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List of Universities rejecting academic boycott of Israel (Update – 250!)

List of Universities rejecting academic boycott of Israel (Update – 250!)

The universities and colleges below are confirmed to reject the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Association.

This list is based on positions expressed by the Presidents of such Universities or others in a position to state a university’s position (e.g., communications staff). We are aware of no university in the U.S. endorsing the boycott.  See University statements rejecting academic boycott of Israel.  (Note added: For University Systems, we only list individual schools separately if there is a separate statement or some other individual agreement to the system statement, so this list significantly understates the number of universities rejecting the boycott.)

This is a list in progress and will be updated as more announcements/confirmations are made. If you have additions, please post in comments with source link or forward confirming emails to me.

Associations:

  1. American Council on Education (1700+ Higher Ed Institutions)
  2. Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (216 Universities and University Systems)
  3. Association of American Universities (62 Universities)
  4. American Association of University Professors (Approx. 48,000 members)
  5. American Psychiatric Association
  6. Middle East Studies Association (stands by 2005 rejection of academic boycotts)
  7. Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
  8. Maryland Independent College & University Association
  9. The Royal Society (Britain)

Universities Rejecting Boycott

  1. American University (D.C.)
  2. Amherst College
  3. Andrews University
  4. Arizona State University
  5. Auburn University
  6. Bard College
  7. Barnard College
  8. Bates College
  9. Birmingham Southern College
  10. Boston University
  11. Bowdoin College
  12. Brandeis University
  13. Brooklyn College, CUNY
  14. Brown University
  15. Bryn Mawr
  16. The California State University System
  17. California State University – Northridge
  18. Capitol College (MD)
  19. Carnegie-Mellon University
  20. Case Western Reserve University
  21. Catholic University
  22. City University of New York
  23. City University of New York – The Graduate Center
  24. Clark University
  25. Clemson University
  26. Cleveland State University
  27. Colby College
  28. Colgate University
  29. College of Charleston
  30. College of the Holy Cross
  31. College of Mount St. Joseph
  32. College of New Jersey
  33. College of William & Mary
  34. College of Staten Island
  35. Colorado College
  36. Colorado State University
  37. Columbia University
  38. Connecticut College
  39. Cornell University
  40. Dartmouth College
  41. DePaul University
  42. Dickinson College
  43. Drake University
  44. Drexel University
  45. Duke University
  46. Eckerd College
  47. Elon University
  48. Emory University
  49. Fairfield University
  50. Fairleigh Dickinson University
  51. Florida Atlantic University
  52. Florida International University
  53. Florida State University
  54. Fordham University
  55. Franklin & Marshall College
  56. George Mason University
  57. George Washington University
  58. Georgetown University
  59. Georgia Institute of Techology
  60. Gettysburg College
  61. Goucher College
  62. Gratz College
  63. Hamilton College
  64. Harvard University
  65. Haverford College
  66. Hobart and William Smith Colleges
  67. Hofstra University
  68. Hood College (MD)
  69. Hunter College
  70. Indiana University
  71. Iowa State University
  72. Ithaca College
  73. Johns Hopkins University
  74. Kansas State University
  75. Kean Universityof New Jersey
  76. Kenyon College
  77. Lafayette College
  78. Lawrence University
  79. Lehigh University
  80. Liberty University
  81. Louisiana State University System
  82. Los Angeles Community College District
  83. Louisiana Tech University
  84. Loyola University Maryland
  85. Maryland Institute College of Art
  86. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  87. McDaniel College
  88. Miami University – Ohio
  89. Michigan State University
  90. Middlebury College
  91. Mississipi State University
  92. Missouri University of Science and Technology
  93. Montclair State University
  94. Mount St. Mary’s University
  95. Muhlenberg College
  96. Ner Israel Rabbinical College (MD)
  97. New Jersey City University
  98. New Jersey Institute of Technology
  99. New York Medical College
  100. New York University
  101. North Carolina State
  102. Northern Arizona University
  103. Northeastern University
  104. Northeastern Illinois University
  105. Northern Illinois University
  106. Northwestern University
  107. Notre Dame of Maryland University
  108. Nova Southeastern University
