According to HUC’s website, the board will vote on the proposal to consolidate the Rabbinic program to LA and NYC in April

13 years after thousands of your rallied in support of keeping HUC’s Cincinnati presence, the board of HUC is again prepared to remove the Rabbinic program from the Queen City.

The proposal, which has zero support from Cincinnati faculty or administration (page 20, footnote 1), makes the argument that spreading the Rabbinic program over three campus is unsustainable due to:

• Decreased funding, increased deficits
• Decreasing enrollment numbers,
• Spreading the student and faculty thinner
• Eliminating ‘impediments to change’

On the face, these arguments have merit.

Unfortunately, the process has been largely described as bankrupt, and change management theater. This is particularly ironic given that HUC President, Dr. Andrew Rehfeld, has spent a career writing about representation.

Change management theater

A number of people close to the process have indicated that removing the rabbinic program from Cincinnati, as a first step to divesting from the campus, was always the assumed outcome, and other options were never seriously considered.

Bankrupt

During the past several years, when funding for nonprofits increased dramatically, HUC has not seen the same increase, largely because of lack of focus and effort.

In fact, it is hard to know what is actually happening and why, because HUC hasn’t released any financials since the 2017-2018 academic year

The time is nigh, but it is not too late

If you care about the future of progressive Jewish life in Cincinnati and the broader Midwest and South, please make your voice heard by contacting the following people:

Andrew Rehfeld, President – rehfeld @ huc.edu

Melissa Greenberg, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Chief Philanthropy Officer – mgreenberg @ huc.edu