benevolence, caring and com-passion. Their prayers and faith werethe foundation for which the institutioncontinues to stand. Social work is min-istry—you listen, encourage, and move. Ibelieve caring and compassion are theultimate gifts that move the most tat-tered and fearful person.”

Rev. Harrington’s own spiritual jour-ney has been somewhat circular. Herfather was a Baptist pastor, but she chosea very different path initially, as a stock

broker and financial analyst andadministrator. “Back then, I sawministry as a sacrifice for God. Iwanted to be in the world makingmoney,” she explains. Four yearslater, she was still searching for herown personal peace. “Finding theroad to peace was finding the roadto God, in His service,” she says.

Taking over outreach responsi-bilities at her local church, shebegan her long involvement insocial service—first advocating forHIV victims in the late 1970s, afterwitnessing their ostracism fromestablished health care providers,from religious communities, fromtheir families and friends.

She graduated from New YorkTheological Seminary in 1985.

Her first-year field placement whilea student at WSSW, at Flushing MeadowScattered Site Community Housing inQueens, NY, grew out of her church work.While the housing agency administeredresidential units for AIDS patients, Rev.Harrington helped them find shelter fortheir struggling spirits.

In her current role at St. Vincent’s, shesees terminally ill patients tortured byquestions of guilt and fate as theyapproach death, and also prenatal patientswith difficult pregnancies. Seeing themmove from a state of turmoil anddespair to tranquility and hope is one ofthe most rewarding parts of her work.For these people, small steps such asparticipating in a spirituality supportgroup, a General Educational Develop-ment (GED) program, or an apple bake-off can make a big difference in regain-ing their self worth.

For someone with strong religious

convictions of her own, how does shehandle patients from other spiritualbackgrounds?

“People in pain can be Jewish,Catholic, black, white, poor. I work withtheir strengths, which include their cul-ture and beliefs. Ninety percent of mypatients and colleagues don’t even knowI’m a minister,” she says.

Her non-judgmental approachtowards her patients goes hand in handwith a refreshing desire for honesty. Nosubject is off-limits. “People here know Ican listen to anything. I help them feelcomfortable. I tell them they can laugh,stand on the table and scream, do any-thing, as long as they feel better whenthey leave the room.

“God must be a laugher. How couldhe keep a straight face with all thethings we get ourselves into downhere?” she asks with a mischievousgleam in her eye. ❖

“I don’t need to wear a collar to do what I feel is important for

people,” says Rev. Evelyn Harrington ’97 , a Wurzweiler alumna

and Protestant minister, who has been comforting AIDS patients

since before much was known about the disease.

Messenger of Hope

1 5W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Wurzweiler’s NewAlumni Director

Reconnecting and reviving are the twothemes Adam M. Greenwald, the newdirector of alumni affairs at Wurzweiler

School of SocialWork, has inmind. A gradu-ate of BrandeisUniversity,Greenwald hasworked exten-sively buildingalumni commit-tees and orga-nizing eventsfor the pastthree years forhis alma mater.

“I am excited by this new challenge andlook forward to accomplishing many ofthe goals set forth by my predecessorand the Alumni Association’s ExecutiveCommittee,” he says.

Mr. Greenwald has been busy learn-ing about the School, its faculty, alumni,and current students. “I believe themore I know about a student’s experi-ence,” he said, “the more prepared I willbe when programming opportunitiesarise.” Based on surveys, the Office ofAlumni Affairs recognizes the need foralumni events focused on a variety of

social work interests, with a social/net-working aspect built-in.

Asked about the alumni body, Mr.Greenwald remarked that many WSSWalumni are prominent in their fields.“Alumni work in all aspects of social work,from agencies to private practices,” hesaid. He added that many alumni holdprestigious positions with highly acclaimed

journals, institutions, and centers.Mr. Greenwald organized the first-

ever homecoming for WSSW alumni,held on April 28. “Learn From the ManyFaces of Social Work” gave graduates theopportunity to catch up with fellowalumni and former professors during aday-long program of exciting “classes”on social work topics. See page 16. ❖

F R O M T H E A L U M N I O F F I C E

Adam M. Greenwald

C A R E E R D E V E L O P M E N T A N D R E S O U R C E C E N T E R

From Your Association

The Alumni Association and its Executive Committeeextend congratulations to the Class of 2002 andwelcome all alumni, old and new, to join in our

endeavors.On April 28, the corridors of Belfer Hall on the Wilf

Campus were graced with current students, profession-als of varying academic standing, and alumni from the’60s through 2001. “The Many Faces of Social Work”daylong academic adventure was an absolute success.We thank: Dean Sheldon Gelman, David I. Schachne;chairman of WSSW’s Board of Governors, and his wife,Dorothy; keynote speaker the Honorable Vito J. Lopez’70, New York State Assemblyman, 53rd Assembly Dis-trict; faculty; presenters; alumni, and the professional

staff. You all helped make a rainy Sunday bright withfriendship, learning, and professionalism.

Thank you to those who participated in and con-tributed to the phone-a-thons that benefit the WSSWAlumni Scholarship Fund. Please remember to makeyour gift by Jun 30 (See our acknowledgement of thisyear’s donors on the inside back cover).

We urge you to become involved in planning eventsand join the Executive Committee. Why not speak at oneof our events, host an event at home or at work, or orga-nize satellite groups? Together we can make the futureof our school and our profession even more successful.

Contact Association Co-Presidents Annette Prager ’96 at(201) 385-1612 or Hoshana3@Aol.com, or Joel Katz ’81 at(973) 428-9300 or jkatz@jccmetrowest.org.

The Wurzweiler School of Social Work Career Center assists alumni in

developing, evaluating, and implementing their social work career goals.

