It seems that whenever Yeshiva University makes it to the news, it’s rarely for praise. “Madoff Haunts Yeshiva as University Slides to Junk: Muni Credit” declared a January 21st Bloomberg Businessweek piece. “Teacher Leaves Yeshiva Amid Abuse Scandal,” said the New York Times this past October; the following dismissal of a purported $380 million lawsuit against Yeshiva has made headlines just weeks ago, with the plaintiff’s lawyer calling the decision an “abomination and a disgrace,” according to the New York Post.
The recent coverage of the What I Be project has proven no exception. New York dailies blared headlines that focused on the school’s decision to remove support from the photography project that two students, recent graduate Mati Engel and senior Dasha Sominski, had worked to bring to the school, with the news spreading fast to Jewish publications and other sources. The school’s choice to “pull” (Haaertz), “squash” (New York Observer), or “nix” (NY Daily News, The Forward), supporting the photo series was worthy media coverage for the lower echelons of the news world.
What united all of these articles was not only their content, which barely differed from one to the other save for terminology, but their headlines. “Yeshiva University” this, “Jews of New York” that. Each of these outlets elected to focus on the university’s withdrawal of support, and the controversy of the project itself, with many focusing on the same two images of the project: of Ben Ziggy Faulding, whose powerful image depicts the Yiddish word “shavrtze,” a derogatory term for black, and project organizer Dasha Sominski, whose graceful profile contrasts with the Sharpie scribbled on her forehead. “I was NOT sleeping,” it reads, encapsulated by the caption, “I am not my molestation.” The headlines are catchy and the story is punchy- accusing a university of censorship is a great scoop. But as a participant I had the chance to experience the project for myself, and it is obvious that the What I Be project is far, far more that how it’s been represented.
In addition to being photographed, I also spent most of a day observing the photo sessions, experiencing first-hand the inner workings of What I Be, and meeting with Steve Rosenfield, its creator and photographer. Rosenfield previously conducted the project at high schools and universities like Princeton and Columbia. The official site states that he started the social movement in 2010 as a way of “sharing peoples’ insecurities without literally showing them” in order to empower themMy first glimpse of Rosenfield was a Medusa-worthy mop of dreadlocks bent over a computer. We introduced ourselves, and began to discuss what I wanted to share, using guiding questions to amass as much information about a stranger’s inner secrets as one can in a half hour. A decision was made: I chose my trust issues as my insecurity for public consumption, an inference Steve had made without my prompting.
Sharpie written across my fingers, positioned carefully against my cheek with the phrase “Second guess it,” I stand as patiently as I can. A flash of light, Steve shows me my picture, I nod, and that’s it, I am now a participant in the What I Be project. Within a few hours, I am tagged in my very own picture on Facebook.
The responses were instantaneous, a barrage of notifications and messages ranging from curiosity to concern. Strangers liked my picture; some offered support, others wanted to know more. And as I spoke more and more about the project, inviting questions and answering all of the messages I received, my appreciation and gratitude for the project exponentially grew.
Participating in What I Be was both a deeply personal and humbling experience, but mostly an empowering and introspective one. Other students who partook said the same, and that they have received the same type of responses that I have. The irony of the many articles scolding YU for pulling funding is that What I Be united and continues to unite Yeshiva students without the university, sparking on its own merit, a much needed conversation and commentary.
There was one article, a Boston Globe piece, short and in the lifestyle section, titled, “Empowering Exposure: Photographer captures subject’s insecurities for exhibit,” that stood out from every other article before it. Its description of the project was similar to others; the two pictures featured were of Faulding and Sominski again. Yet this time, YU was absent from the headline, appearing only in the third paragraph. “Plenty of Yeshiva University students stepped up to be photographed this week, though their images won’t be displayed on the main campus in Washington Heights,” wrote Globe staffer Deborah Katz, “But instead will be seen in a private Brooklyn gallery next month after the university declined to host the exhibit.”
I tweeted Katz on February 2. “@debkotz2,” I began, “As a YU participant in What I Be, enjoyed the article and thanks for focusing on the project and experience and not just our school.” While she did not respond, she retweeted my comment. Her article, and my own experience, illustrate just what is missing in the massive response generated by What I Be.
In focusing on YU’s decision, all of those other articles missed the strengths of the project itself, and the tremendous positivity and empowerment that resulted from the What I Be project partnering with Jews of New York. Yeshiva University made a decision, it is true, and the importance of that shouldn’t be overlooked. Yet within that conversation, the magnitude and power of the project seems to have been lost, even missing from the conversation. YU may have chosen to rescind support, but its students certainly did not, and the strength of the project should remain front and center.