  109. Oberlin College
  110. Occidental College
  111. Ohio State University
  112. Pennsylvania State University
  113. Philadelphia University
  114. Pomona College
  115. Portland State University
  116. Princeton University
  117. Purdue University
  118. Ramapo College
  119. Regent University
  120. Rhode Island College
  121. Rice University
  122. Richard Stockton College
  123. Rider University
  124. Rockefeller University
  125. Roger Williams University
  126. Rowan University of New Jersey
  127. Rutgers University
  128. St. John’s College (MD)
  129. St. Lawrence University
  130. St. Mary’s Seminary and University (MD)
  131. San Francisco State University
  132. Sarah Lawrence College
  133. Sewanee: The University of the South
  134. Seton Hall University
  135. Simmons College
  136. Skidmore College
  137. Smith College
  138. South Carolina State University
  139. Southern Methodist University
  140. Stanford University
  141. State University of New York (SUNY) System
  142. State University of New York – Buffalo
  143. Syracuse University
  144. Stevenson University
  145. Swarthmore College
  146. Temple University
  147. Thomas Edison State College (NJ)
  148. Touro College and University System
  149. Towson University
  150. Trinity College (CT)
  151. Tufts University
  152. Tulane University
  153. Union College
  154. University of Alabama System
  155. University of Akron
  156. University of Arizona
  157. University of California System
  158. University of California-Berkeley
  159. University of California-Davis
  160. University of California-Irvine
  161. University of California – Los Angeles
  162. University of New Hampsire
  163. University of California – Riverside
  164. University of California-San Diego
  165. University of California – San Francisco
  166. University of California – Santa Barbara
  167. University of California – Santa Cruz
  168. University of Central Florida
  169. University of Chicago
  170. University of Cincinnati
  171. University of Colorado System
  172. University of Colorado – Boulder
  173. University of Connecticut
  174. University of Delaware
  175. University of Denver
  176. University of Florida
  177. University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents
  178. University of Hartford
  179. University of Houston
  180. University of Hawaii – Mānoa
  181. University of Illinois System
  182. University of Illinois at Chicago
  183. University of Illinois at Springfield
  184. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  185. University of Iowa
  186. University of Kansas
  187. University of Kentucky
  188. University of La Verne
  189. University of Louisville
  190. University of Maryland
  191. University of Maryland – Baltimore County
  192. University of Massachusetts – Amherst
  193. University of Massachusetts – Boston
  194. University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth
  195. University of Massachuetts – Lowell
  196. University of Massachusetts Medical School
  197. University of Miami
  198. University of Michigan
  199. University of Minnesota
  200. University of Mississippi
  201. University of Missouri System
  202. University of Missouri –  Columbia
  203. University of Missouri – Kansas City
  204. University of Missouri – St. Louis
  205. University of Nebraska (all campuses)
  206. University of New Mexico
  207. University of Nevada – Las Vegas
  208. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
  209. University of North Dakota
  210. University of Notre Dame
  211. University of Oregon
  212. University of Pennsylvania
  213. University of Pittsburgh
  214. University of Rhode Island
  215. University of Rochester
  216. University of South Carolina
  217. University of South Dakota
  218. University of South Florida
  219. University of Southern California
  220. University of Texas-Austin
  221. University of Texas-Dallas
  222. University of the Incarnate Word
  223. University of Tulsa
  224. University of Utah
  225. University of Vermont
  226. University of Virginia
  227. University of Washington
  228. University of Western Ontario
  229. University of Wisconsin – Madison
  230. Ursinus College
  231. Utah State University
  232. Vanderbilt University
  233. Vassar College
  234. Virginia Commonwealth University
  235. Virginia Polytechnic University
  236. Wake Forest University
  237. Washington Adventist University
  238. Washington College (MD)
  239. Washington University in St. Louis
  240. Wayne State University
  241. Webster University
  242. Wellesley College
  243. Wesleyan University
  244. West Virginia University
  245. Western Kentucky University
  246. William Paterson University
  247. Willamette University
  248. Williams College
  249. Wright State University
  250. Xavier University
  251. Yale University
  252. Yeshiva University