• Workshops on:- Starting your job search- Resume writing- Interviewing skills

• Networking andnegotiating

• Licensing andcredentialing

• Job listings

• Information on socialwork licensure require-ments in New York Stateand nationwide

• Career advisement,including resume reviewand interview critique

• Descriptions of local,national, and internationalsocial services agencies

• Access to online jobpostings

• Information onvolunteer opportunities

• Books, magazines,periodicals, and othersource materials

• Postings of workshops,training, and conferences

• Career networkingwith the WSSW Officeof Alumni Affairs

CO N TAC T

Benay Lindenauer, R-CSWCareer Development CenterCoordinatorWurzweiler School ofSocial Work CareerCenter

Yeshiva University500 West 185th StreetNew York, NY 10033(212) 960-0838

E M A I L

linden@ymail.yu.edu

We offer the following services:

T

WSSW’s first homecoming event foralumni, “Learn From the Many Facesof Social Work,” was held April 28 onthe Wilf Campus in Washington Heights.Returning alumni attended “classes,”given by WSSW faculty members andprominent alumni, on faith and spirit-uality, social work ethics in nursinghomes, communal social work, andsocial work from an urban perspective.The day-long program included a buffetlunch, after which the Honorable Vito J.

Lopez ’70 gave the keynote address.

“To this day, my children hatestew,” says Roselyn Weitzner‘76, secretary of WurzweilerSchool of Social Work’s Boardof Governors. It is a curiouslegacy from her years at theSchool, where, as a mother ofthree children, she studied forher master’s degree.

“I was a full-time, ‘old-school’ mother at the timeand the children had no idea Iwas in school,” she explains.“Every day they would comehome to find everything justthe way it always was—except for Tuesday evenings,when I did my field work ata clinic. That was the nightthey would eat stew, which Iwould prepare for them inthe morning.”

Wurzweiler’s flexible acad-emic schedule meant Mrs.Weitzner could juggle her dualrole as mother and socialwork student. It was part ofthe reason she chose to studyat WSSW.

Protecting the fabric of thefamily is a constant threadweaving through her life,from her days as a graduatestudent, to her 20-year careeras a psychotherapist, to herpresent involvement in Jew-ish community and social

welfare organizations. In fact, the list of organi-

zations to which Mrs. Weitz-ner volunteers speaks vol-umes about her interest inhuman welfare. Asked whichorganization appeals most toher social work sensibility,she chooses AMIT (Ameri-cans for Israel and Torah),which educates thousands ofunderprivileged youngstersin a network of religious, aca-demic and technologicalschools throughout Israel.

The organization alsohouses children from dys-functional homes in youthvillages and child havens.Headquartered in New YorkCity, AMIT cares for nearly16,000 youth-at-risk inresponse to social problemsand upheaval. After WorldWar II, it educated and caredfor children who had beenimprisoned in concentrationcamps, and it now absorbs andtrains Ethiopian, Russian, andother emigrant youngsters.

Another cause close to herheart is Yeshiva UniversityWomen’s Organization’s(YUWO) President’s Society of

Torah Chesed. As a member,she helps collect money forYU students who have finan-cial needs and emergenciesbesides tuition. “It helps thestudents get through school,”she says. She feels a closeaffinity for the programbecause it recalls somethingher mother used to do. “Iremember her collectingmoney quietly among herfriends to help certain fami-lies so children could have aparty, or go to summercamp,” says Mrs. Weitzner.

Mrs. Weitzner’s social workcareer has taken interestingturns. After graduating fromthe New York School forPsychoanalytic Psycho-therapy, and while workingfor the psychiatric clinic atStaten Island Hospital, sheset up her own practice as apsychotherapist. Although shedid a lot of general therapy,her main clientele consistedof Orthodox Jewish youngwomen seeking to get mar-ried but unable to form inti-mate, lasting relationships.She helped them to over-come their defenses and

fears. “I had a very high suc-cess rate—many of thesewomen are now married,”she proudly reports.

Sitting on Wurzweiler’sBoard of Governors has deep-ened her interest and in-volvement. “I loved my yearsat Wurzweiler. It was veryintellectually stimulating andquite an eye-opener. Going tosocial work school reallyopens you up to looking atyourself as a person,” she says.

As a founding member ofthe Board, she has seenmany changes. “We wentthrough difficult times, forexample, when we needed tofill all the requirements foraccreditation. The Boardhelped straighten things out.It did a wonderful job in get-ting new scholarships for stu-dents and enrolling moreminority students.”

Indeed, Wurzweiler’srecently received reaccredita-tion from the Council onSocial Work Education, saysDean Sheldon Gelman, isa tribute to the pioneeringefforts of members likeRos Weitzner. ❖

1 6W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Caring for the Fabric of Family

Roselyn Weitzner ’76 , secretary of WSSW’s Board

of Governors, feels a strong responsibility to

families—in the social welfare system and her

own. A member of the

Board since its founding,

she helped build Wurzweiler

into what it is today.

L E A D E R S H I P P R O F I L E

The Many Faces of Social Work

Scholarships—A Good Way to GiveSomething Back

B Y L E S L I E WA LT Z E R P O L L A KWSSW director of development

Did you know that nearly 70 percent of today’s WurzweilerSchool of Social Work students receive financial aid in theform of scholarships or loans?

Since the fall of 1998, Wurzweiler has embarked on anambitious five-year Capital Campaign to raise $5 million,the majority of which will be designated for scholarships.

(Campaign gifts are in addition tothe annual funds raised eachyear to cover the gap betweentuition income and expenses.)Almost $2.8 million has beenraised thus far.

Every student and graduateof Wurzweiler is dedicated toimproving the social well beingof others—of individuals, families,and communities throughout theworld. Since social work remainsa greatly needed, yet low-payingprofession, Wurzweiler must

provide as much scholarship support as possible so thatour students are not heavily burdened with debt upongraduation. Scholarship support enables us to competewith other graduate schools in attracting and retainingthe best quality students.

