From the president
Yana Tartakovskiy is a sophomore Honors student majoring in healthcare management with a minor in political science. Her ongoing efforts to engage others in the fight against antisemitism using research, education, outreach, and collaboration demonstrate her commitment to understanding the root causes of social issues and identifying effective mechanisms for creating lasting change. She has partnered with organizations in her hometown of Brooklyn, NY, to create a reporting system which community members can use to report antisemitic incidents they witness. As a member of the Executive Board of UConn Hillel, she is working with other organizations on campus to raise awareness of antisemitism, most notably through her initiative to educate community members about the dangerous stereotypes that fuel it. She is also actively involved in research as a team member of the Pandemic Journaling Project, an interdisciplinary, community-engaged research initiative co-founded and co-led by faculty at UConn and Brown. After graduation, Yana plans to attend law school.
Personal Statement
I am inseparable from my community. My parents immigrated to the United States from a collapsing and antisemitic Soviet Union, eventually settling in Brooklyn, NY. Growing up with Jewish values and traditions, the well-documented rise in antisemitic incidents that accompanied the pandemic hit close to home. Jewish holidays came, and people were afraid to go to our synagogue, light the 30-foot tall Menorah across the street from my house, or go to each other's houses for Shabbat dinner. This was the moment when I discovered my passion for civic engagement in my Jewish community. At UConn, I joined Hillel, the center of Jewish life on campus. As a student leader, I seek to educate students on Jewish culture and ways they can be allies to my community. Antisemitism has not stopped plaguing my community. A previous internship I did with DOROT, an intergenerational Jewish non-profit organization, taught me the best way to educate others: sharing the stories of my community. These stories have motivated my current initiative at UConn to combat antisemitism by hosting a symposium for all student leaders on campus to learn about antisemitism from the voices of Jewish-community leaders.