On Thursday, May 25, Yeshiva University’s Class of 2017 celebrated YU’s 86th commencement along with friends and family in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, delivered the keynote address and received an honorary degree.
President Richard M. Joel praised Dermer’s vigorous defense of Israel as he conferred the honorary degree upon him. “Your tenure as ambassador has taken its character from everything that came before it in your life. You are unapologetic in your defense of Israel’s right to exist as a nation and a people and mince no words when it comes to advocating for Israel’s interests. We honor you for your role as a determined and dedicated advocate of yiddishkeit [Jewish character] and the Jewish state and for believing that a great moral purpose anchors the national destiny of the state of Israel.”
In his speech to the graduates, Dermer wished them good luck on their personal journeys but also gave them a broader mission to follow. “To keep Judaism alive for many Jews, we must restore pride in Jewish values and Jewish ideas for a generation of Jews that knows little about either. That is why Yeshiva University is so important. And that is why each and every one of you is so important because this university has equipped you, like few others in our generation, to succeed in that mission.”
Following Dermer’s keynote address, 10 undergraduate valedictorians received special recognition for their outstanding academic achievements, among them four residents of New Jersey: Avigail Goldstein and Erica Secemski, Sy Syms School of Business; Tova Goldstein, Stern College for Women; and Shua Katz, Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies.
These exceptional new alumni will now move on to careers and graduate studies that range from accounting and medicine to Jewish education and marketing. However, as they look back on their undergraduate years, they share a deep sense of appreciation for the personalized, high-quality education they received at YU.
For Avigail Goldstein and Tova Goldstein, there’s an extra reason to celebrate their accomplishments: The two are first cousins in addition to being children and grandchildren of YU alumni.
“Throughout my time at YU and specifically on the Beren Campus, I have felt so lucky to be surrounded by so many smart, strong and motivated women,” said Avigail, who also enjoyed her honors accounting professor’s innovative approach to the material. “I loved how Professor Leibowitz made his classes challenging and exciting. I gained a lot of confidence as a result of his high expectations.”
After graduation, Avigail will work in Ernst and Young’s Assurance practice and plans to become a CPA.
Tova Goldstein was moved as well by the faculty’s investment in their students—and also by her fellow students’ investment in each other. “Given the small class sizes in Stern, when it came time for my professors to write letters of recommendation for my medical school application, I was confident that my professors really knew who I was, not only as a student, but also as a person,” she said. “When I first arrived at Stern there were so many upperclassmen who helped me choose classes, find and assess different research opportunities and answered all of my questions regarding the MCAT and application process for medical school.”
She added, “Now, as an upperclassman myself and president of the pre-med club, I am happy to reciprocate and help support the students going through the process now. Everyone at Stern is so willing and eager to help each other.”
The energy and atmosphere of the beit midrash in the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study has been Katz’s favorite part of his YU experience. “The feeling of walking into a packed beit midrash in the morning and embarking on the study of a new topic with my chavrusa and my shiur enlivens me and carries me throughout the day and week,” he said. “The feeling of warmth and common drive/goals really comes to mind when I think about the two times a year that the beit midrash dances together—following the conclusion of Neilah on Yom Kippur and following the conclusion of kriat megillah on Purim night. The sheer joy and passionate dancing that the talmidim feel and display during those times is truly unforgettable, and it characterizes the more tempered feeling that exists day in and day out, which is the common passion and commitment to grow individually and collectively in Avodat Hashem.”
“I hope to be around YU for years to come,” added Katz, who will pursue joint semicha studies at RIETS and a graduate degree in Jewish philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies after commencement.
As an undergraduate, Secemski was president of the Accounting Society and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma’s International Business Honors Society. After graduation, she will work as a tax accountant at Deloitte. “Professor Schlangel, Professor Greenberg and Professor Leibowitz all made a great impact on me—their classes were stimulating and challenging and they reinforced my interest in pursuing a career in accounting,” she said. “The amazing knowledge that I gained in their courses will help me as I study for my CPA exam and start my career with Deloitte.”
Other Class of 2017 valedictorians include Mickey Levinson, Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program; Akiva Marder, Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies; Yonatan Mehlman, Yeshiva College; Jacob Klar, Sy Syms School of Business; Kayla Axelrod, Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies; and Maor Shoshana, James Striar School of General Jewish Studies.
Philanthropist and activist Tzili Charney was also awarded an honorary degree in recognition of her generosity to the University. A University Benefactor, she, along with her late husband Leon Charney, ’60YC, has given generously to Yeshiva, including a recent commitment of $1 million to establish the Leon Charney Legacy Project, focused on expanding Israel studies and the arts, and donating the Leon H. Charney Collection to the YU Library Archives. President Joel praised Charney for her “love, loyalty, vigor, sophistication and unyielding Jewish pride.”
Quoting her husband, Charney told graduates to “examine the options you have available to you. Maintain a promise of peace. Make proper choices and bring about changes in your life while, at the same time, continuing to make the world a better place.”
President Joel also bestowed the Presidential Medallion upon Rabbi Manfred Fulda, associate professor of Talmud and an educator at YU since 1959, for his service. “You are the ultimate rebbe, modeling the values of our Yeshiva, and serving as a guide for our talmidim [students], and so we celebrate all that you have accomplished thus far. As you once remarked, you are one of the only people left alive who received a bracha [blessing] from the Chofetz Chaim. Rabbi Fulda, you have been nothing but a bracha to our Yeshiva, and therefore it is my greatest pleasure to award you the Presidential Medallion.”
The class of 1967 was also honored as they marked the 50th anniversary of their graduation.
For President Joel, the ceremony was bittersweet, as it marked his final commencement as YU president. “My wonderful students—finally, I get to graduate with you,” he said. “We are gathered 5,000 strong to celebrate you and the Jewish future. Be God’s partner and help perfect the world.” His speech was followed by a touching video tribute to him and the presentation of a ceremonial mace in honor of his service. In making the presentation, Dr. Josh Joseph, senior vice president, noted that President Joel had conferred degrees on 28,655 students and that “the most fitting tribute for you, the most fulfilling benchmark of your success, will be their success. You empowered your students with a mandate to matter, you created an educational experience that fills us with integrity, you ennobled us and enabled us. Thank you.”
In total, more than 1,700 students from Yeshiva College, Stern College for Women and Sy Syms School of Business, as well as graduate students in the fields of law, medicine, social work, education, Jewish studies and psychology, were awarded degrees from YU during its commencement season.
