The Day the Rabbi Resigned Read Free Page A

anything,” said Levine. “In Catholic countries like Ireland and Poland, I understand Jewish youngsters are enrolled in the religious schools with a dispensation from attending the religious services.”
    â€œI suppose so, but I would think that after the school had been in existence for so many years, its general orientation would be pretty well-known, at least in the area.”
    â€œAll right.”
    â€œThen after World War Two, with the G.I. bill enabling large numbers of veterans to go to college, it became coeducational, the way many schools did. Women’s Lib had something to do with it, I imagine.”
    â€œBut you still kept Christian in the name,” Levine insisted.
    â€œYes, it became Windermere Christian College of Liberal Arts. As I understand it, they kept the Christian in the name because it had always been referred to as Windermere Christian. It’s not easy to give up a name. The company is still called American Express even though it hasn’t engaged in the business of delivering parcels for years. And then, too, it was argued that there were a number of scholarships and gifts of one sort or another that had been made out to Windermere Christian, and that these might have to be given back if they changed the name. At least, that was one of the arguments that was offered me when I took over as president. I didn’t push it because I sensed that the board wouldn’t go along with me. But I did do something to indicate that the school was nondenominational. I hired a Rabbi Lamden to give a three-hour course in Judaica. He is the rabbi of a Reform congregation in Cambridge. He’s not much of a scholar, but he’s popular because it’s a snap course and anyone taking it is sure of an A. You see, the school had become a fall-back school—”
    â€œFall-back?”
    â€œYes, you know, as it got harder and harder for kids to get into the prestigious colleges like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, they’d apply to those and then to some less prestigious school, like Windermere, to fall back on if they were refused admission to their first choices. Well, because Windermere had become a fall-back school, it had begun to get students from outside the Boston area, especially from New York and New Jersey. The student body had been pretty much local until then. Quite a few from the New York and New Jersey area were Jewish, and I thought the Judaica course might allay whatever suspicions their parents might have of the name.”
    â€œI see, and you think my name on the Board of Trustees would add to the effect?”
    â€œNo, believe me, Mark, that’s not what I had in mind.”
    â€œWhat then? An endowment, perhaps?”
    Macomber smiled. “A college can always use some extra money. But that’s not what I was thinking of either. Look, the board meets only four times a year, and the agenda is set beforehand. If you can’t make it to one of the meetings, there’s no harm done. Many of the out-of-state trustees come only once or twice a year, although the college picks up the tab for the trip. There are twenty on the board. When a vacancy occurs, I nominate the replacement, and although they vote on it, my nomination is tantamount to election. There’s a vacancy right now, and I’d like to put your name up. And by the way, it’s for life.”
    â€œReally? So someone has to die before—”
    â€œWell, there are resignations, and once one of the trustees was involved in a rather smelly bankruptcy. The board called for his resignation, and it was understood he would be voted out if he did not offer it. But that was before my time.”
    â€œWell, I’m clean, but why do you want me?”
    â€œBecause I want people on the board I can be sure of.”
    â€œBut if you’re the president, don’t you automatically get the backing of the board?”
    â€œIt’s not like taking over a corporation