Termination of memberships – Many if not most Universities are leaving the decision to terminate Institutional Membership up to individual American Studies Departments. We can confirm that the following have terminated or will not renew membership:

  1. Bard College (source)
  2. Brandeis University
  3. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
  4. Indiana University
  5. Kenyon College
  6. Penn State Harrisburg
  7. University of Texas-Dallas
  8. University of Utah (source)(source)

Deny Membership – The following are listed by ASA as Institutional Members, but deny that they are in fact members (via email confirmations or external links):

  1. Brown University
  2. Carnegie-Mellon University
  3. Hamilton College
  4. Northwestern University
  5. Temple University
  6. Trinity College (CT)
  7. Tufts University
  8. University of Alabama (source)(source)
  9. University of Mississippi (source)
  10. University of Southern California
  11. Willamette University

Miscellaneous

Contact information for many ASA Institutional Members is located in the comments at Reader crowdsourcing project to fight American Studies Assoc anti-Israel boycott.

The American Studies Association TAG is the link for all of our posts on the current boycott.

Thanks to Avi Mayer as a source for some of this list.

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Comments

Thanks for all the great work, Professor.
Can I ask why BU and Princeton are listed? The BU president only rejected the idea of the boycott and left the question of membership up to the New England and American Studies program. Last I heard from people in contact with her, Nina Silber, the program director, said their membership is up for renewal, and they have not made a decision about it yet.

And didn’t Eisgruber, the Princeton president, say he would not condemn the ASA? Did the American studies department at Princeton take a different stand?

Also, as an alumnus of a Duke graduate program, I am wondering about Duke’s mention on the list here. I thought that Duke does not have an American studies program and that it did not even have membership to the ASA. Did it condemn or reject the boycott anyways? That would be a welcome surprise given the administration’s sad response to anti-Zionsim and anti-Semitism during the ’04-’05 school year. Would be great to hear if they have improved.

    William A. Jacobson in reply to WTell. | December 22, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    Both Presidents rejected the boycott. Membership in ASA by the American Studies Departments is a different question. I think University Presidents should take the lead on that, but the reality of academic turf on many campuses is that University Presidents may be hesitant to prevent a department from joining an organization. But that doesn’t diminish that the university rejects the boycott.

      Thanks. I don’t want to quibble about the meaning of “reject,” but since my family has connections to these schools I mentioned I have been following their responses in particular. It seems to me that the statement you posted from Princeton went out of its way to avoid rejecting the boycott, while only expressing personal disapproval of the notion of such a boycott. My Princeton alumni family members don’t consider that a rejection.

      Hopefully, through your good work here, Princeton will change its stance and affirmatively reject or at least denounce the boycott without qualification, regardless of its ASA membership status.

    sfdrmarc in reply to WTell. | December 26, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    A complimentary and more pointed response to this ill-conceived boycott is for ALL ALUMNI TO DIRECTLY CONTACT THEIR ALMA MATERS and mention the need for the Board of Trustees to understand that continued alumni support requires an assertion of academic integrity and courage by the administration. And what might in the future indirectly influence the ASA and other ‘boycotters’ to revisit their postures would be to include a message to our school Presidents along these lines:

    “The only realistic way to influence the ASA and future associations considering such a policy is for academic institutions themselves to deny faculty funding for participation in programs sponsored by those organizations, who overstep their mission-focus and repudiate open channels of scholastic exchange . I explicitly wish to know what your official policy will be for providing travel money for faculty to the future ASA meetings:
    • 2014: November 6-9: Westin Bonaventure- Los Angeles, CA
    • 2015: October 8-11: Sheraton Centre- Toronto, Canada
    • 2016: November 17-20: Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center.

