NY teen’s viral fight for justice

Jack Cahn’s Jewish education has come in handy at his big, public New York City high school.

“The Talmud and Jewish culture have taught me to not take things at face value, to question things, and to challenge authority,” he says.

At the moment, he’s questioning the decision by the board of elections at Stuyvesant High School to disqualify his recent election to the presidency of the school’s student union. Although Cahn won a 57 percent to 43 percent victory over his opponent, his opponent was declared the winner.

The school year may have come to a close, but this race isn’t over for Cahn, who is not taking his disqualification lying down. Stuyvesant would be well advised to hunker down for a protracted battle, because it’s not dealing with your usual 17-year-old.

This teenager knows four languages (including Hebrew and Chinese), blogs for the Huffington Post, runs a business with his twin brother David, and is active with AIPAC and the Junior State of America civics organization. He also competes on the national debate circuit with Stuyvesant’s speech and debate team (and as a Modern Orthodox Jew, walks to and refrains from writing at competitions on Saturdays).

Cahn appears to be more than able to make his case. He only wishes the board of elections and school administration would give him a chance.

“They’ve ignored my requests to meet with them. They’re just trying to drag this out until the school year ends and are hoping that it’ll all just all go away,” he tells The Times of Israel.

Cahn has been accused by the board of elections of three transgressions: leaving campaign material in the student union office, putting up more than three posters on a single bulletin board, and speaking negatively of another candidate. He denies all the charges and has explanations and evidence that he believes prove his innocence.

The rising senior, who is usually defending Israel to other students, now wants the opportunity to defend himself. He’s particularly upset that he was not informed of his disqualification before it was announced publicly.

“There was no due process,” he complains.

With today being the last day of the academic year, Cahn has left the school building and taken to the Internet to continue making his case. A change.org petition initiated by his brother asking Stuyvesant’s administration to overturn the disqualification has garnered 364 supporters so far.

“The principal gets an email each time the petition is signed,” Cahn says, hoping that an overflowing inbox will lead to a reconsideration of the issue.

He still holds out hope that he’ll be Stuyvesant’s student union president come fall, but even if that doesn’t happen, he wants to continue working on the issues he is passionate about. At the top of his agenda is to raise $25,000 to support the school’s 200 clubs, institute an open-door policy at the student union office, and take care of the little things that make for a better student experience. These would include making sure bathrooms are supplied with enough tissue. “Halfway through the school day, there’s no toilet paper left in the bathrooms,” he notes.

Cahn claims that the election has left a bad taste in his mouth and that he has no interest in going in to politics. But listening to him, one is not convinced.

“I prefer not to talk to the press [including The New York Times and New York Magazine], but someone has to stand up for what’s right,” he says, sounding like a pro.

“A hundred and fifty campaign workers stood outside in the rain working for me, and 500 people voted for me. People have stuck out their neck for me. It’s not my fight to give up. It would be selfish to take the easy way out.”