NEW YORK (Press Release)– The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations welcomed the many responses from presidents of leading universities and academic associations across the United States rejecting the call by the American Studies Association for a boycott of Israeli universities. Responding to a letter from Conference leaders, Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, that underscored the impropriety of the boycott vote and the need for all institutions with a relationship to the ASA to withdraw their support and any direct or indirect funding, many university presidents provided responses that rejected and condemned the ASA’s decision, unfettered.
Sugarman and Hoenlein said, “It is essential to draw the line here and now. The ASA resolution is a wakeup call. Allowed to go unchallenged, it will lead to other associations being hijacked by extremist minorities seeking to isolate and delegitimize Israel. Only about 16% of the members of the ASA actually voted in favor of the resolution. We call on the ASA to promptly rescind the decision publicly.
“We are encouraged and pleased by the strong public stands taken by many presidents of our country’s finest schools of higher education. So far, Brandeis University, Indiana University, Kenyon College, and Pennsylvania State University – Harrisburg have stated that they will withdraw from the ASA, with many others rejecting the Association’s resolution. Presidents and Chancellors of Brown University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Kenyon College, Northwestern University, Stanford University, Trinity College, Tufts University, Washington University in St. Louis, Smith College, amongst many others have personally responded to the Conference of Presidents’ statement yesterday, expressing their concern about this development in the strongest terms.
Harvard University President, Drew Faust expressed full support of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Universities’ statement.
“Academic boycotts subvert the academic freedoms and values necessary to the free flow of ideas, which is the lifeblood of the worldwide community of scholars. The recent resolution of the ASA proposing to boycott Israeli universities represents a direct threat to these ideals, ideals which universities and scholarly associations should be dedicated to defend.” (Full statement here)
Indiana University President, Michael A. McRobbie concludes his statement with the university’s motion to withdraw itself as an institutional member of the ASA.
“Indiana University joins other leading research universities in condemning in the strongest possible terms the boycott of institutions of higher education in Israel as proposed by the American Studies Association and other organizations. Boycotts such as these have a profound chilling effect on academic freedom, and universities must be clear and unequivocal in rejecting them. Indiana University strongly endorses the recent statement on this matter by the Association of American Universities and the long-standing position in this area of the American Association of University Professors.
“Indiana University values its academic relationships with colleagues and institutions around the world, including many important ones with institutions in Israel, and will not allow political considerations such as those behind this ill-conceived boycott to weaken those relationships or undermine the principle of academic freedom in this way. IU stands firmly against proposals that would attempt to limit or restrict those important institutional relationships or this fundamental principle.”
Kenyon College’s President, Sean Decatur spoke with the chair of their American Studies program, Professor Peter Rutkoff, who also agreed not to renew the program’s membership for 2014. In a letter to Sugarman and Hoenlein, Decatur wrote:
“Personally, I disagree with the boycott of scholars from Israeli institutions by the American Studies Association; I believe that this is in direct opposition to the values of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas that educational institutions such as Kenyon champion. There have not been discussions at Kenyon about joining in any of the BDS activities, nor do we support any such movement.”
“…This is among the most powerful arguments in opposition to the decision of the ASA to boycott institutions from Israel. Regardless of one’s views on the political solutions to Israeli/Palestinian relations, the cultural transformation needed to find peace in the region will depend on these types of discussions, which in turn require strong academic institutions with free and unfettered exchange of ideas with scholars from around the world. Collaborations among individual scholars and among institutions have the potential to support and nurture this cultural transformation. We should not be shutting out one side or the other, but rather open ourselves to engage in meaningful, substantial dialogue on fundamental questions with all sides.
“The ASA is, first and foremost, an academic society aimed at the promotion of interdisciplinary studies of American culture and history. This commitment to scholarship, teaching, and learning is what drew Kenyon to participate in ASA activities in the past. But, as the president of a College with an unwavering commitment to the liberal arts and the concept of academic freedom, I reject the notion of a boycott of academic institutions as a geopolitical tool. I concur with the decision of our American Studies program to withdraw as an institutional member of the ASA.” (Full blog post here)
The President and Provost of Northwestern University, Morton Schapiro and Dan Linzer stated:
“Recently the membership of the American Studies Association approved a resolution calling for a boycott of Israeli higher education institutions. Two other U.S. academic associations have also advocated that stance. While we support the right of academicians to voice their viewpoints, Northwestern University disagrees strongly with the boycott vote of the ASA. Northwestern also rejects the actions suggested in the resolution. In fact, we believe the ASA resolution directly contradicts the values of academic freedom and advancing scholarship for which Northwestern stands.