    Since all colleges and universities face budget constraints, I hope the appropriate deans and chairs at your school will consider very carefully any requests by members of the ASA to
    attend future meetings of that organization, given the priorities of your limited funding.  As we well know, it is crucially important for centers of higher learning to prioritize their spending. I and others do not think that sending faculty on junkets to Los Angeles and so forth for ASA meetings is appropriate— since their organization is obviously more interested in politics than academics.” 

Harvard is on that list? — America’s leftist hate factory?
Must be a typo.

Not A Member of Any Organized Political | December 22, 2013 at 10:13 pm

I suggest they “drop” their membership – unless they want to be known as being a part of the new KKK.

We need a list of the schools who have not actively renounced the ASA boycott of Israel so some friendly public taxpayer heat can be applied. It will soon be an election year.

    William A. Jacobson in reply to OldNuc. | December 22, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    Key thing is that this will be a long push. The boycott vote result was announced just last Monday, and many universities and administrators already were on the way out for Christmas/New Year’s break. I think this list is pretty good considering it’s been only a few days and the last week of the semester.

BannedbytheGuardian | December 23, 2013 at 6:16 am

Israel should boycott all archeology !& theology & history departments from the offending institutions . Throw the cat amongst the pigeons & let them duke it out .

Isreal would have to be one of the safest modern archeology study destination . Nowe where staff& students can actually have some fun,

What is that picture at the top of the article?

Are you sure about Cornell? They can talk a good game, but until I see proof that they’ve pulled their membership and stopped giving money to the ASA I would consider Cornell’s statement to be on par with a snake oil salesman.

A “statement” rejecting the boycott is not enough:
1. Universities make dishonest statements all the time.
2. What is needed is punishment of the boycotters. Cut off their funding, for starters.

A number of these institutions–Cornell, Harvard, Michigan State, UT Austin–are on both lists, as “institutional members” of the ASA (https://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/how-can-these-u-s-universities-justify-membership-in-american-studies-association-after-israel-boycott/) and those who have “rejected” (whatever that means) the boycott. Are they trying to have it both ways–supporting both vilification of Israel AND academic freedom? I’m with “pst314,” statements are not enough. If they really object to the boycott, they must withdraw from the ASA, as Brandeis and Penn State Harrisburg have done. (I have written to my own alma mater, Stanford, on this subject.)

It might help to know that colleges and universities might be listed as “institutional members” simply because the American studies department pays for the journal ($170 per year) out of department funds. To say that this makes the institution itself an institutional member seems to me a stretch on the part of the ASA, a bid to enhance legitimacy where none actually exists. That might explains why some universities are rejecting the ASA claim that they are institutional members. I am proud that the Indiana University president, Michael McRobbie, affirmatively condemned the boycott and withdrew IU’s affiliation as of this morning. And I certainly hope that the MLA is sitting up and taking notice of the widespread condemnation that the ASA is receiving.

    William A. Jacobson in reply to jocelynsemmel. | December 23, 2013 at 7:03 pm

    It’s not clear what ASA is doing. I delved into the process in connection with my communications with Willamette. A subscription alone, ordered through Johns Hopkins Press, should not result in an Institutional Membership, which is an entirely different category. You get the Journal with the membership, but you don’t need the membership to get the Journal.

Just reporting what a friend and colleague (and former chair of the Asmerican Studies Department at IU) told me.

You may want to list minimal requirements for these official statements to be considered genuine. If you look at the one issued by University of California San Diego, for example (see below), it is telling that neither the name of the ASA (except in the title of the press release) nor the name of Israel appear in their official declaration. Then compare it with the one issued by the University of Chicago (also below), where the ASA is oddly enough not mentioned at all, but at least it refers to opposing the boycott against “Israeli institutions”. To be listed as truly rejecting the boycott, such declarations of principles should include both components.

