Feminists Club Covers Nagel Wall to Expose Sexism at YU

At around 9:30pm on the evening of Wednesday, February 15, members of the new YU Feminists Club posted a display on the Nagel Commons wall protesting sexism within the YU community.

The exhibit, which was composed entirely of material originating on Facebook, was designed to demonstrate that sexism exists even within the YU community. Sexist quotes were taken directly from posts on Facebook account “A YU Bochur Says” and from comments on the Feminists Club’s Facebook page. For example, one of the posters displayed a comment from the Feminists Club’s page which sarcastically asked, “Will the meetings be held in the cafeteria kitchen?” and garnered fifty-two likes. Names of the commenters were blacked out. Screenshots of these quotes were taped to the wall surrounding the words “sexism exists” in large letters at the center of the display.

Molly Meisels, President of the Feminists Club, explained the purpose of the display. “We intend to raise awareness,” said Meisels. “People don’t realize that there is sexism in our community, so we wanted to show that there clearly is.”

Other club members echoed Meisels’s sentiment. Sheindel Rusanov, Director of Recruitment for the club, remarked, “college students are supposed to be lamplighters of the world, and yet on this campus people are saying inexcusable things. It’s 2017.”

The display gathered support from a number of passerby. Joshua Perlman, a junior, thought that the display was appropriate because “there is sexism everywhere, and it’s important to have a conversation about it.”

Other students claimed to be confounded by the exhibit, saying that they were unsure whether it was satirical. The display’s creators did not stick around to explain its purpose, and the display itself lacked any indication that it was mounted by the YU Feminists Club.

The exhibit did not remain for long, though, as the posters were all removed from the wall around an hour after they were put up.

This display of protest is the second of its kind in recent weeks. On January 31, a number of students similarly taped pictures and quotes over the artistic mural on the Nagel wall in protest of President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration. By creating this display, the Feminists Club continues to set precedent for using the Nagel wall as a forum for students to express protest and bring awareness to various causes. Both displays were torn down soon after they were created, but both drew students’ attention and generated discussion.

Note: This article has been updated since its original release to reflect ongoing developments in this story