Wurzweiler students have benefited from the generosityof many donors, including board members, graduates, andparents. “We’re a high-level institution that deserves to edu-cate high-level students to serve the much needed socialwork profession,” says WSSW board member Fredda Leff ’78.

Although the amount of money raised thus far isimpressive, additional scholarship funds are necessary tohelp train qualified social workers who can respond effec-tively to changing needs, demographics, and challengesthat face the profession in the 21st century, including thecontinued greying of America; health care cost contain-ment; and the consequences of widespread substanceabuse, child abuse, and HIV/AIDS.

Today, thousands of WSSW graduates are employed aspractitioners throughout the United States and abroad, asfaculty in schools of social work, and as social service andJewish communal professionals/administrators in publicand private agencies.

To continue this tradition of excellence, and to remainone of the country’s leading graduate schools of social work,Wurzweiler is committed to providing strong scholarshipsupport. All alumni contributions to the Wurzweiler AnnualFund automatically support student scholarships, unlessspecifically restricted. ❖

P H I L A N T H R O P Y

We thank those individuals and organizations that haveestablished and supported the following scholarships andfellowships at WSSW.

Leslie Waltzer Pollak

SCHOLARSHIPS, LOANS, ANDGENERAL AWARDS

The Janet Saporta Adler Scholarship Fund

Adler/Stein Scholarship, in conjunction withUJA-Federation of New York

Anolic Scholarship Fund

Alice and Herbert Barbanel Scholarship

Benerofe Family Endowed Scholarship Fund

Selim and Rachel Benim Scholarship, inconjunction with the Hebrew Free Loan Society

Rose Biller Loan/Scholarship, in conjunction withthe Hebrew Free Loan Society

Central Bureau for the Jewish AgedScholarship Fund

Leah Chinitz Memorial Emergency Fund

Annie Chutick Scholarship Fund for studentsworking on behalf of Russian Jewry,established by daughters Dr. Lillian Chutickand Dr. Rebecca Chutick

Daniel N. Davis Scholarship Fund

Ruth Weiss Dressler Scholarship in Conjunctionwith UJA-Federation

David Dubin Scholarship Fund

Selma Frank Doctoral Scholarship Fund

Sadie and Nathan Garfinkel and Rose ClosterMemorial Scholarship Fund

Simon Gold Scholarship Fund

Muriel and David Goldman Scholarship Fund

Mildred and Philip Goodkin Scholarship

Shirley and Milton Gralla Scholarship

Shirley and Milton Gralla Scholarship forResettlement of Soviet Jewry

Israel Humanitarian Foundation Scholarship

Dr. Israel Jacobowitz Scholarship, establishedin memory of his father, Nathan Jacobowitz

Jewish Foundation for Women Scholarship

Joyce and Arthur Joseph Scholarship

David Michael Kagan Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Katz-Sadinoff Scholarship Fund

Ruth and Lawrence Kobrin Scholarship Fund,established in memory of their parents

Fred Koopman-Charlotte Springer Scholarship, inconjunction with UJA-Federation of New York

Eugene J. Korda Memorial Scholarship,established by Anna Berta Mann

Sarah Korein Loan Fund

Rachel and Felix Kraidman Memorial Scholarship,established by daughter Meri Kraidman

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey M. Krueger Scholarship

Krueger Scholars at the Peter Krueger Clinic forthe Treatment of Immunological Disorders atthe Beth Israel Medical Center

Dr. Norman Lamm Scholarship

Sarah Lederman and Dorothy Carroll Scholarshipfor Service to the Jewish Elderly

Fredda and Bruce Leff Scholarship inCommunal Social Work

Thelma and Maurice Leigh Memorial Scholarship

Leon Luchansky Memorial Scholarship Fund

Dennis Mehiel/Four M CorporationScholarship Fund

Jean and Albert Nerkin Scholarship Fund,in conjunction with the HebrewFree Loan Society

Neil Norry Scholarship Fund

Isadore D. Orenstein Scholarship Fund

Rita and Martin Prince Scholarship Fund

Professional Education Network Scholarship(PENS), in conjunction with UJA-Federationof New York

Murray Raim Scholarship Fund

The Arnold J. Ramm and Lillian Sehres RammEndowed Scholarship Fund

Peter and Eileen Rhulen Scholarship Fund forStudents Interested in Working in the Fieldof Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment

Riverside Memorial Chapel Scholarship Fund

Milton and Ella Rose Scholarship

Stella Rose Scholarship

Solomon and Annie Rosenstein Scholarship

Dorothy and David I. Schachne Scholarship Fund

S. H. and Helen R. Scheuer Family FoundationProgram for Soviet Jewish Emigres

Betty and Herbert Schiff Scholarship

Janie and Robert Schwalbe Scholarship Fund

Norman Seiden Scholarship

Ronald Shear Scholarship for Needy Students

Shield Institute Scholarship Fund

Seymour Siegel Scholarship in Conjunction withUJA-Federation

Micki and Henry Taub Scholarship

Lilly Tempelsman Scholarship Fund

Herbert and Florence Tenzer Scholarship

UJA-Federation Scholarship Program

Beate and Henry Voremberg Scholarship Fund

Jack D.Weiler Scholarship Fund

Roselyn and Walter Weitzner Scholarship

Rose and Ira Yavarkovsky Scholarship Fund

Dr. James Young Scholarship Fund

Dorothy and Philip Zaro Scholarship

Grace Mary Zimmerman Scholarship

David H. Zysman Scholarship Fund

FELLOWSHIPS

Samuel H. and Rachel Golding Fellowship

Richard A. Kesten Overseas Fellowship Programfor graduates of UJA-Federation Joint Wurz-weiler Block Program, endowed in memory ofa graduate of this program by his family

