Pride Alliance Compromises With Yeshiva University
The Pride Alliance agreed to delay its recognition after the university suspended all student activities to avoid recognizing the LGBTQ group.
Yeshiva University’s Pride Alliance offered to delay its efforts to gain university recognition on Wednesday, Sept. 21, after the school suspended all student activities rather than recognize the LGBTQ group.
On Sept. 14, the Supreme Court said the school must temporarily comply with a New York court order to recognize the LGBTQ club.
Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish college in New York City, avoided doing so by pausing all student group activity.
Following that measure, the Pride Alliance offered to stay the New York court order. In a statement to The New York Times, the group called the decision “painful.”
“We do not want Y.U. to punish our fellow students by ending all student activities while it circumvents its responsibilities,” the group said. “Y.U. is attempting to hold all of its students hostage while it deploys manipulative legal tactics, all in an effort to avoid treating our club equally.”
According to the Times, the university said on Thursday that it accepted the Pride Alliance’s proposal to delay recognition. School officials told the Times that other student groups can resume activities after the upcoming Jewish holidays.
The stay marks a temporary cease-fire after escalations in their conflict, but Yeshiva University is continuing the legal fight to permanently avoid recognizing the Pride Alliance.
Last year, after Yeshiva University refused to recognize the Pride Alliance, the student group sued, claiming the university was illegally discriminating.
New York Supreme Court Judge Lynn Kotler upheld the group’s claim in June, ordering the school to recognize the Pride Alliance.
The university then brought its suit to the Supreme Court, but in a 5-4 decision on procedural grounds, the court ordered YU to temporarily recognize the group — leading to the suspension of all student activities.
A gay Jewish group stepped in as well, offering to fund all Yeshiva University student groups after the school suspended student activities.
Jewish Queer Youth said it would offer financial support for every undergraduate club in honor of Yeshiva University’s queer students, JQY said in a Facebook post on Monday.
“Instead of dangerously pitting students against each other, we want to send a message of unity and fairness,” the statement read.
JQY offered to pay up to $500 for club events and host student groups at WeWork buildings in New York City or at other rentable spaces, according to The Commentator, Yeshiva University’s student newspaper.
The group said their funding would last as long as the freeze remained in effect. However, Yeshiva University has already said its student activities will resume soon, thanks to the stay on the court order to recognize the Pride Alliance.
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