Annual Mechina Panel Highlights Journeys, Growth and Belonging at Stern
Nearly 200 students gathered in the beit midrash on Jan. 28 for the annual Mechina Panel. For almost two hours, eight women shared personal reflections on their journeys of coming to Stern College.
The Mechina Pathways Program is a two-year program designed to support Stern students who enter college with no or little background in formal Jewish education. Participants hail from diverse countries and backgrounds, with varying levels of Jewish observance and Torah knowledge. Each year, a panel is hosted to highlight these students’ journeys, how they got to Stern, the challenges they have faced and highlights they have experienced.
This year’s panel highlighted a wide range of students. Some were freshmen still adjusting to their first year at Stern, while others were in their third year of college and no longer identified formally with Mechina, but still credit the program for much of their growth.
The panel started with words of introduction from Dean Shoshana Schechter, the founder and director of the program and Dean of Torah Studies and Spiritual Life at Stern College. When asked by The Commentator about what she thinks the purpose of the Mechina Panel is, she responded, “The impact is twofold. It is both important for the panelists and for the audience.” For Mechina students the panel is about feeling loved and accepted, and welcomed in the beit midrash. For others in the audience, it is about being exposed to students who had to go through challenges and fight to get to where they are, and to feel grateful and not take for granted the incredible opportunities and experiences that Stern has to offer.
After Dean Schechter’s words of introduction, the President of Mechina and moderator of the panel, Shaina Shaoolian (SCW ‘28), invited the panelists to share their background, the story of how they got to Stern, challenges they have faced and highlights they have experienced. At the end of the panel, she also asked each panelist to share a message with the audience. To Shaoolian, “Mechina is all about creating a supportive family for girls at Stern, especially during a transition as difficult as this one, and it is a place for students who did not have the privilege of a Jewish education growing up.” Shaoolian shared her own story of coming to Stern from public school and emphasized the importance of being appreciative of one’s background and Jewish upbringing.
Beyond individual stories, the panel changes the atmosphere in the beit midrash itself. Dean Schechter mentioned to The Commentator that every year in the days following the panel, she is approached by Mechina students who thank her and tell her how much more comfortable and accepted they feel. The evening challenges assumptions and helps students in the audience work on their judgment and become more open to hearing and meeting new people that they otherwise would not have met. As several panelists and Dean Schechter emphasized, at the end of the day Stern is one community and the panel helps reflect that in a way that would otherwise not be possible.
Betty Khirman (SCW ‘26), president of Beren Campus Student Government (BCSG), who began her Stern journey in the Mechina program has spoken on the panel three times. She stressed the importance of not taking one’s opportunity to be at Stern for granted and urged the audience to call their parents and to thank them for providing them with a Jewish education. “Your parents sending you to Jewish day school for 12 years is not something to take for granted. It is a privilege,” Khirman told the audience.
Originally, Khirman was not sure she wanted to speak on the panel this year, since she had done it twice before and does not like to be confined by people’s perceptions of a “Mechina student,” but she told The Commentator that, “Often our vulnerabilities are the most inspirational things for other people and if I can empower even one person in the audience or one Mechina student with my story, then it’s worth being vulnerable”. When asked about the impact that the Mechina program has on its students, she said, “You learn aspects of Judaism for the first time, and then you teach your kids, and they teach their kids. That’s the impact.” Mechina has a generational impact, both for students in the program and for the audience at the panel.
After the almost two hour long panel, the energy in the room was palpable. Stern students who had never before questioned the fact that they were at Stern were inspired; conversations went on for hours and friendships were formed.
Shoshana Fisher (SCW ‘26) has attended the Mechina Panel every year throughout her time at Stern. When asked about what keeps bringing her back she said that “everyone on the panel made an active choice to be here, and that makes me more appreciative of the space I’m in.” She also mentioned the importance of hearing how we can make our community more inviting and welcoming, making Mechina students feel like part of the community.
This panel, one of the most impactful events of the year, highlights the commitment to unity and acceptance that exists within the student body. Through programs such as these, the Stern community continues to shape its environment and create a culture where everyone belongs.
Photo Caption: Large showing of Stern students at the Mechina Panel
Photo Credit: Rebecca Henner