Herbert and Florence Tenzer UniversityFellowship

If you are interested inlearning more aboutcontributing to or estab-lishing scholarships atWSSW, please contact:Leslie Waltzer Pollak212.960.0872 or emaillpollak@ymail.yu.edu

1 7W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

1960sDr. Norman Linzer ’60, Samuel J. and JeanSable Professor of Jewish Family SocialWork, WSSW, presented a paper on “Anethical dilemma in home care” at the17th Congress of the InternationalAssociation of Gerontology, Vancouver,Canada. Mazal tov to Dr. Linzer and wifeDiane on the marriage of their sonMenachem Linzer to Devora (Cohen);the birth of grandsons Avraham Abish toDov and Deborah (Gross), and YehudaAryeh to Michal (Linzer) Rosenberg andhusband Jay; and on the bat mitzvah ofgranddaughter Aderet Sarah, daughter ofMoshe and Rebecca, in Israel.

1970sJerome A. Chanes ’74 participated in the33rd annual Association for JewishStudies conference, held in Washington,D.C., last December.Leslie (Hecht) Kallus ’79 has been workingas assistant director, YMHA of Clifton, NJ,for the past five years. Her youngest son,Richard, recently had his bar mitzvah.Amy (Herskowitz) Katz ’78 has been execu-tive director of the newly establishedRabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Institute, aneducational and leadership institute inBrookline, MA, since March 2001.

Dr. Eric Levine ’79, ’94, WSSW adjunct asso-ciate professor, was appointed assistantvice president for Campaign/FinancialResource Development, United JewishCommunities. He is coeditor of TheSocial Work Forum, the journal publishedby Wurzweiler.Catherine P. Papell ’77 is professor emerita,Adelphi University School of SocialWork. After retiring, she worked as afamily consultant to NCMC AlcoholOut Patient Unit for 14 years. Sheretired again in September 2000, at theage of 83. Since then she has beenbuilding group work skills with thesocial work community in Long Island,and working to create a closer commu-nity in her diverse neighborhood ofFlushing, Queens.Nava Rephun ’76 is a psychotherapistin private practice working with couplesand individuals. She spoke on “WhyYour Spouse Is Your Perfect Match” atYoung Israel of Plainview and Congre-gation Beth Aaron, in Teaneck, NJ. Shealso presented workshops on “An Intro-duction to Imago Relationship Therapy”at the Annual Nefesh Conference inBaltimore, and at the Nefesh InternationalConference in Jerusalem. She is a certi-fied Imago Relationship therapist.

1980sIrene Borins Ash ’87, a social workerworking with the elderly and a photo-journalist, will be exhibiting her photo-graphs of seniors at the Cecile and HarryPearl Gallery, Holy Blossom Temple, inToronto from August 23 to September30. “Life Journeys: An ExplorationThrough Images and Thoughts” includesher subjects’ words of wisdom aboutdeveloping healthy attitudes to agingdespite life’s trials and tribulations.Among her subjects is famous jazzpianist Oscar Peterson.Alice Berliner ’81 has spent more than 17years working in the public mentalhealth field. Living in Australia, for over10 years she has been a senior socialworker, supervisor, case manager, andprogram and policy developer. Marci Mayer Eisen ’81 was promoted todirector of the Helene Mirowitz Depart-ment of Jewish Community Life at St.Louis Jewish Community Center, whereshe has worked for more than 20 years.She has three children, ages 9, 12, and 14.Laura B. (Kamil) Hall ’80 presented a work-shop, “Meditation as an Individual Tooland an Adjunct to Psychotherapy” at theNorth Carolina NASW Fall Conferencein November.Irene Sara Kahana Hertzberg ’86 recentlycelebrated two family milestones: thebat mitzvah of granddaughter YehuditDavida, daughter of Hadar and Dr. HarrisBram; and the bar mitzvah of grandsonAharon Yaakov, son of Adena and Dr.Abbe Mendlowitz.Dr. Linda Leest ’84,’95 was an honoree atthe 10th Annual Social Workers AwardsReception and was recognized as SocialWorker of the Year in Queens by ClaireShulman, borough president. Linda hasbeen executive director of Services Nowfor Adult Persons for 15 years.Stephanie Lucas ’87 is director of socialwork for three hospitals in the Salt LakeValley that are part of the IntermountainHealth Care System.Judy (Witty) Lustig ’85 recently gave birthto a daughter, Menucha Adina. Mazaltov to her, her husband Rabbi YaakovLustig, and her parents Rabbi Irwin E.and Shulamith Witty.

A L U M N I N O T E S

Joan Sadinoff Katz ’80,

vice chair of WSSWBoard of Governors,and Philip P. Goodkin,member of the Board,will be honored atWSSW’s TributeDinner at the PlazaHotel in New YorkJune 5. They becamefounding members ofthe Wurzweiler Boardof Governors in 1984

and have provided the School with invaluable leadership and generous supportwithout interruption for the past 18 years. Phil has given us the keen insightof a highly successful veteran of the accounting profession and a concerned,caring, and active member of the community. Joan’s background as a licensedfamily therapist and Wurzweiler graduate has greatly aided us in focusing onthe human care needs of individuals and families and the skills required tobest meet them. ❖

1 8W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

1 9W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

Felice (Schulman) ’96 and Randolph Owen

Marcus ’82 have three teenage sons andrecently celebrated their 25th weddinganniversary. She does custody evalua-tions for Nassau and Queens County, NY;he is director of the Adult Day HealthCare Program for Frail Elderly, JewishHome and Hospital, New York City.Joan K. Parry ’83 recently published asecond edition of her book, Social WorkTheory and Practice with the Terminally Ill.Chani Israel Tabak ’88 is assistant execu-tive director of the Bayonne JCC, NJ.She gave birth to her seventh daughter,Martina Ariella, at the end of Februarylast year, and celebrated the bat mitzvahof daughter Toby Esther the followingmonth.Connie Watson ’86 is a social worker inthe in-patient psychological unit at FortMeade Veteran’s Administration MedicalCenter in South Dakota.

