Open Letter in Support of LGBTQ+ students
We the undersigned members of the undergraduate faculty of Yeshiva College, Stern College, and the Sy Syms School of Business write this letter to proclaim our support for the LGBTQ+ students of the colleges.
YU’s public litigation tactics, seeking relief from a state court decision requiring recognition of the Pride Alliance, have caused LGBTQ+ members of our broader college community to feel deeply vulnerable in an institution of higher learning that should be a safe academic home for them. If President Berman’s statement of his “unshakeable commitment” to the college’s LGBTQ+ students is sincere, then those students are minimally entitled to the university’s recognition of the Pride Alliance, whose primary goal is to ensure that our LGBTQ+ students feel safe and welcome on campus.
YU’s public opposition to recognizing the Pride Alliance, going so far as to seek emergency relief from a state court order, harms our reputation within the broader academic community, identifying the undergraduate programs with political forces of extreme homophobia and intolerance that should have no place at our university.
We appreciate and endorse what our colleagues at Cardozo, Ferkauf, and Einstein have written publicly on this issue, each offering their own distinctive perspective in support of our LGBTQ+ students. Given that the undergraduate Pride Alliance is at the center of this current controversy, as undergraduate faculty, we feel particularly compelled to speak up for the sake of the protection and well-being of our students, and for the sake of the ethical integrity of the university to which we have devoted our academic careers.
Sincerely,
The undersigned faculty from YC, SCW, and SSSB.
Tamar Avnet, Professor of Marketing, Sy Syms School of Business
Marissa A. Barrera, Former Department Chair, Speech Pathology and Audiology
Debbie Beaudreau, PreHealth Coordinator, Yeshiva College
Maria Blekher, Director, YU Innovation, Sy Syms School of Business
Shirley Bluvstein, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Sy Syms School of Business
Douglas Burgess, Professor of History, Yeshiva College and Stern College
James Camara, Clinical Associate Professor of Chemistry, Yeshiva College
Irina Catrina, Clinical Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Yeshiva College
Archishman Chakraborty, Professor of Finance, Sy Syms School of Business
Anna Lisa Cohen, Professor of Psychology, Yeshiva College
Jonathan Cristol, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science, Stern College
Gabriel Cwilich, Professor of Physics, Yeshiva College
Jonathan Dauber, Associate Professor of Jewish Mysticism, Revel Graduate School
Stanley Dorn, Associate Professor of Music, Stern College
Ron Drori, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Stern College
Donald Estes, Senior Laboratory Instructional Specialist, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Stern College
Lauren Fitzgerald, Professor of English, Yeshiva College
Debra Frohlinger, Adjunct Professor, Sy Syms School of Business
Jeffrey Freedman, Professor of History, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Gabriel Goldstein, Interim Director and Chief Curator, Yeshiva University Museum; former Adjunct Faculty, Stern College
Paula Geyh, Professor of English, Yeshiva College
David Glaser, Professor of Music, Yeshiva College
Paul Glassman, Adjunct Instructor of Architectural History & Design, Yeshiva College
Sumanta Goswami, Associate Professor & Chair of Biology, Yeshiva College
Jeffrey Gurock, Professor of Jewish History, Stern College, Libby Klaperman of Jewish history Revel Grad school
Joan Gluckauf Haahr, Professor Emerita of English, Yeshiva College
Tadashi Hashimoto, Assistant Professor of Economics, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Orlee Hauser, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology, Stern College
Shalom Holtz, Professor of Bible, Hebrew and Near Eastern Studies, Yeshiva College
Matthew Incantalupo, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yeshiva College
Jennifer Isaacs, Professor of Psychology, Yeshiva College
Joanne Jacobson, Professor Emerita of English and former Associate Dean, Yeshiva College
Thom Kennon, Adjunct Professor / Director of Consulting, Sy Syms School of Business, Katz School of Health and Science
Aaron Koller, Professor, Bible, Hebrew, and Near Eastern Studies, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Vladimir Kovtun, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Information and Decision Sciences, Sy Syms School of Business
Haddassa Kosak, Associate Professor of History, Yeshiva College and Stern College
David Lavinsky, Professor of English, Yeshiva College
William L. Lee, Professor Emeritus of English, Yeshiva College
Ariel Malka, Professor of Psychology, Yeshiva College, Stern College
Rachel Mesch, Professor of English & French, Chair of English, Yeshiva College
Matt Miller, Associate Professor of English, Chair, Dept of English, Stern College
Erik Mintz, Adjunct Professor of Marketing and English, Sy Syms School of Business
Richard L. Nochimson, Professor Emeritus of English, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Seamus O’Malley, Associate Professor of English, Stern College
Jess Olson, Professor of Jewish History, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Moses Pava, University Professor, Sy Syms School of Business
Ann Peters, Associate Professor of English, Stern College
Gil Peleg, Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing, Sy Syms School of Business
David Puretz, Lecturer, English, Yeshiva College
S. Abraham (Avri) RAVID, Professor of Finance, Sy Syms School of Business
Nurit Shaul, Adjunct in Marketing, Sy Syms School of Business
Ellen Schrecker, Professor of History Emerita, Yeshiva College & Stern College
Sara Schwartz, Academic Advisor, Yeshiva College Dean’s Office
Elizabeth Stewart, Associate Professor of English, Yeshiva College
Laura Sylvia, Assistant Professor, Speech Pathology, Stern College
Brian Trimboli, Clinical Assistant Professor of English, Yeshiva College
Traci Tullius, Associate Professor of Art, Chair, Studio Art, Stern College
Raji Viswanaathan, Professor of Chemistry, Yeshiva College
Cynthia Wachtell, Research Professor of American Studies, Stern College
Manfred Weidhorn, Professor Emeritus of English, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Marcia Young, Director of Performance Studies, Stern College
Marnin Young, Associate Professor of Art History, Stern College
Joshua D. Zimmerman, Professor of History, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Anonymous, Associate Professor of English, Stern College
Anonymous, Professor of History, Stern College
Anonymous, Jewish Studies Department, Stern College
Anonymous, Lecturer, Stern College
Anonymous, Lecturer, Stern College
Anonymous, Professor of Finance, Sy Syms School of Business
Anonymous, Professor, Stern College
Anonymous, Professor, Yeshiva College
Anonymous, Professor, Stern College, Yeshiva College, Katz School
Anonymous, Professor, Stern College, Yeshiva College
