By Gabriella Gomperts, Senior Features Editor
Stomp Out the Stigma draws hundreds of Yeshiva University students and community members to Lamport Auditorium to hear their fellow classmates speak about their personal experiences with mental health crises every year. Run by ACTV Minds, a student organization that promotes mental health awareness, it’s one of YU’s most popular events, and this year’s was no exception.
YU President Ari Berman spoke about the importance of the event and reaching out for help when one is struggling. “Vulnerability is not the failure of strength, it is a pathway to it. That allowing ourselves to be seen even in our struggles is what brings us closer to Hashem and to one another, and that is what brings us all here together tonight,” he said. “It’s not about the stigma, it’s not just a program, it’s a declaration of the kind of community we are building together, because stigma only thrives in silence and grows from people who feel they have to hide.”
Yehuda Schmutter, co-president of ACTV Minds, introduced Dr. Joshua Jay (YC ‘10), who previously spoke at Stomp Out the Stigma in 2010 and is now a practicing psychiatrist. The first-ever Stomp Out the Stigma speaker to return after graduation, Dr. Jay addressed his experience speaking at Stomp Out the Stigma and his continued mental health journey after he graduated. ”Sharing my story that night was deeply meaningful, and hearing my classmates share theirs was inspiring,” he said. “For me, it was a freeing experience. There was a part of my life, a part of me, which I rarely spoke about, which I sometimes wondered if others would notice.”
Three students speak at Stomp Out the Stigma each year, detailing their experiences and struggles with mental health. This year’s student speakers, who wished to remain anonymous, discussed topics including anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders and medical post-traumatic stress disorder.
Student liaison Shoshana Fisher introduced the first student speaker, who felt like she had become the person she herself needed when she was struggling. “Speaking at Stomp Out the Stigma is an experience that I know I will hold with me forever. I read so many notes in my jar and received so many texts after the event that all had similar messages: I am struggling, and it gave me hope to see you talk about your struggles in the past tense,” she told the YU Observer.
Student liaison Selma Spinner introduced the second speaker, who implores her peers to be supportive of each other in their mental health journeys. “I want people to realize that along the lines of everybody’s struggling, to reach out to the person next to you, to your friend, to someone you’ve never talked to because you don’t know what they’re going through,” she told the YU Observer. “And sometimes just a hello makes a huge difference in helping people feel seen.”
Student liaison Dani Minkove introduced the third speaker, whose message he would like the YU community to glean from his story would be to trust the process and have faith in your abilities. “Have the self-integrity to be honest and shalem with yourself; be okay with being a work in progress; look at every failure as an opportunity for growth; scan your mental map for positive opportunities; and appreciate the things you take for granted, nothing is a given,” he told the YU Observer.
Through their stories, each speaker highlighted an aspect of mental health that students are pushed to be more mindful of. Being careful with your words, supporting your friends through a hard time, and learning to accept both your strengths and limitations are important lessons for students to internalize.
Assistant Director of the Counseling Center Dr. Debra Alper hopes that students will come away from the event understanding that mental health struggles look different for everyone. “We do know that when someone is struggling, they often feel isolated and disconnected from their friends,” she told the YU Observer. “We hope events like Stomp Out the Stigma encourage students to speak more openly and comfortably about mental health issues, so that we can support one another and take away the shame that sometimes prevents people from seeking help.”
Students come away from the event with a broader perspective and greater sensitivity towards their classmates. Because the stories are typically so candid and emotional, they resonate deeply with the audience.
The event gave Elianna Goldman (SCW ‘26) insight into her peers. “Getting to hear the stories of the people that I go to school with gave me a renewed sense of how important it is to always be kind, because you never know what the people around you are going through,” she told the YU Observer.
Despite the largely positive reception, the event left some students in a state of shock. Ellie Berlin (SCW ‘28) did not realize that the event would highlight specific students’ stories and how graphically detailed those stories would be. “Although the event was super impactful and necessary for the YU community to hear, I personally did not know what I was getting myself into. As someone who has had my own mental health journey, I had a panic attack in response to what some of the speakers were saying,” she told the YU Observer.
Berlin contended that the event should have some sort of trigger warning, or that students new to campus should be given a better explanation of what the event is before they sign up to attend. “While it’s important for many people in our community to hear the stories, it’s not necessarily essential for someone like me who has had my own journey with mental health to also hear the stories. In fact, the stories resonated perhaps a little too much with me,” she said. “If I had had a full understanding of what the event was going to encompass, I probably wouldn’t have gone.”
Dr. Alper recognizes that Stomp Out the Stigma is an important event, but not necessarily one for everyone. “If someone feels that it will not be good for them to attend, they should of course take care of their own mental health and not attend,” she said. “If after the event any student feels that they could benefit from support, we encourage them to reach out to the Counseling Center.”
Photo Caption: President Ari Berman speaking at Stomp Out the Stigma 2026
Photo Credit: Shira Kramer