Statement on the Conferral of the Presidential Medallion on Representative Elise Stefanik
We, the undersigned members of the faculty of Yeshiva University, deplore and oppose the decision to confer the Presidential Medallion, Yeshiva’s highest honor, on NY Rep. Elise Stefanik at the 2025 Commencement ceremony. Commencement is a precious moment when our new graduates celebrate their academic achievements with their families and anticipate the next stages of their lives. This year’s ceremony will be particularly poignant because the Commencement address will be delivered by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was tragically kidnapped and murdered by Hamas. During the agonizing months of Hersh’s captivity, Ms. Goldberg-Polin became not only a leading advocate for the release of the hostages but also an international figure of resilience and human dignity. We sympathize deeply with her family’s loss and welcome the invitation extended to her to speak at graduation. At the same time, we regret that the university’s senior leadership has chosen to politicize this meaningful occasion by presenting an award to Rep. Stefanik.
Elise Stefanik has come to prominence on the national political scene by advancing extremist positions, including her embrace of election denialism. A self-described “ultra Maga warrior,” she was among the 100+ GOP House members who signed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. She supported the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit, which sought to invalidate certified election results in multiple states. And following the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, she described those arrested as “hostages,” a term which, as we have all come to feel acutely, should be reserved for actual cases of abduction and not applied to legitimate criminal prosecutions. Incendiary statements such as these undermine democratic norms and, over time, erode the integrity of truth itself. In Judaism, truth — emet — is recognized as a sacred principle, woven into the fabric of ethical conduct and moral leadership. According to the Talmud, it is the very seal of the divine. To award Stefanik the Presidential Medallion is, effectively, to endorse dishonesty, an act that runs counter to the Jewish values of integrity and righteousness that Yeshiva professes to uphold.
Beyond her repeated attacks on democratic norms and the moral foundations of fairness and honesty on which they rest, Stefanik has made inflammatory statements on the subject of immigration, accusing Democrats of plotting to replace American citizens with immigrants for their own political gain. This rhetoric amplifies the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, a dangerous narrative that has inspired extremists and incited violence, including attacks on Jews. Participants in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 chanted that “Jews will not replace us,” while the perpetrator of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh in 2018 saw Jews as the masterminds of a “white genocide.” By deploying xenophobic rhetoric such as this, Stefanik has provided crucial ideological support for the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, which has been marked by severe violations of civil and human rights. That a Jewish university would elevate an elected official who is complicit in such abuses is both morally indefensible and deeply irresponsible.
For students and their families, Commencement is a day of joy and celebration — a moment to reflect on years of dedication, perseverance and achievement. This year, families will also share in the grief of another family whose tragic plight serves as an urgent reminder of the pain that is inflicted when people embrace hatred and violence. They should not also be required to applaud a politician whose rhetoric has undermined democratic principles, emboldened racist conspiracy theories and contradicted the core Jewish values of integrity and truth.
As members of the Yeshiva faculty, we deeply cherish the privilege of teaching our students and wish the Class of 2025 well in their future endeavors. We nonetheless feel bound to voice our profound reservations about the decision to confer legitimacy on Rep. Stefanik by honoring her in this manner.
Sincerely,
The undersigned faculty.
Jeffrey Freedman, Professor, Yeshiva College and Stern College, History
Seamus O'Malley, Associate Professor, Stern College, English
Ann Peters, Associate Professor, Stern College, English
David Lainsky, Associate Professor, Yeshiva College, English
Matt Miller, Associate Professor, Chair of English Department, Stern College, English
David Glaser, Professor, Chair of Music, Stern College, Music
Douglas Burgess, Professor, History
Jenny Isaacs, Associate Professor and Chair, Yeshiva College, Psychology
Anonymous, Professor, Social Sciences
Ellen Schrecker, Professor Emerita, History
Joanne Jacobson, Professor Emerita of English
Gabriel Cwilich, Professor of Physics, Yeshiva College and Katz school of Science and Health
Joan Glückauf Haahr, Professor Emerita of English, Yeshiva University, English
Richard L. Nochimson, Professor Emeritus of English, Yeshiva College and Stern College
Ran Drori, Associate Professor of Chemistry and chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Herb Leventer, Adjunct Assistant Professor Philosophy, Philosophy
Anonymous, Professor, Liberal Arts
Donald Estes, Senior Laboratory Instructional Specialist, Stern College, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Anonymous, Professor, English
Lauren Fitzgerald, Professor, Yeshiva College, English
Anonymous, Lecturer, Yeshiva College
Nora Nachumi, Professor, Stern College, English
Vladimir Kovtun, Assistant Professor, Syms/IDS
Fred Sugarman, Associate Dean Emeritus, Yeshiva College
Alexander A. Reinert, Max Freund Professor of Litigation and Advocacy, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Betsy Ginsberg, Clinical Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Rebecca Ingber, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Anonymous, Faculty, Yeshiva College
Myriam Gilles, Professor of Law, Cardozo Law School
Michael Herz, Arthur Kaplan Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Peter Markowitz, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Matt Wansley, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law
Patryk Perkowski, Assistant Professor, Sy Syms School of Business, Strategy & Entrepreneurship
Gabor Rona, Professor of Practice, Director of Law and Armed Conflict Project, and Child of Holocaust Survivors, Cardozo Law School
Joseph Luders, Associate Professor and Chair, Stern College, Political Science
Anthony Sebok, Professor , Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Leslie Salzman, Clinical Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law
Anonymous, Faculty, Yeshiva College
David Rudenstine, Sheldon H. Solow Professor of Law, Former Law School Dean, Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School
Rebekah Diller, Clinical Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Elizabeth Goldman, Clinical Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law
Paula Geyh, Professor of English, Yeshiva College
Matt Wansley, Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law
Kathryn E. Miller, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Burton N. Lipshie, Professor of Practice, Cardozo School of Law
Edward Stein, Professor, Cardozo Law
Erik Mintz, Professor, English
Aaron Koller, Professor of Bible & Near Eastern Studies, Revel and YC
Anonymous, Faculty, Stern College
Jonathan Oberman, Clinical Professor of Law , Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Manfred Weidhorn, Emeritus Professor of English, English
Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Raji Viswanathan, Professor, Yeshiva College, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Paul Glassman, Adjunct Instructor of Architectural History & Design, former Director of Scholarly and Cultural Resources, Art
Anonymous, Professor, Yeshiva College
Emily Kaplan, Senior Academic Advisor, Sy Syms School of Business
Shannon Lane, Associate Professor, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Gary L. Stein, Professor, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Joyce Roberson-Steele, Practicum Education Coordinator, Wurzweiler School of Social Work practicum department
Jill Becker Feigeles, Clinical Associate Professor, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Lynn Levy, Clinical Associate Professor, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Richard A. Zweig, Ph.D., Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Anonymous, Faculty, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Anonymous, Assistant Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Anonymous, Faculty, Sy Syms School of Business
Melanie Wadkins, Associate Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Greta Doctoroff, Associate Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School
Anonymous, Faculty, Ferkauf Graduate School Of Psychology
Anonymous, Faculty, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Jordan Bate, Associate Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Barbara Kolsun, Director, FAME Program and Professor of Practice, Cardozo
Sherry L. Jetter, Adjunct Professor, Cardozo Law
Anonymous, Assistant Professor, Ferkauf Graduate School Of Psychology
Signatures are still being collected at the time of publication.
Photo Credit: The Commentator
