President Berman, Chairman Mitzner and Roshei Yeshiva Issue Statements on Hareni
Yeshiva University President Ari Berman sent an email to the student body on April 10, just a day before Pesach, with attached letters from the YU’s roshei yeshiva and Ira Mitzner, chairman of YU’s board of trustees. The letters addressed the guidelines under which Hareni, YU’s new LGBTQ club, will operate.
The roshei yeshiva’s letter — which was unsigned and stated that it represented the “consensus position” of the roshei yeshiva of “YP/RIETS” — emphasized that Hareni was intended solely to “provide chizzuk and support to those who seek to fully maintain traditional halachic standards of sexual morality,” and that any deviation from that purpose would not be permitted. “Consequently,” the letter continued, “the club will not be permitted to use pride flags, symbols, emojis, or related terminology in its materials or activities.
“All materials, communications, and publications from Hareni must include in a clear and noticeable fashion the following statement: ‘This club is for students who seek to fully maintain traditional halachic standards of sexual morality, as defined by the Shulchan Aruch,’” the letter said. “Pride flags, symbols, and emojis, as well as the term ‘Pride Club,’ are not sanctioned in any context.
“If these guidelines and expectations are not upheld we will not permit the club to continue to operate.”
The statement also stressed that Hareni events deemed “primarily social and recreational,” even if advertised as educational, would not be approved. This is in accordance with the statement shared by YU reported on by The Commentator on April 3.
The letter also expressed “disappointment” and “frustration” with the way the plan for the club had been represented since the settlement of the lawsuit between YU and the YU Pride Alliance, the precursor to Hareni.
The details of the settlement, released from under seal on April 3 and signed by both parties, established that Hareni would operate under the “approved guidelines” of Kol Yisrael Areivim — a club introduced in 2022 by YU but never implemented. Those guidelines emphasized a foundation of “uncompromising Halacha,” a commitment to Torah values and a mission to assist LGBTQ students in living authentic Torah lives.
The agreement permitted Hareni to function like other undergraduate clubs, with the right to elect its own leadership, appear on club rosters and calendars, receive equal funding and host events — including professional development programs, holiday preparations, movie nights and educational discussions. A list of pre-approved events for the 2024-25 academic year was included, and YU committed to negotiating a similar list for 2025-26.
The agreement also stipulated that Hareni would be subject to the same oversight as that of other clubs.
In his email, Berman expressed full support for the roshei yeshiva’s leadership.
“I am deeply inspired by how our Yeshiva consistently responds to very sensitive and critical contemporary issues with clarity, integrity and leadership,” Berman wrote. “Our strength is that our Roshei Yeshiva guide us and lead us in halakhic matters with the full support of our Trustees and lay leaders standing strong behind them.”
“This unity empowers Yeshiva University to stand strong at all times with our values as our compass and our mission of sanctifying God’s name in the world, our north star,” he added.
“Seder night celebrates the transmission of our tradition from one generation to the next,” Mitzner wrote in his letter. “For the Jewish people, this transmission is led and guided by the rabbinic leaders of each generation. At Yeshiva, we are profoundly honored to have as our teachers our Roshei Yeshiva.
“The recently announced agreement of the establishment of the student club Hareni has inspired me to reach out and express my gratitude and the gratitude of the board to them. They have once again formulated solutions to the most sensitive and critical matters of our time and are role models to our children for how to sanctify Hashem’s name in the world.”
All halachic matters related to undergraduate student life “are under direct authority” of the roshei yeshiva, he added. “They are the ones who will decide how this agreement is actualized and implemented.”
Photo caption: Students protest in front of YU
Photo credit: The YU Pride Alliance