1990sRandy Allen ’92 is the clinical director ofBehavior Management Systems, a com-munity mental health center, in RapidCity, SD.Suzanne Engel ’93 worked on a volunteerbasis as part of the mental health team atPier 94, assisting victims and survivors todeal with the World Trade Center tragedy.Ivan Godfrey ’98 is a forensic social workerat a state psychiatric facility in NY andbegins a PhD in clinical psychology pro-gram at Walden University, BonitaSprings, FL.Adam Korobkin ’99 is assistant director ofthe California Jewish Community Centerin Long Beach. He married Adina Metzin September 2000, and they had adaughter, Talia Lee, in July 2001.Heidi (Wellen) Kuperman ’94 is director ofthe Men’s Division, Albert EinsteinCollege of Medicine. She and husband Ericare proud to announce the birth of sonEliyahu Aharon.Alys Lafler-Ratigan ’95 has given up herfull-time work as coordinator of a health-focused case management program atYouth and Family Services in Rapid City,SD, to care for her two adopted children.

She now consults part-time as a programdirector for substance abuse preventionservices at YFS. She is also a volunteeron the committees of the Weed and SeedProject, a crime-reduction program underthe auspices of the Department of Justice,and the Gang Tatoo Removal UnifiedSupport Team.Tzippi (Lisa Chiger) Rosen ’93 recently hada daughter, Rebecca Michelle. Mazal tovto her and husband Adam.Rosalie J. (Rose) Russo ‘95 received a doc-toral degree in social welfare (DSW) fromthe City University of New York (CUNY)at the Hunter College School of SocialWork in February this year. The focus ofher dissertation was on working withmentally retarded or developmentallydisabled people. The results of her dis-sertation were presented at YAI’sNational Institute for People withDisabilities national conference at theCrowne Plaza Hotel in New York City inMay. In addition to working in the Voca-tional Educational Service to IndividualsWith Disabilities (VESID) at the NY StateEducation Department, Dr. Russo is anadjunct teacher in the BA program inHuman Services at NYC TechnicalCollege (CUNY).Rabbi Jacob Sable ’99 reports that his sonDavid was elected president of theRiverdale Jewish Center, in the Bronx,NY, the synagogue that Rabbi Sablefounded in the early 1950s. He believesit is the first time the son of a syna-gogue’s founding rabbi was named presi-dent of that synagogue.Debbie Solkoff ’95 worked at Coney IslandHospital after graduation, and then spentfour years at Elmhurst Hospital. She isnow a medical social worker in the LongTerm Home Health Care department ofVisiting Nurse Service of NY, in Flushing,Queens. She is the mother of threechildren and lives in Bayside, NY.

2000sAleeza (Maslow) Lebowitz ’00 recentlygave birth to a daughter, Gavriella Rena,in Jerusalem, Israel. Mazal tov to herand her husband, Natanel.

Condolences toJoan K. Parry ’83 on the loss of herhusband, John, who passed away inAugust 2000.Debra (Stitskin) Roth ’80 on the loss of hermother, Dorothy.

We MournSharon P. Bell ’92, an oncology socialworker who passed away in June 2001.Condolences to her husband, Michael,and the entire family.Joseph Klein ’78, a clinical social workerin private practice in Union City, NJ,who died March 4 in Cranford, NJ. Hewas also head of geriatrics at ElizabethGeneral Hospital, now Trinitas Hospital,Elizabeth. Condolences to his wife,Connie, and the whole family.Esther Vale ’01, a mediator in privatepractice, who died February 28. One ofEsther’s lifelong goals was to obtain herMSW, which she became even moredetermined to achieve after she wasrediagnosed with breast cancer inNovember 1999. She did her fieldplacement at Jewish Family and ChildServices in Toronto part-time andcontinued until December, when shebecame quite ill. Condolences to herentire family.

As We Went to Press…

Wurzweiler alumnus Arje Shaw ’70

was the featured speaker at thisyear’s commencementceremony on May 23 atLamport Auditorium onthe Wilf Campus. Mr. Shaw isthe executive director of the YM-YWHA of Raritan Valley in High-land Park, NJ. He is also a play-wright and scriptwriter whose mostrecent production, The Gathering,was staged on Broadway in April2001. His wife, Esther, is also aWSSW alumna (1967) and one ofhis two daughters, Michelle, grad-uated at this year’s ceremony.

2 0W U R Z W E I L E R U P D A T E

The most frequently expressed questionin Israel is: “How is this going to end?”The Israeli response is that familiarshrug and rolling of the eyes, whichsays so much.

As coordinator of the WSSW BlockProgram in Israel, I come into frequentcontact with many social workers, in-cluding our 21 students, their supervi-sors, and other colleagues from a widevariety of agencies. Our conversationsinvariably focus upon the political situa-tion and the tense and tragic times with-in which we are all living.

I have come to believe that there arethree tasks that need to be accomplishedin order to live with this stressful situa-tion, especially after September 11. Thesetasks come from the world of chronic ill-ness; they are acceptance, confronta-tion, and denial.

Acceptance is exactly what I amdoing here by discussing the awfulnessof the situation. Although this is noteasy, we need to realize that by accept-ing the reality that terrorism will con-tinue to occur, we have begun to accept

the fact that wewill continue tolive in a chronicstate of stress. Nota happy conditionfor sure, but itseems to me anhonest facing ofthe uncertaintyof our times.

