The Lander Institute's request to stay proceedings was approved by the court. Judge David Mintz issued an order that will remain in effect until this coming Tuesday. The judge announced the appointment of attorneys Ami Pullman and Yigal Weinstein as trustees, subject to their consent. The trustees will be required to submit an initial report to the court by this coming Monday.
Judge David Mintz explained that "the dissolution alternative is a disastrous alternative for the student community."
The Lander Institute (formerly Touro College) has 1,200 students, many of them ultra-Orthodox, studying business administration, Judaism, education and society, and the Land of Israel and Jerusalem.
According to the request to freeze proceedings, filed about a week ago by attorneys Yitzhak Junger and Vishay Meyersdorf, of the Friedman Junger & Co. law firm, the college has debts totaling NIS 22.5 million, and that the institute has reached the brink of collapse due to the mismanagement of its previous management, which relied mainly on donations from abroad and did not match expenses to income. The request states that management was replaced in 2013, and the new management took over a cumulative deficit of NIS 15 million and a current deficit of NIS 6 million per year.
The reason for the acute crisis lies in misunderstandings with a group of donors. According to the institute, until last week its directors were certain that it would receive a donation of millions of shekels from a body that would also assume responsibility for a significant portion of the debts. This body had already transferred $1 million to a trust account, but at the last minute unexpectedly announced that it could not sign the agreement at this stage. However, the same body also said that there was a high probability that it would be able to assist the institute after all.
Last week, allegations were received that many unpaid lecturers were no longer attending classes. The Lander Institute reported that most lecturers are attending and most classes are being held as scheduled.
Attorney Junger said in the hearing that in the week since the application was submitted, several entities have expressed interest in continuing the operation of the Lander Institute - including the Ono Academic College, the Lipschitz Institute, and the academic track of the College of Management. Junger added that there are contacts to provide donations to the Lander Institute.
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