From the YSU President’s Desk: Ishay Ribo, Out-of-Town Committee and Clubs

All of us at the Yeshiva Student Union hope the first few weeks of school have been exciting and rewarding so far! The energy emanating from all the student initiatives and activities has been palpable, and we hope to keep the momentum going throughout the semester and the year.

Perhaps most exciting of all was the Ishay Ribo concert that the student government co-sponsored on Sept. 15. Hundreds of students joined us in an incredibly moving evening of song and unity. Seeing hostage families and watching clips of soldiers reuniting with their loved ones was a sobering reminder of the conflict that has occupied so much of our lives these last eleven and a half months, but looking around the crowd and seeing the Jewish faces from all walks of life — yeshivish or non-religious, Chassidish or secular — was also a reminder: a reminder that even through the most difficult of times, our Jewish community is a strong and resilient family. Shalhevet, the Beren Campus Student Government president, and I were thrilled to provide that experience for so many students, and we look forward to supporting other events that help bring our community closer together.

Speaking on the topic of the broader Jewish community, albeit geographically more than profoundly. The circumstance with the Wilf Campus dates — namely, that male students are required to attend class in person on the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur while female counterparts are granted remote learning — reflects a much broader question about representation within our university. Aiden Harrow (YC ‘26) recently wrote an article in the YU Observer detailing the frustrations that so many of our students face, particularly those who live outside of the Tri-state Area. He gave words to what people have been thinking about, and that concern was important to address within student government. After making a form where students can air their frustrations (the triple-digit responses further solidify the sentiment), we created a group to address the issue: the Committee for the Representation of Non-Local Students, which Harow now leads. The group will be working in tandem with the student government and the deans to ensure that we can change the tides of these concerning trends. I’m sure I speak for many of us when I say that we look forward to seeing what this Committee for the Representation of Non-Local Students can accomplish, and hope that it contributes to the sense of an inclusive community that we strive for at YU.

Another important component of an inclusive community is opportunities and initiatives that reflect the wide range of student interests on campus. Everyone in student government has seen the tremendous excitement surrounding club applications and events, and we hope that each of these clubs provides students with a unique outlet for their hobbies and interests. Whether it’s a social or an academic club, an educational or a religious club, there are so many strong student leaders who have dedicated so much time to creating spaces for students that many of us find particularly rewarding.

With the chagim coming up shortly, we hope that you have a meaningful month of holidays. Whether or not you spend Oct. 7 on campus or off of it, we hope that this community can provide strength as our Jewish world mourns a year since those horrific attacks, and that when we return to campus post-Sukkot, we can continue to be there for one another, working with our brothers and sisters on all the areas that make this community so special.

Photo Caption: YSU President Sam Weinberg and BCSG President Shalhevet Cohen at the Ishay Ribo Concert

Photo Credit: Sam Weinberg