Yeshiva U Student Councils Reinstate Democratic Club That Sponsored LGBTQ March
Image by Wikimedia Commons
By Ari Feldman September 26, 2019
The student councils for the undergraduate colleges at Yeshiva University announced on Thursday the reinstatement of the school’s Democratic club, after disciplining the group earlier this week after the College Democrats sponsored a march in support of LGBTQ students.
The march was not officially sanctioned by the school’s administration, and this week the student councils told the club that as a result, they would not receive funding from student activity fees or be allowed to host events on campus for the remainder of the semester.
Leaders of the College Democrats called the move “retribution” for hosting a pro-LGBTQ march on a campus where the administration has refused to allow the creation of a student organization for queer students. The penalizing of the College Democrats drew criticism from a member of the New York State Assembly, Dan Quart of Manhattan.
“Now is the time for Yeshiva University to step up and voice its unequivocal support for its LGBTQ students and reinstate the College Democrats, instead of choosing to stymie conversation and hand down undue punishment,” Quart told a YU student newspaper Monday.
The president of the student councils, Ariel Sacknovitz, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
In his email notifying the club of its reinstatement, Sacknovitz said all club heads would need to state that they follow the rules necessary to maintain funding and recognition of their groups.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Courtney Marks, one of the College Democrats co-presidents. “They realized that this wasn’t the hill they wanted to die on, kicking the Dems off campus.”
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
