I don’t like censorship. In writing, I tend to err on the side of incaution. After all, that is precisely the point of a free press. It is not to stifle voices, but to allow them to speak up, whether or not we agree with all those sharing. I’ve been thinking about free speech and […]
People like to talk about how we live in a data driven society, but I don’t think we really do. After all, every day, I see people ignore overwhelming data in favor of their own biases and misconceptions. Take the view of women at this university, for instance. We are hardworking, passionate, and ambitious. However, […]
In 1998, British gastroenterologist and medical researcher Andrew Wakefield published a paper in a UK medical journal, The Lancet, alleging that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine caused children to develop autism. He also claimed that it could lead to bowel disease, hence why a gastroenterologist was involved in the first place, but it’s the […]
On December 23rd, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution condemning the construction of Israeli settlements, the first resolution to do so in thirty-six years. Resolutions against Israel sometimes seem to be a dime a dozen, but this one touched off furious debate. For the first time during his administration—and in a clear […]
If the media is to be believed, we’re living in Orwellian times. As a society, it seems that we’ve arrived at an intersection between 1984 and Animal Farm: an era where we can’t tell the difference between man and pig, where “the lie became the truth.” If you’d really like to flesh out the literary […]
Confirmed for less than twenty-four hours, president-elect Rabbi Ari Berman sat down to discuss the future of Yeshiva University. When asked what he felt his priorities were moving forward, Berman said, “Certainly the financial situation needs to be addressed.” Berman explained that, prior to accepting the position, he made understanding the financials of the […]
On Tuesday November 15th, the board of trustees reportedly confirmed Rabbi Ari Berman as the new Yeshiva University president. Berman will take over from Richard Joel, who announced in September of 2015 that he would be stepping down from the position he’s held for 14 years. Berman graduated from Yeshiva College magna cum laude and […]
This entire election cycle has just felt like a bad dream, something sort of Kafka-esque. After all, the insanity of the past year’s politics seems about as improbable as wakening to find you’ve become an enormous cockroach. If you would have told the average voter last summer that the final two choices would come down […]
A few weeks ago, a friend and I decided to check out a bookstore on the Lower East Side called Bluestockings. The store, devoted to feminism and social activism, takes its name from the women’s group called the Blue Stocking Society that was founded in 18th century England by critic Elizabeth Montagu. Bluestocking is now […]
The Sad State of LGBTQ Inclusion at YU Needs to Change
“Many students feel alone and scared.” “It’s really tiring to be repeatedly shut down and pushed onto the back burner.” That’s what two student activists had to say about the state of LGBTQ inclusion at YU. This has never been an issue that the university has been keen to confront, but a recent visit from […]