t
World
Zionist Driven
New Cal president keeps kosher,
loves Israel.
Mark and Judy Yudof greet an employee at a University of California staff
reception in Oakland on June 16.
"From the day I moved to Regent Street
of West Bloomfield, it has felt like home.
The staff is kind and they are experts at
what they do." - Resident Bea Paul
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A28
July 17 • 2008
Tom Tugend
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Los Angeles
T
he new president of the
University of California's 10
campuses and 220,000 stu-
dents keeps a kosher home, lectures
on Maimonides for intellectual stimu-
lation and is an unabashed Israel sup-
porter.
"I am what I am;' Mark Yudof says.
"What I've found works best for me is
transparency, being direct and being
honest!"
As he takes the helm of one of the
world's leading public research uni-
versities, Yudof, a former chancellor of
the University of Texas and president
of the University of Minnesota, has his
work cut out for him.
Over the past five years, Jewish
students and some observers have
charged repeatedly that the adminis-
tration at the UC Irvine campus, now
headed by Chancellor Michael Drake,
has failed to protect Jewish students
against hate speech and intimidation
by outside speakers and Muslim stu-
dent groups.
Yudoff, a veteran law professor
and expert on constitutional law and
freedom of expression, says the issue
presents him with something of a
dilemma.
"It is an excruciating conflict
when people demean everything that
Judaism stands for. Some of these
speakers and what they say drive me
to distraction and I hate it,"Yudof says.
"On the other hand, I teach constitu-
tional law and I have a deep commit-
ment to the First Amendment, which
has served us well over time. How do
you reconcile that as a Jewish man? It
is horrendously difficult!"
Yudof defended Drake, who has
been criticized by some Jews for not
taking a sufficiently firm stand against
hate speech.
"I've had several conversations with
the chancellor, and he has a great
heart and enormous sympathy for the
Jewish people. He is a mentsh,"Yudof
said. "Because I take anti-Semitism
so personally, I think I can give him
some good advice!"
The Backdrop
Born in Philadelphia to descendents
of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants,
Yudof, 63, says his grandfather on one
side was Orthodox and on the other
side a "well-known atheist" He says he
was raised in a "tangentially Jewish"
home and had a bar mitzvah. Today he
belongs to Conservative synagogues.
Yudof, who is leading a university with
an $18 billion budget, is the son of an
electrician and says he never quite lost
his taste for the blue-collar lifestyle
— especially frequent meals at pan-
cake diners.