Confrontationembraces people’sactive responsesto this horrific sit-uation, which give us some hope and thepossibility of change. Social workers havefound many ways of confronting whatwe are all going through here in Israel.

A national organization, called ‘Natal’(a Hebrew acronym for responses toterrorism), has formed to provideprofessional support to families andindividuals who are closest to a terroristincident, both immediately afterwardsand during their recovery phase.

Social workers are giving lectures onways to deal with tension and holdingpost-traumatic stress support programsin schools, centers, and other gatheringplaces. The whole of Israel is probablysuffering from some aspect of this syn-drome and only time will tell how it willshape us.

Ad hoc groups, facilitated by socialworkers, are springing up, depending onthe needs of the moment. These groupsare very responsive to specific popula-tions. For example, parents of teenagersare in serious dilemmas as to how muchfreedom they can allow their children;parents of young children need assis-tance in discussing fears with theiryoungsters; the elderly need to be pro-tected from being isolated; families thatlive in particularly dangerous areas needhelp with day-to-day living; and evenlong-time Israelis who repeatedly say,“This situation has been going on forever,”need help in expressing their anxieties.

Therapists are asking their clientshow they are dealing with the situation.This is an important shift because thera-pists reported last year that their clientsdid not want to discuss news events.

Many social workers are finding waysto express their social action in-clinations. Osim Shalom, a joint Arab/Israeli social work organization, hasgrown from 200 members to 600. I havebecome active on a sub-committee andhelped organize a discussion aboutreligious responses to escalating terror-ism among an interfaith panel.

Finally, denial is the most usefuldefense mechanism, which enables usto fulfill our daily responsibilities andto laugh and have fun.

It means building a bubble thatenables us to cope with this incessantstress. But I don’t believe this bubble isimpenetrable—we need to let the newsin, in doses that we can manage. Thesense of control we then gain gives ussome sense of security. We also needto let ourselves cry. There are dailyfunerals in Israel for young people,older people, teenagers who went outone evening, families who went forpizza, others who just happened to beon a bus.

We need to live now, as we thinkhuman beings should live, in defianceof all that is bad around us—that initself is a marvelous victory. ❖

O P I N I O N

At WSSW’s Second

Conference on Field

Education in a Global

Perspective in January, Dr. Joyce

Brenner ‘83 , coordinator of the

WSSW Block Program in Israel,

spoke about how social workers

are helping Israelis live with the

stress of internecine violence.

This is an edited version of her

presentation.

Dateline Israel: ‘How IsThis Going To End?’

Dav

id S

ilver

man

© G

etty

imag

es

Mrs. Elise Abadie ’86Rabbi David B. Aberbach ’80Mrs. Joyce Abramowitz ’79Mr.William J. Adams ’99Mrs. Janet S. Adler ’96Mrs. Felecie Akerman ’83Ms. Carmeta V. Albarus ’95Ms. Margie Amengual ’98Dr. Melody M. Anderson ’99Ms. Lucille J. Angomas ’99Mr. Harry O. Ansorge ’97Mrs. Naomi Bar-Yam ’81Ms. Galina I. Baranikas ’97Mr. Stephen J. Baroth ’82Mrs. Linda F. Basch ’78Mr.Tom Shelley Bauer ’83Mrs. Shari Baum ’82Ms.Vivian Becker ’69Mrs. Allison L. Bellin ’92Rabbi Nehemiah Israel Ben-Zev ’98Ms. Elisabeth A. Bennett ’97Mrs. Linda Bettinger Berger ’85Ms. Rachel Berghash ’91Mrs. Elaine Berkowitz ’85Mrs. Bertha A. Berman ’83Dr.Toby Berman-Rossi ’85Dr. Lois Bernabo ’79Mrs. Jane D. Best ’89Mrs.Yuditha Bienenfeld ’75Mrs. Harriette L. Birnbaum ’79Mrs. Muriel Block ’78Mr. Seth Bloom ’89Ms.Tracey A. Blumberg ’82Ms. Sandra G. Blundetto ’92Mr.William N. Bogner ’73Mrs. Renee Bomzer ’79Mr. Irving Borenstein ’86Mrs. Renate N. Brand ’79Mrs. Zelda Braun ’70Mrs. Rae Ann Witkin Brechner ’88Mr. Jules Brotsky ’67Mrs. Aidel Buchwald ’72Ms. Dale Busch ’89Mr. Melvin Caplan ’99Mrs. Heidi Carmel ’81Mr. Saul M. Chapnick ’80Ms. Ellen Z. Charry ’70Mr. Keith J. Chernin ’95Mr. David B. Chernof ’95Mrs. Roslyn Chertoff ’70Rabbi Herman Lester Cohen ’82Ms. Michele L. Cohen ’97Ms. Susan E. Cohen ’88Mr.Theodore Comet ’99Mr. Peter F. Conti ’92Rabbi Harris J. Cooperman ’81Mr. Richard A. Corman ’76Mrs. Emily Damron ’84

