ICYMI: The YU Basketball Team Takes Inspiration from Disgraced Rabbi Norman Lamm
David Shasha
The YU Basketball Team Takes Inspiration from Disgraced Rabbi Norman Lamm
https://groups.google.com/g/davidshasha/c/vWr7iLvQz24
For those who read the self-preening and self-obsessed Ashkenazi Jewish media, the success of the YU Men’s Basketball team – not historically regarded as a powerhouse NCAA force! – has been a veritable obsession:
Indeed, the story was so important that JTA actually did a Breaking News e-mail to announce that the team’s consecutive game streak was over:
And naturally the Whore of Trump was all over it:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-tabbies-2021
Here is the link to Coach Eliot Steinmetz’s article:
https://yumacs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/elliot-steinmetz/504
That’s right, the team received the very prestigious Tabbie award, gifted by the Whore of Trump and her Straussian cabal, to the most important Jewish stories of the year.
You will notice that she did not cite anything related to Sephardim!
The YU situation was the subject of the great Gary Rosenblatt’s Monday column:
The complete article follows this note.
So, in addition to Lamm, perhaps we should also mention Hate America Seditionist Benzadrine in this regard:
https://www.si.com/more-sports/2020/02/12/jim-jordan-accused-cover-up-sexual-abuse-ohio-state
I have been mentioning Rosenblatt lately, to highlight his courage in the face of a Jewish community that only wants the “good news.”
And accusations of rape against YU players is not “good news”:
As the game progressed, I couldn’t help thinking about a shocking allegation made last summer by a student at YU’s sister school, Stern College for Women, that a member of the YU basketball team had raped her.
Was it possible that one of these 16 Maccabees I was admiring for their skill
and poise on the court committed – and got away with – a horrific criminal act?
The accuser wrote an essay in the YU undergrad newspaper, The Commentator, in
August, focusing her ire at the administration. She asserted that school
officials had her and her alleged assailant sign a non-disclosure agreement and
undertook a long investigation that in the end was deeply disillusioning for her.
And for those who read the Modern Orthodox Jewish publications, the Lamm tributes continue to pour in, as if nothing untoward had ever happened.
There has also not been much discussion of the SY hero Baruch Lanner, except by Rosenblatt:
https://groups.google.com/g/Davidshasha/c/QJPHyJJygz4
And now we have credible allegations of rape at YU, and again it is only Rosenblatt that is speaking out.
We can only hope that his muckraking will lead the a just conclusion and that the guilty be punished for their crimes – and that includes anyone at YU who is trying to cover it up.
David Shasha
YU's Basketball Success Dazzles, But A Cloud Of Concern Persists
By: Gary Rosenblatt
I was excited to attend a Yeshiva University men’s basketball home game a couple of weeks ago with my son and teen-age grandson.
It was a chance for us to see the Maccabees, the NCAA Division III’s top team, go after their 50th consecutive win – the longest current streak in the country. It also gave me the opportunity to share with my family some memories of how far YU basketball has progressed since my student days, when a .500 season was a success and, lacking a gym on campus, the team’s “home” court was Power Memorial High School on West 61st Street, 125 blocks south of YU.
(Power Memorial had one of the best high school basketball teams in the country at that time, led by a tall, lanky kid named Lew Alcindor – later known as Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar. We’d see him practicing in the gym sometimes, hard to miss at 7’2”.)
I’d planned to write a piece here about the pride in seeing a YU team that was
no longer the underdog but a genuine powerhouse playing before a full-throated,
full house – a far cry from the days when the biggest cheer we could muster in
the stands was “Whaddya do when you’re cold?” “Ye-SHIV-a!”
The game turned out to be surprisingly close, but in the second half the Maccabees
seemed to turn on the juice and pulled away. I saw for myself how these
players, with their selfless teamwork and winning ways, have attracted glowing
national coverage in the mainstream media.
Somehow managing to wear kippot as they race up and down the court, they are
seen as ambassadors of Modern Orthodoxy to the rest of the Jewish community and
beyond – a true kiddush HaShem (bringing honor to God’s name).
And yet ...
As the game progressed, I couldn’t help thinking about a shocking allegation
made last summer by a student at YU’s sister school, Stern College for Women,
that a member of the YU basketball team had raped her.
Was it possible that one of these 16 Maccabees I was admiring for their skill
and poise on the court committed – and got away with – a horrific criminal act?
The accuser wrote an essay in the YU undergrad newspaper, The Commentator, in
August, focusing her ire at the administration. She asserted that school
officials had her and her alleged assailant sign a non-disclosure agreement and
undertook a long investigation that in the end was deeply disillusioning for
her.
“I have been told to just deal with it, and that nothing can be done by YU –
not one thing,” the student wrote.
She did not identify in the article the alleged rapist or one of his teammates,
who she said “slut-shamed” her by calling her vulgar names in “a semi-public
place.”
“I am not sure why YU has chosen to ignore me and try to silence me,” she wrote
in The Commentator essay, “but I think it has to do with the reputation of the
basketball team.”
In the immediate aftermath of her article’s appearance, there was a flurry of
responses, with many students expressing frustration over the school’s
statement, which noted that its “final determination was made based on a full
evaluation of all available information.” It did not say what the final
determination was.
