By: Faculty Of The Undergraduate Schools (Yeshiva College, Stern College, Sy Syms School of Business)  | 

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