New York – A 20 year old Stern College student has made history at Yeshiva University, as the first female student ever to be recognized by a nationwide program that honors students who excel in both athletics and academics.
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Rebecca Yoshor, who is majoring in English Literature and minoring in Psychology, has a 3.97 grade point average at the college and is also a junior forward on the women’s Maccabees basketball team. The Houston native, who was named to the Capital One’s NCAA Division III Academic All-America women’s team for the 2012-2013 academic year, is just one of 816 students to be recognized annually for their accomplishments both in the classroom and on the playing field.
“I am incredibly honored to be the first student at Stern to receive this kind of recognition and am sure I won’t be the last,” Miss Yoshor told VIN News. “We have so many amazing student athletes at Stern.”
Miss Yoshor, who is currently contemplating careers in either public relations or advertising, says that it takes effort to juggle her responsibilities as both an athlete and a student.
“I balance my practice and game schedule and heavy course load by managing my time well,” explained Miss Yoshor. “I try to be truly present and give my best effort in whatever I am doing.”
This is the 5’11 student’s second season playing on the Stern College basketball team and she has been named to the Hudson Valley Women’s Athletic All Conference team twice as well as having been selected as player of the week four times this season by the conference. Only one other student at Yeshiva University has ever been recognized by the Capital One Academic All America honors program.
“Rebecca is a great person and a great athlete,” said Joe Bednarsh, director of athletics at Yeshiva University. “Her name will go down in history for her accomplishments here at the school and she is a role model for young Jewish girls who can follow her example and excel both academically and athletically.”
I ask the following question with respect, because I just don’t know and would like to understand how this works:
When the Stern basketball team competes, how do they do so in a manner that is compatible with the basic laws of tznius? I assume there are men in the audience watching and that some of the men are family and community members. Is that correct? Are their uniforms somehow halachically ok?
I recall attending a modern orthodox day school as a kid/teen. Each team had cheerleaders wearing mini-skirts dancing in front of all of us guys. For some reason that was acceptable. Is that still an accepted standard?
That was a very long time ago. I’m wondering if there is a concern at Stern about this and some sort of workaround for having a woman’s basketball team that competes publicly, or would my question be considered prudish.
from what I understand, Stern lets women compete in t-shirts and shorts. They can layer longer sleeves under the tee and wear skirts over the shorts, which some do. There are also many Stern students who would not participate in these competitions out of tznius concerns.
Hooray for her. To anyone worried about tznuis, get off the internet wherre you might actually catch a glimpse of (gasp) knees.
Another great Texan. Proud to know her and her family.
I remember watching her play ball as early as three years old. Very talented and very tzinius off the court.
If you look at the official team t-shirt she’s wearing, you can see that it has long sleeves and a closed neckline
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Just an FYI… for anyone not familiar with the laws of Tzniut… Tzniut is not just about your clothing. Tzniut is also how a person walks, talks, or acts in front of men.
I don’t know if this young lady plays ball in front of men… If she is – even if wearing a burka she would be breaching the laws of Tzniut.
1) Mazel tov Rebecca.
2) If she’s at Stern, playing in a girl’s league, and men show up, it’s on them, not her. It’s up to a man not to put himself in such a situation. She’s not playing in the middle of the street.
Now you’ll all get your knives out for me. Oh, well. Not the first time! LOL
Stunning display of shtetl culture.
it is quite funny to see how members of the modern orthodox community always come back with the same comments “don’t judge… it’s loshon hara… you need to do tshuva for judging… ” I am not judging. Of course only HaShem is the judge.
but do you use the same language of defense when you attack chassidim?
Live according to the standards you want others to treat you with.
Mostly modern orthodoxy is full of contradictions, double standards and hypocrisy….. I am sure not all of modern orthodoxy fall under that category- as we can never sterotype one group….. but definitely- the modern orthodox community have much more hate (yes – hate and its a strong word) towards the chassidish or yeshivish community than vice versa. I know because I come from the latter and married in to MO and have been treated with such disgust and contempt and heard the way they mock and ridicule anyone frummer than them- while ALL their grandparents- and fathers were chassidish before the holocaust.
Is it your subconscious telling you that maybe maybe halacha does matter….. you guys judge too and talk loshon hara too…. so please stop pretending like halacha doesn’t matter & stop judging us.