The controversy seems to have died down, though the troubling cloud lingers, as
do many questions. Why have there been no follow-up reports on this case? Has
the school focused more on its reputation than the health and safety of an
apparent victim? Where are the tangible expressions of Torah values that are
the foundation of a faith grounded in speaking out against wrongdoing and
protecting the innocent? Where is the outcry from the YU community and others?
Only now does the issue seem to be resurfacing.
In a letter to The Commentator that appeared last week, Doniel Weinreich, YU
Class of 2021, sharply criticized the school administration, the athletic
department and the newspaper itself for a lack of public action on behalf of
the alleged victim. He said the virtual silence has sent a message that
“prestige conveys impunity” and that victims are “alone.”
He chastised The Commentator for neglecting to mention the sexual assault
allegations when reporting on the Maccabees’ success on the court this season.
Most upsetting, he called out a recent Commentator editorial that praised the
team as “a source of inspiration” to the community, calling on readers to “show
our support.”
Avoiding the conflict is not being neutral, Weinreich argued, but rather “malignant
... serving the interest of perpetrators, allowing them to continue unabated.
It communicates to survivors that if they raise their voice they will be
ignored or forgotten.”
Presumably in response, The Commentator published an editorial Dec. 26 in the
name of its editorial board, noting that it has been four months since the
Stern College student’s allegation that she was raped and that the university
was of no help. During this time, the editorial said, despite statements from
administrators that addressing the issue was a “top priority,” “headlines
quickly became another forgotten skeleton stowed away in the communal closet.”
The newspaper reported that a faculty committee charged with dealing with
sexual assault and harassment on campus has been meeting and working on
improving areas of communication and educational programs that it will soon
make public. But The Commentator asserted that such an approach “is only half
the battle,” failing to address the alleged victim’s complaint of
insensitivity, if not disregard, from the administration in acting to make her
feel protected on campus.
The current situation, the editors wrote, has not improved and “this is unacceptable. Students cannot be safe on campus if they cannot rely upon those meant to protect them. As of now, YU has not given them a reason to do so.”
Hopefully, The Commentator’s renewed interest in the case will spur more students and others in the community to raise their voices, coming to the aid of those on campus who feel unsafe and unheard, and prevent future students from enduring such pain.
For YU, fielding a championship team is a source of understandable pride. But failing to deal effectively and empathetically with a young woman alleging rape by one of its own leaves a dark stain on what could otherwise be a perfect season.
From author Substack, December 27, 2021
YU Student Suit Says University Covered Up Her Alleged Rape by Basketball Player
By: Julia Gergely
In a federal lawsuit, a student at Yeshiva University alleges the administration conspired to cover up her accusation that she was raped by a varsity basketball player in January 2021.
In the complaint, filed Monday, the plaintiff identified only as “Jane Doe” alleges that the university failed to apply rules mandated under Title IX, the federal anti-discrimination law. The suit alleges administrators led her to believe they were doing in the investigation, and instead treated the matter as a disciplinary matter beyond the scope of Title IX.
This lawsuit comes nearly a year after the plaintiff published an anonymous essay in the YU Commentator, a student newspaper, detailing her rape and the ways she felt the university failed to support or guide her through the reporting process.
In the essay, the student writes that she was raped by one of the school’s
basketball players — a member of the team that was in the midst of a record-setting
season. She also wrote that she and her alleged rapist, who is not
identified in the lawsuit, were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements before
they were permitted to hear the results of the investigation.
In January 2022, more than four months after the essay was published, the
Modern Orthodox university announced that it was restructuring the school’s
Title IX office, and in March, the school hired a new Title IX officer who
would be dedicated exclusively to responding to Title IX complaints. Campus
advocates against sexual assault cautiously lauded the announcements as
steps in the right direction.
In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiff alleges that the results of the investigation — a “not responsible” verdict and no consequence for her accused rapist — was preordained.
The suit asserts that the university did not want bad publicity to undermine a major fundraising campaign in 2021 that raised $92 million.
The plaintiff also alleges a culture of “rape cover-up” at the university,
and cites statistics from the U.S. Department of Education that Y.U. has
reported zero rapes on their undergraduate campuses from 2001-2020, which she
believes is false.
“Plaintiff is eager to make sure that Yeshiva University leadership finally
understands that it simply is no longer acceptable for school administrators,
officials, and/or directors to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the rapes
and/or sexual assaults of its students,” wrote Kevin Mulhearn, the lawyer
representing Jane Doe, in a press release.
Though the plaintiff did not specify a number, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages for “severe and extreme emotional distress, punitive damages and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Yeshiva University maintains that the university properly handled the investigation. “We are fully confident that this matter was appropriately and thoroughly investigated. Our professionals, including the individuals named in this lawsuit, work tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and they have taken extensive steps to provide assistance in this matter specifically,” said a spokesperson for the university in a statement to the New York Jewish Week.
“We at Yeshiva University take seriously our duty to do all we can to prevent and address sexual assault within our campus atmosphere and surrounding areas,” the spokesperson added.
From The New York Jewish Week, June 27, 2022, re-posted to SHU 1064, August 17, 2022