Mr. Joel Daner ’62Ms. Marni R. Delman ’98Mr. Gary Dichtenberg ’81Mrs. Jan Doherty ’73Mr. David R. Dooley ’92Ms. Diane Dougherty ’95Mr. Irwin Dubinsky ’87Ms. Sheila B. Ebbin ’87Ms. Karen B. Einbinder ’96Mrs. Marci Eisen ’80Mrs. R Hope Eliasof ’83Ms. Judith G. Ellman ’79Ms.Virginia Estrada ’99Mr. Nathan Etrog ’69Ms. Mindy Evnin ’69Ms. Julianne Feddock ’01Mrs. Harriet Feiner ’64Mr. Michael Paul Feinman ’94Mrs. Carole Feldman ’81Ms. Frances Feldman ’84Mrs. Pamela Hochster Fine ’80Mrs. Annette K. Finkel ’79Mr. Mark J. Flanzraich ’79Mrs. Susan Forer-Dehrey ’80Mr. Bryan B. Fox ’78Mr. Daniel Frankel ’78Rabbi Solomon Freilich ’84Mrs. Janet Amy Friedman ’82Mrs. Deborah Furst ’80Ms. Mildred Galonsky ’75Mr. Lawrence Gelfand ’65Mrs. Barbara Gerson ’79Ms. Renee M. Giles ’90Ms. Barbara B. Gilford ’93Ms. Rachel Ginsburg ’88Mrs. Stephanie R. Glenns-Segal ’94Ms. Sheryl Glickman ’72Mr. Ivan Joseph Godfrey ’98Ms. Sherry Gold ’75Ms. Jayne A. Goldberg ’82Mrs. Mary L. Goldiner ’76Dr. Joan Love Goldstein ’81Ms. Roberta I. Goldstein ’87Mrs. Sorie Goldstein ’81Dr.William Goldstein ’62Ms. Elizabeth Gomez ’96Dr. Nancy T. Gonchar ’93Mrs. Rhoda H. Goodman ’78Mr. Barry Stephen Gordon ’81Mrs. Gloria Gordon ’71Mrs. Susan Gordon ’74Ms. Cleo A. Gorman ’69Mr. Joshua Gortler ’60Rabbi Mel Gottlieb ’73Mrs. Rachael L. Gray-Raff ’87Mrs. Ann G. Greenberg ’81Mr. Martin Greenberg ’76Ms. Rima Greenberg ’77

Rabbi Stanley Greenberg ’99Mr. Doni Greenblatt ’93Mr. Max B. Greenwald ’62Mrs Melissa Polen Grossman ’93Mrs.Vera Gruber ’72Mrs. Felice C. Grunberger ’77Mr. Steven Gursky ’82Ms. Lynne Miller Guss ’80Mr. Joseph Harris ’99Ms. Carol Anne Harvey ’99Mrs. Linda Hausdorff ’72Dr. Henry Heinbach ’96Mrs. Ann Heller ’82Mrs. Ingrid E. Herskovics ’80Rabbi William Herskowitz ’50Mrs. Sharon Herzberg ’81Ms. Esther Heyman ’67Mrs. Ilene Himber ’82Mr. David S. Hirschfeld ’86Mrs. Abby Stamelman Hocky ’80Ms. Cynthia Ann Hoddeson ’79Mrs.Wendy M. Hoffman-Blank ’85Mrs. Janis M. Horn ’74Mr. Stephen M. Horowitz ’66Mrs.Toby M. Horowitz ’69Mrs.Tracy Horwitz ’92Ms. Annelen C. Hughes ’96Ms. Betsy Imershein ’77Mrs. Jill Jaclin ’01Mr. Robert Kafes ’72Ms. Chana M Kahn ’88Ms. Linda S. Kane ’85Mr. Paul Kantrowitz ’78Ms. Susanne Kaplowitz ’83Mrs. Patti Katz ’87Mr. Lester R. Kaufman ’69Ms. Ruth Kaufman ’82Mrs. Patricia L. Kent ’94Ms. Nella Khenkin ’94Ms. Sandra P. Kilstein ’76Ms. Roslyn S. Kirschenbaum ’87Mr. Larry Kirshner ’59Ms. Eva Klahr ’84Ms. Relly Klarman ’94Ms. Stacey L. Klein ’95Mrs.Yona I. Kollin ’80Ms. Barbara Korson ’93Mrs. Florence Kraut ’76Mrs. Lois Kroll ’78Rabbi Ira Kronenberg ’82Ms. Julia B. Kronfeld ’87Ms. Lyudmila Krupitsky ’85Ms. Margarita M Kugler ’94Mrs. Fayanne Kuttler ’83Rabbi Moshe Kwalbrun ’82Mrs.Yonina Langer ’74Mrs. Naomi Eibshutz Lazarus ’80Mrs. Emma Leaf ’71

Dr. Judith A. Lee ’80Mr. Louis I. Leeder ’87Ms. Lynn Susan Levanda ’89Dr. Eric M. Levine ’94Mrs. Janice A. Levy ’69Mrs. Jenifer Fischer Lewison ’87Ms. Bilha Lieberman ’84Mrs. Miriam Lieberman ’84Dr. Norman Linzer ’60Ms. Rhonda J. Liss ’99Ms. Diane L. Litwin ’83Ms. Marie Lopresti ’88Mrs. Sally Love ’83Ms. Sara L. Mainster ’97Ms. Susan March ’95Rabbi Alvin M. Marcus ’52Ms. Lisa J. Marcus ’95Dr. Randolph Owen Marcus ’82Mrs. Helaine Fruchtman Mark ’85Dr. Elaine Marshack ’84Mrs.Virginia N. Martin ’81Ms. Aleeza N. Maslow ’01Mr. Ben A. Mayer ’69Mrs. Phyllis Mayer ’82Ms. Cindy E. McQuade ’82Ms. Diana K. Mcgill ’92Mr. Mark L. Mendel ’87Mr. Robert A. Meyer ’87Dr. Parivash M. Michlin ’92Rabbi Jay M. Miller ’89Mrs. Olivia T. Miller ’77Mrs. Rochelle S. Mogilner ’82Ms. Lisa Dale Moore ’78Ms. Mary (Mollie) Morse ’97Ms. Lynne R. Moser ’97Mr. George J. Moskowitz ’84Ms. Jacqueline Moss ’90Mr. Arnold Nash ’62Mrs. Sandra B. Nayberg ’83Mr. Alan A. Nehama ’00Ms.Teri Neufeld ’93Mrs. Goldie Newman ’81Dr. Danielle Nisivoccia ’84Ms. Sari Lynn Novick-Feldman ’99Mrs. Joan O’Donnell ’80Mr. Stephen E. Offer ’86Dr. Catherine Papell ’78Ms. Ruth Parzen ’93Dr. Adria Pearlman ’89Mr. Merrill Robert Penn ’00Mr. Howard M. Percival ’75Ms. Barbara K. Perlman ’94Mr. Emanuel C. Perlman ’88Ms. Gretchen Phillips ’72Mrs. Linda Poleyeff ’85Mrs. Adeeva Pomeranz ’95Ms. Elana R. Ponet ’90Ms. Miriam Popack ’86

