I am writing in response to Michael Feldstein’s article entitled “Golden Opportunity for Yeshiva University” (November 2, 2023). Speaking as a YU alumni and current YU parent, I am grateful for the safe Jewish environment that YU offers, but I think YU is missing a key component if they want to compete with the thousands of Modern Orthodox students who choose secular colleges instead of YU.

In my opinion, one of the reasons so many Orthodox students choose a secular college instead of YU is that YU fails to give college students what they are looking for—a community, a campus and a social life. As a parent of a Stern College student, I watch my daughter struggle for a sense of an adult community like her friends at secular colleges have. She spends three nights a week in her dormitory and spends the other four nights in her childhood bedroom. She may have a group of friends at school, but she does not have the sense of community that can only be fostered in a space in which college students live together seven days a week and spend their nonacademic time celebrating Shabbos and many yom tovim together.

If YU really wants to grow and be a home for thousands of Jewish college students who otherwise choose secular settings, they should seriously consider purchasing a real campus within the tri-state area in which both college-aged women and men can create a real community.

Imagine how much money YU could make by selling their extremely expensive midtown buildings. Imagine how much it would help the shidduch crisis if young Jewish men and women had the opportunity to be part of a community in a halachically kosher environment. YU is sorely lacking in these areas and until they can create a campus community, they will continue to lose students to secular colleges, no matter how bad antisemitism gets.

Alisha Blugrind
(on behalf of a concerned, hopeful parent who wishes to remain anonymous)
West Orange