“Northwestern University faculty and students should have the ability to pursue academic collaborations with their colleagues at institutions around the world, including Israel. Northwestern for years has had highly successful and valued joint degree programs and extensive partnerships with Israeli institutions and scholars. We intend to maintain and strengthen relationships such as these…’
Trinity College President, James F. Jones, Jr. wrote to the President of ASA:
“Our Dean of the Faculty, Thomas Mitzel, and I wish to go on record announcing the boycott of Israel on the part of the ASA. Trinity once years back was an institutional member (we were then advertizing for an open position), and apparently some members of our faculty are individual members. Were we still an institutional member, we would not be any longer after the misguided and unprincipled announcement of the boycott of the only democracy in the Middle East. The Dean and I oppose academic boycotts in general because they can so easily encroach upon academic freedom. In this strange case, why the ASA would propose an academic boycott of Israel and not, for example, of Syria, the Sudan, North Korea, China, Iran, Iraq, or Russia escapes rational thought. Trinity has participated in the Rescue Scholar program since its inception; we have welcomed scholars from some of the most repressive countries on the planet, and it is inconceivable to us that we would ever be welcoming a Rescue Scholar fleeing Israel for political reasons.
“As President of the ASA, you have tarnished a once distinguished association.”
Below is a listing of those who have rejected the boycott action and taken steps to disassociate from the ASA, as well as major academic organizations that came out against this blatantly discriminatory measure.
- Boston University (President Robert A. Brown), ASA Institutional Member
- Brandeis University (President Frederick M. Lawrence), ASA Institutional Member
- Brown University (President Christina Hull Paxton), ASA Institutional Member
- Cornell University (President David Skorton), ASA Institutional Member, AAU signatory
- Dickinson College (President Nancy Roseman), ASA Institutional Member
- Duke University (President Richard H. Brodhead), AAU signatory
- George Washington University (President Steven Knapp), ASA Institutional Member
- Hamilton College (President Joan Hinde Stewart)
- Harvard University (President Drew Gilpin Faust), ASA Institutional Member
- Indiana University (President Michael McRobbie), ASA Institutional Member
- Johns Hopkins University (President Ronald Joel Daniels)
- Kenyon College (President Sean M. Decatur), ASA Institutional Member
- Michigan State University (President Lou Anna K. Simon), ASA Institutional Member, AAU signatory
- New York University (President John Sexton), ASA Institutional Member
- Northwestern University (President Morton O. Schapiro), AAU signatory
- Princeton University (President Christopher L. Eisgruber), ASA Institutional Member
- Smith College, ASA Institutional Member (President Carol T. Christ)
- Stanford University (President John L. Hennessy), ASA Institutional Member
- Tufts University (President Anthony P. Monaco)
- Tulane University (President Scott S. Cowen), AAU signatory
- University of California, Irvine (Chancellor Michael V. Drake), AAU signatory
- University of California, San Diego (Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla), ASA Institutional Member
- University of Chicago (President Robert J. Zimmer)
- University of Connecticut (President Susan Herbst)
- University of Kansas (Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little), AAU signatory
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County (President Freeman Hrabowski), ASA Institutional Member
- University of Maryland, College Park (President Wallace D. Loh)
- University of Michigan (President Mary Sue Coleman)
- University of Pennsylvania (President Amy Gutmann), AAU signatory
- University of Pittsburgh (Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg), AAU signatory
- University of Texas, Austin (President William C. Powers), ASA Institutional Member, AAU signatory
- Washington University in St. Louis (Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton), ASA Institutional Member
- Wesleyan University (President Michael S. Roth)
- Willamette University (President Stephen Thorsett)
- Yale University (President Peter Salovey)
The Association of American Universities released a statement, signed by the President of AAU, Hunter R. Rawlings III, and ten university presidents (noted above) and endorsed by many others in their own statements on the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
Additionally, eight former ASA Presidents urged all members of the Association to vote to reject the boycott, stating in their letter that “we believe academic boycotts to be antithetical to the mission of free and open inquiry for which a scholarly organization stands… we see an academic boycott as setting a dangerous precedent by sponsoring an inequitable and discriminatory policy that would punish one nation’s universities and scholars.” The signatories on this letter are listed below:
- Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford University – ASA President 2004-2005
- Michael Frisch, University at Buffalo, SUNY – ASA President 2000-2001
- Karen Halttunen, University of Southern California – ASA President 2005-2006
- Mary Kelley, University of Michigan – ASA President 1999-2000
- Linda K. Kerber, University of Iowa – ASA President 1988-1999
- Alice Kessler-Harris, Columbia University – ASA President 1991-1992
- Patricia Limerick, University of Colorado – ASA President 1996-1997
- Elaine Tyler May, University of Minnesota – ASA President 1995-1996
The Association of American University Professors also released a statement, concluding, “AAUP will continue to oppose all academic boycotts and urge supporters of those boycotts to find other means to register their opposition to policies they find abhorrent.”
Sugarman and Hoenlein lauded these efforts and actions and cited them as a potential turning point in the battle against those engaged in the campaign of disinformation and misinformation regarding Israel, promoting activities that seek to isolate and demonize Israel and its supporters. In this case the truth won out. We must make sure that continues across the country.
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Preceding provided by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations