Leading the story: An attorney for the student group, the YU Pride Alliance, called the university’s response to the decision “disgraceful,” while Yeshiva’s president said the school’s legal battle is far from over. What they say: YU Pride Alliance attorney Katie Rosenfeld said in a statement that the school’s course of action “instead of accepting an LGBTQ peer support group on campus is a throwback to 50 years ago, when the city of Jackson, Mississippi closed every public bath instead of complying with court orders to segregate.”
“We are confident that YU students will see through this shameful tactic and stand together in the community,” Rosenfeld added in a statement.
Get up to speed: The YU Pride Alliance sued the Modern Orthodox Jewish college last year after it refused to officially recognize the club.
A New York judge said the university is not a religious institution and must recognize the group. After the New York Court of Appeals denied the school’s request to review the stay denial, the school asked the Supreme Court to intervene. The high court told Yeshiva to go back to the New York court to pursue the legal outcome it seeks. Dissenting in the 5-4 decision were four of the court’s conservative justices.
State of play: The school informed students in an email that “the university will cease all undergraduate activities of the club while it takes immediate action to follow the roadmap provided by the US Supreme Court to protect religious freedom of YU,” reports NPR. The other side: Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman said in a statement that the school will continue its legal battle.
“Every faith-based university in the country has the right to work with its students, including its LGBTQ students, to establish the clubs, parties and spaces that fit its faith tradition,” Berman said. “Yeshiva University is simply pursuing the same right to self-determination.”
