There are a lot of criticisms one can make of Stern College, Yeshiva University’s women’s school located in midtown Manhattan. I’m no authority on the subject–I’ve been there less than a year–but some of the things I have seen so far are discouraging. It astounds me that so many young women who have such opportunities to make something of themselves—in a time when women, even observant Jewish women, can be and do anything they want—spend the majority of their time shopping, talking about shopping, or showing off what they purchased when they went shopping. Factor in cute boys and diamond rings, and you basically get a bunch of girls who don’t seem too concerned with their studies.
What gets me so worked up about the whole matter is that people tend to assume that’s all we are. Because Stern is composed of Jewish women in the shopping Mecca of the world, around the age where most of us are thinking about dating, people tend to see those girls who don’t care about academics as the whole student body. And while it’s fine for me to criticize those girls who are perpetuating Stern’s reputation as a modern-day finishing school, I am taken aback when someone else, especially someone who doesn’t attend Stern, does the same. A cousin, a friend who attends a different school, or even a student from Yeshiva College, the men’s division of YU—somehow, it seems a lot worse when they say the same thing I was saying about my school yesterday. When they do, I suddenly morph into a cheerleader for the same college I often find fault with.
Many Stern students I have talked to feel the same compulsion to valiantly defend Stern against the same criticisms they often espouse about the school and often hear from their own friends and relatives. We agree with a lot of what they’re saying, yet we don’t grant them the right to say it. Irrational? Maybe. But upon reflection of this metaphorical stake I have claimed in the land of Stern criticism, I have to say that the reason I am so possessive with my own criticism is because I actually get to see many of Stern’s students who do make good use of their time here, who are brilliant, independent thinkers, and who add much to my own collegiate experience. The people who do not attend the school have a small chance of seeing that there is a vibrant population of intellectually-stimulated young women who, even if we often seem to be in the minority, are a force to be reckoned with.
I don’t know why people tend to see and hear a lot more of the frivolous minded girls. Maybe it’s because they’re louder and flashier–I can’t be sure. Just remember that there are a lot of girls who do care about learning here and that we use every educational opportunity Stern has to offer, manifest in the form of stellar faculty, informative classes, and generous career guidance. We’re here—please don’t forget about us.