______________________

http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/chancellors_statement_re_american_studies_association_resolution

UC San Diego Chancellor’s Statement re: American Studies Association Resolution

UC San Diego was founded by scholars dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge through collaboration, unfettered discussion and open inquiry. The collaborations forged with scholars around the world contribute to our prominence as an international leader in public higher education.

We affirm the right of the faculty to advance their scholarship and research through open dialogue with academic colleagues in all countries. UC San Diego faculty collaborations draw on richly diverse ideas and views around the globe, including in the Middle East. Excluding scholars limits discussion and conflicts with the University of California’s highest aspirations.

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor

http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/12/22/university-statement-academic-boycotts

______________

University statement on academic boycotts

December 22, 2013
On December 22, 2013, the University of Chicago released the following statement on the subject of academic boycotts:

“The University of Chicago has from its founding held as its highest value the free and open pursuit of inquiry. Faculty and students must be free to pursue their research and education around the world and to form collaborations both inside and outside of the academy, encouraging engagement with the widest spectrum of views. For this reason, we oppose boycotts of academic institutions or scholars in any region of the world, and oppose recent actions by academic societies to boycott Israeli institutions.”

[…] List of Universities rejecting academic boycott of Israel is growing rapidly.  These two announcements are significant because they involve withdrawals of […]

I see NYU. Where is CUNY?

I wonder if one could get all eight Israeli Universities to condemn it. It is an unfortunate fact that some of the most ardent proponents of the academic boycott are professors at Israeli Universities, and they have legal protection here in Israel.

    mzk in reply to mzk. | December 25, 2013 at 3:53 am

    PS – At least some of the statements – UM, for example – are not wishy-washy. A few of them mention three organizations that have done this thing – besides ASA and AAAS, what is the third one?

[…] schools or all-black fraternities — are inherently discriminatory, by this logic, which is how the American Studies Association justifies boycotting Israel, making the Jewish nature of the Israeli state analogous to […]

If there is any doubt that the ASA and the BDS movements’ claims are simply anti-Semitic canards read an Al-Monitor article contributed by Asmaa al-Ghoul a female journalist located in Gaza. Ms. al-Ghoul reports that academic censorship, capricious disciplinary action including imprisonment for anyone daring to criticize the PA, Hamas, or Fatah, and the use of student spies by the Palestinian University Security Administration and its clandestine services are rampant. here is the link to the article: (http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/gaza-academics-universities-increasing-restrictions.html). The question to be answered is “What is the ASA position on Palestinian abuse of power, corruption and its nationalization of college campuses?” And, why is the ASA not focusing on the American values that are the foundation of the academic freedom they enjoy?

A complimentary and more pointed response to this ill-conceived boycott is for ALL ALUMNI TO DIRECTLY CONTACT THEIR ALMA MATERS and mention the need for the Board of Trustees to understand that continued alumni support requires an assertion of academic integrity and courage by the administration.

And what might in the future indirectly influence the ASA and other ‘boycotters’ to revisit their postures would be to include a message to our school Presidents along these lines:
“The only realistic way to influence the ASA and future associations considering such a policy is for academic institutions themselves to deny faculty funding for participation in programs sponsored by those organizations, who overstep their mission-focus and repudiate open channels of scholastic exchange . I explicitly wish to know what your official policy will be for providing travel money for faculty to the future ASA meetings:
• 2014: November 6-9: Westin Bonaventure- Los Angeles, CA
• 2015: October 8-11: Sheraton Centre- Toronto, Canada
• 2016: November 17-20: Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center.
Since all colleges and universities face budget constraints, I hope the appropriate deans and chairs at your school will consider very carefully any requests by members of the ASA to
attend future meetings of that organization, given the priorities of your limited funding. As we well know, it is crucially important for centers of higher learning to prioritize their spending. I and others do not think that sending faculty on junkets to Los Angeles and so forth for ASA meetings is appropriate— since their organization is obviously more interested in politics than academics.”

[…] had individually or on behalf of their institutions denounced the ASA boycott, according to an online count.  The ASA stance has also come under withering assault in a slew of  op-ed pieces and blog posts […]