2025 MAY
Valedictorians 2025
Yeshiva University Celebrates 94TH ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT
On May 22, YU will proudly celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2025 at its 94th Annual Commencement at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. This momentous event brings together more than 5,000 students, faculty, alumni and family members to honor a graduating class defined by academic excellence, driven by purpose and grounded in timeless values. Delivering the keynote address will be Rachel Goldberg-Polin, a symbol of courage, hope and fierce determination in the face of unimaginable loss. The mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American hostage who was brutally murdered in Hamas captivity, she has become a voice of conviction and spiritual resilience. Her words will serve as both a personal testament and a guiding inspiration for this generation of YU graduates. In recognition of her moral leadership and unwavering advocacy, the University will confer upon her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. The University will also present its highest honor for global leadership — the Presidential Medallion — to U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik, honoring her bold resoluteness in the fight against antisemitism and her outspoken support for Israel and the Jewish people in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. “We are deeply honored that Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik will address our graduates — two extraordinary individuals whose leadership has inspired strength, unity and moral clarity at a defining moment in Jewish history,” said Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University. The audience will also hear from YU’s nine valedictorians and the deans of the University’s undergraduate and graduate programs. We invite you to join us in celebrating this milestone, where every graduate represents a unique journey — guided by learning, shaped by Jewish values and bound by a shared commitment to lead with purpose. Congratulations, Class of 2025! READ MORE
Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman Joins University Leaders at Global Conference
Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva Uni- versity, joined a distinguished panel of academic leaders at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, where he spoke on May 6 as part of a discussion titled “Hurdles and Hopes in American Education.” In his remarks, Dr. Berman emphasized the need for universities to “more clearly denounce antisemitism in the name of academic freedom.” Fellow panelists included Dr. Sian Leah Beilock (President, Dartmouth College), Dr. Pradeep Khosla (Chan- cellor, University of California, San Diego), Dr. Jonathan Levin (President, Stanford University), and Amit Sevak (CEO, ETS). Held annually, this premier event convenes leaders from across sectors to explore solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges. READ MORE
New & Notable
Yom HaShoah (April 23) The annual Yom HaShoah commemoration, organized by the Office of Student Life and the Student Holocaust Education Movement, took place at Furst Hall and drew more than 100 students, faculty and staff for an evening of prayer and reflection. The program featured author Nechama Birnbaum, who spoke about the legacy of her grandmother, Holocaust survivor Rosie Greenstein. Her story of resilience, captured in Birnbaum’s bestselling book, The Redhead of Auschwitz , remains a powerful testament to survival and memory.
Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut (April 30–May 1) On the evening of April 30, the YU community gathered at Lamport Auditorium for a Tekes Ma’avar ceremony to honor Israel’s fallen soldiers as well as the victims of terror, including those lost in the Oct. 7 massacre and beyond. From uplifting words to heartfelt songs and tefillot , the evening paid tribute to Am Yisrael’s strength and sacrifice. Among the speakers were Gabi Sackett, program director for YU Israel and an IDF reservist, and his wife, Rivke.
The ceremony was followed by a tefillah chagigit and a concert by Eli Marcus. The next day, on the afternoon of May 1, students gathered at Tenzer Gardens on the Wilf Campus to celebrate Israel Independence Day and demonstrate their unwavering support for Israel. VIEW RECAP
New & Notable
Names, Not Numbers ® Inspires New Documentary
Can These Bones Live Again recently had its New York premiere at the Center for Jewish History. Directed and produced by Tzvi Simchon, a 2023 graduate of the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA), this powerful documentary follows 15 MTA students who, inspired by the Holocaust education program Names, Not Numbers® , embark on a transformative journey to Poland, where they confront the enduring legacy of the Holocaust and the resilience of Jewish heritage. The evening was hosted by Names, Not Numbers® and the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies. READ MORE
$3,500 to two students who build upon and cultivate the professional connections made at the dinner.
Dream Dinner 2025: A Night of Connection and Opportunity On April 22, the Shevet Glaubach Center hosted its 2nd Annual Dream Dinner, an inspiring evening designed to connect student ambition with real-world opportunity. This year’s event featured 15 executive-hosted tables, with each table led by a prominent leader in either finance, health care, law, technology or fashion. Students competed for the chance to join a table that matched their career interests. In a new twist for 2025, the Center introduced the “Keep the Dream Alive” scholarship, which awards
Students, Faculty & Alumni
Sy Syms Professor Makes Judicial History Judge Matthew Solomson, adjunct professor of ethical and legal environment of business at the
Shoah Scholarship Spotlighted at Cardozo On April 29, Cardozo School of Law hosted a book launch celebrating Law, Literature, and History: A Fateful Rendezvous with the Shoah , the latest work by Richard
Weisberg, emeritus chair in constitutional law at Cardozo and the founding director of the school’s Holocaust,
Sy Syms School of Business, has been named chief judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by President Trump. A member
Genocide and Human Rights Program. Weisberg is a leading scholar in the field of law and literature. He has successfully litigated in U.S. federal courts on behalf of Holocaust survivors and their heirs, providing a measure of justice for World War II victims of antisemitism. Melanie Leslie, Dean of Cardozo, and Richard Weisberg
of the court since 2020, Solomson is the first Orthodox Jew to hold the position. READ MORE
Congratulations Class of 2025
YU’s 94th Annual Commencement Ceremony for undergraduates will be held on Thursday, May 22, at 1 p.m. at the Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. Visit yu.edu/commencement
Graduate School Commencements and Celebrations
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Wednesday, June 4 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Lincoln Center, NYC Albert Einstein College of Medicine Wednesday, May 21 5:30 p.m. Lincoln Center, NYC
Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies Year End Reception Sunday, May 18 | 1 – 3 p.m. Yeshiva University Museum 15 West 16th Street, NYC Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Tuesday, May 20 | 12 – 2 p.m. Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Place, NYC Katz School of Science and Health Tuesday, May 27 | 10 a.m. & 3 p.m. Lamport Auditorium Wilf Campus
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration Thursday, May 8 | 7 – 9:30 p.m. Weissberg Commons Wilf Campus Wurzweiler School of Social Work Monday, May 12 | 1 – 3 p.m. Lamport Auditorium Wilf Campus Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic/Tanach Studies for Women (GPATS) Graduation Celebration Wednesday, May 14 | 10 a.m. Beit Midrash Beren Campus
Meet YU’s 2025 Valedictorians Nine outstanding undergraduates have been named valedictorians for 2025. These accomplished scholars have made their mark in and outside the classroom. Although they hail from Teaneck, Brooklyn, Boston and beyond — they share one home in common: Yeshiva University, where they have built lives rooted in knowledge, integrity and purpose. READ MORE
Front row (l-r): Aliza Walzman, Sy Syms School of Business; Leeby Levine, Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies; Emily Goldberg, Stern College for Women Back row (l-r): Akiva Prager, Mazer Yeshiva Program (MYP); Raphael Silbiger, Irving I. Stone Beis Medrash Program (SBMP); Jake Resnick, Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies (IBC); Joshua Asaraf, James Striar School of General Jewish Studies (JSS); Ezra Wallach, Sy Syms School of Business; Isaac Silverman, Yeshiva College
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