Yeshiva University in New York City, which a judge has ordered to officially recognize an LGBT student group despite the Jewish institution’s objections that doing so would go against its religious principles, announced on Friday that it has suspended all undergraduate student club activities while it determines its next course of action, Reuters reported.
Yeshiva made its declaration two days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to reverse New York state judge Lynn Kotler’s decision from June, which said that the university must abide by the city’s anti-discrimination laws and acknowledge the group known as Y.U. Pride Alliance.
“The university will hold off on all undergraduate club activities while it immediately takes steps to follow the roadmap provided by the US Supreme Court to protect YU’s religious freedom,” Yeshiva wrote in an email to students, referring to upcoming Jewish holidays.
Yeshiva didn’t outline the actions it intended to take.
The school may petition New York courts to accelerate its appeal and claim compensation from them, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 ruling with four conservative justices dissenting, and then go back to the justices if its requests were refused. “At least two further avenues for expedited or interim state court relief,” the court stated, per Reuters.
The deadline for applying to student clubs at Yeshiva was September 12. However, Yeshiva felt that giving it official status would be “inconsistent with the school’s Torah values and the religious environment it seeks to maintain,” per Reuters. Y.U. Pride Alliance was founded informally in 2018.
Part of the argument centers on whether Yeshiva qualifies as a “religious corporation” and is thus exempt from the New York City Human Rights Law, which forbids “discrimination by a place or provider of public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation, race, gender, age, national origin, and some other factors,” Reuters informs.
There are about 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students attending the Modern Orthodox Jewish institution in Manhattan.
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