Mrs. Bette G. Pounds ’92Ms. Annette M. Prager ’96Mrs. Debra L. Prince ’77Ms. Cheryl Anne Prosper ’79Ms. Jinsheng Qiu ’99Rabbi Robert Raab ’81Mrs. Barbara Rachlin ’81Mrs. Eileen Rafield ’80Ms. Ayala Rahimi ’80Mrs. Rose S. Reiss ’67Dr. Cheryl D. Resnick ’92Mrs. Elinor B. Ribowsky ’79Mrs. Roni M. Richter ’95Mrs. Dina Roemer ’79Ms. Eileen L. Rogers ’77Ms. Lois Rose ’82Mrs. Mireille Rosenbaum ’78Rabbi Samuel B Rosenberg ’89Mrs. Esther Rosenthal ’76Mrs. Francine Ross-Laurence ’79Mrs. Debra Roth ’80Mr. Joseph N. Rothstein ’82Ms. Estelle Royfe ’81Mrs. Zhava Rudomin ’82Ms. Rosalie J. Russo ’95Mrs. Deborah A. Rutz ’83Mrs. Stephanie K. Sabar ’70Mrs. Cecilia Sacharow ’66Mrs. Hope Salmansohn ’78Mr. Robert R. Saltzman ’99Mrs. Barbara Sarah ’72Mrs. Martha Sarnotsky ’78Ms. Susan G. Sawyer ’96Mr. Benjamin P. Schafler ’85Mrs. Miriam Schechter ’81Mr. Jeffrey M. Scheckner ’87Ms. Abby R. Schneider ’80Rabbi A. Irving Schnipper ’50Mrs. Lizbeth Schoen ’79Ms. Janet M. Schoenheimer ’94Ms. Audrey Schottland ’75Ms. Arondelle L. Schreiber ’71Dr. Sybil Schreiber ’86Mr. Michael B. Schwartz ’91Ms. Behshid Sedaghat-Pour ’01Mr. Judah L. Segal ’74Mr. Harry Alan Seltzer ’79Mr. Ken D. Seman ’91Mrs. Anne Elizabeth Senter ’83Rabbi Hyim G. Shafner ’95Ms. Margarita Shakhmurov ’95Ms. Donna Jane Shakin ’80Mrs. Betty M. Shapiro ’71Ms. Hyacinth M. Shepherd ’97Ms. Rosalyn Sherman ’97Ms. Sellie Selma Shine ’84Mrs. Adrienne Shutt ’80Mr. Abraham Siegelman ’63

Cantor Paul C. Silbersher ’74Ms. Cheryl Silver ’98Mr. Fred Shragai Silverman ’81Dr. Alan M. Singer ’78Mr. Richard Sipser ’78Mr. Darren Cory Skinner ’97Ms. Michele Marie Snyders ’97Ms. Diane Sperber ’76Mr. Edward D. Sperling ’76Ms. Dorothy Spiegel ’96Mr. Zvi S. Spiler ’76Mrs. Carole F. Spivack ’92Ms. Sheila Stanger ’84Mrs. Amy Steinberg ’79Ms. Robin J. Sternberg ’94Mrs. Deborah Stromberg ’72Dr. Carol Sturtz ’83Ms. Minnie Sunfist ’80Ms. Melissa Eve Taxin ’00Mrs. Alice Taylor ’92Mrs. Robyn P.Teplitzky ’88Mr. Joseph M Tierney ’99Mr. Igor Timkovsky ’97Ms. Martha C.Torregrossa ’97Mrs. A. Lillian Trilling ’84Mrs. Adena Twersky ’82Ms. Sheila Vieira ’95Mrs. Anne Wallach ’79Mr. Jeffrey Michael Wallach ’79Rabbi Norman Avinoam Walles ’82Ms. Maxine W Wasserman ’84Mr. Avy Weberman ’77Mrs. Peggy Weberman ’80Ms. Barbara Gross Weinberg ’82Mrs. Caryl P.Weinstein ’76Mrs. Muriel G.Weisel ’64Mr. Joel A.Weisenberg ’64Dr. Bella K.Weisfogel ’78Ms. Mara D.Wexler ’00Ms. Barbara L.White ’92Mrs. Mali Wiener ’70Mrs Laurie A.Wilensky ’92Mrs. Judy Wimpfheimer ’00Dr. Michele R.Winchester-Vega ’92Ms. Sara Ruth Winkelman ’94Ms. Roneet Carmel Wolf ’99Ms. Roneet Carmel Wolf ’00Mrs. Paulette Yaged ’80Mrs. Jackie Youra ’82Mrs.Terry Zalma ’67Mrs. Elaine Zeitz ’71Dr. Jael N. Zickel ’92Mrs. Janet L. Zimmerman ’79Mrs. Susan Zito ’71Ms. Lilly Zohary ’84

Thank you to the following WSSW alumni who have generously contributed to the Wurzweiler School of Social Work Alumni Annual Fund. Please remember

that all pledges and gifts are due by June 30. Please call the Office of Alumni Affairs to make your gift with a credit card or mail your contribution using the

envelope inserted in this issue of the Wurzweiler Update.

WSSW Alumni Donors