Ten Undergraduates Recognized for Exceptional Academic Achievements

On May 25, hundreds of students from Yeshiva University’s undergraduate schools will receive their degrees at YU’s 86th Commencement at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Ten students will be honored as valedictorians for their outstanding academic achievements: Mickey Levinson, Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program; Akiva Marder, Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies; Yonatan Mehlman, Yeshiva College; Avigail Goldstein, Erica Secemski and Jacob Klar, Sy Syms School of Business; Tova Goldstein, Stern College for Women; Kayla Axelrod, Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies; Shua Katz, Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies; and Maor Shoshana, James Striar School of General Jewish Studies.

Left to right: Akiva Marder, Mickey Levinson, Jacob Klar, Shua Katz, Avigail Goldstein, Tova Goldstein, Erica Secemski and Kayla Axelrod. Not pictured: Maor Shoshana and Yonatan Mehlman.

After Commencement, these exceptional new alumni will move on to careers and graduate studies that range from accounting and medicine to Jewish education and marketing. However, as they look back on their undergraduate years, they share a deep sense of appreciation for the personalized, high-quality education they received at YU.

For Akiva Marder, the close relationships he developed with faculty members such as Rabbi Dr. Hayyim Angel, instructor of Bible, had a profound impact on him. “I remember on one occasion in our Book of Joshua class, I raised my hand to share a connection I drew between our chapter and the preceding one,” said Marder. “I saw that, beyond listening attentively, Rabbi Angel wrote down my thought in his notepad so he would be able to reference it later. In moments like those, Rabbi Angel is able to make his students feel like active participants in Torah, engaging with text and Judaism in a way that really matter.”

Marder also enjoyed the opportunity to get involved in many different extracurricular activities on campus, as a writer for the student newspaper, Model United Nations chair and psychology research assistant. But the psychology and business student’s favorite role was his three years as news anchor for Shield News, the student news broadcast. “Being on camera and getting to represent YU in that way has been both incredibly fun and meaningful,” said Marder.

Stern College valedictorian Tova Goldstein and Sy Syms valedictorian Avigail Goldstein have an extra reason to celebrate their accomplishments: the two are first cousins in addition to being children and grandchildren of YU alumni.

“Throughout my time at YU and specifically on the Beren Campus, I have felt so lucky to be surrounded by so many smart, strong and motivated women,” said Avigail Goldstein, who also enjoyed her honors accounting professor’s innovative approach to the material: “I loved how Professor Leibowitz made his classes challenging and exciting. I gained a lot of confidence as a result of his high expectations.”

Tova Goldstein was moved as well by the faculty’s investment in their students—and also by her fellow students’ investment in each other. “Given the small class sizes in Stern, when it came time for my professors to write letters of recommendation for my medical school application, I was confident that my professors really knew who I was, not only as a student, but also as a person,” she said. “When I first arrived at Stern there were so many upper classmen who helped me choose classes, find and assess different research opportunities, and answered all of my questions regarding the MCAT and application process for medical school.”

She added, “Now, as an upper classman myself and president of the pre-med club, I am happy to reciprocate and help support the students going through the process now. Everyone at Stern is so willing and eager to help each other.”

The energy and atmosphere of the beit midrash in the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study has been Shua Katz’s favorite part of his YU experience. “The feeling of walking into a packed beit midrash in the morning and embarking on the study of a new topic with my chavrusa and my shiur enlivens me and carries me throughout the day and week,” he said. “The feeling of warmth and common drive and goals really comes to mind when I think about the two times a year that the beit midrash dances together—following the conclusion of Neilah on Yom Kippur and following the conclusion of kriat megillah on Purim night. The sheer joy and passionate dancing that the talmidim feel and display during those times is truly unforgettable, and it characterizes the more tempered feeling that exists day-in and day-out, which is the common passion and commitment to grow individually and collectively in avodat Hashem [service to God].”

“I hope to be around YU for years to come,” added Katz, who will pursue joint semicha studies at YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and a graduate degree in Jewish philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies after commencement.

For Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies valedictorian Kayla Axelrod, who hopes to become a speech pathologist, the honor is especially sweet. “This is my parents’ 25th anniversary of graduating and my grandfather’s 60th,” she said. “This is a very meaningful moment for me. It’s something that’s really special to my family.”