syag > My JSS Hebrew teacher was the first professor I had at YU who addressed a class of male YU students with, ….
Syag > There is an atmosphere of acceptance
I think you misunderstand the first quote (I tracked down the original article so that others don’t have to). He is saying that this particular teacher was the _first_ one who was “accepting”, all the other ones were not, as it says just 3 line above your quote, so things are not as bad as you are afraid of (or at least were 5 years ago):
>> It’s hard to feel welcomed into a community that doesn’t want you. There needs to be a change in YU so that students can feel that they are welcome and that the community wants them to be a part of it.