Is Yeshiva University Entitled to State Funds?

“The New York Times has once again created a buzz by insinuating that Yeshiva University impermissibly received government funding.

Each recent article title reads as if another New York Times exposé had dropped. “Was Yeshiva University Entitled to $230 Million in Public Funds?” the paper asked back in January. This week’s title was even more tantalizing: “Yeshiva University’s Ban on L.G.B.T.Q. Club Leads to Scrutiny of Funding.”

This ongoing intrigue, spurred on by the Times and a group of state senators, ostensibly flows from Yeshiva University’s stance that it is both a religious institution and entitled to the receipt of certain state funds. According to a letter sent to the university by three New York state senators in January, this constituted a misrepresentation that requires an investigation.

The actual facts of the situation, however, paint a very different picture. The University’s identification as a religious institution would not render it ineligible for the state funds in question, raising serious questions about why this whole kerfuffle got started in the first place.”

Read the full op-ed in the Forward