Several dozen universities have issued rejections of the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Association, many with forceful statements.
Among the most forceful was Trinity College in Connecticut, whose President and Dean of Faculty issued a stinging rebuke in a letter to the ASA President (emphasis added):
To The Immediate Attention of the President of the American Studies Association:Our Dean of the Faculty, Thomas Mitzel, and I wish to go on record renouncing the boycott of Israel on the part of the ASA.Trinity once years back was an institutional member (we were then advertising 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.
As mentioned last week, a group of 21 professors issued a highly pejorative letter excoriating the President. The letter was reported as reflecting faculty opposition to the boycott opposition.
Apparently other professors, however, are pushing back against the narrative that the faculty supports the boycott, issuing its own letter of support for the President and Dean of Faculty.
A Trinity faculty member just forwarded to me a letter signed onto by a growing group of Trinity faculty and emeriti faculty (28 34 as of this writing) supporting the college’s strong statement against the boycott:
Dear President Jones and Dean Mitzel,We, the undersigned members of the faculty of Trinity College, write to express our gratitude and support for the position you, the two senior academic officers of the College, have taken against the recently adopted call for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education by the American Studies Association. In taking this clear-throated position against the ASA’s condemnable boycott proposal, you align yourself with the broad consensus of academicians and leading institutions in American higher education. From the American Association of University Professors to the Association of American Universities, to eight former ASA presidents – the message is crystal-clear: academic boycotts are anathema to our undertaking, because – whatever their intent – they encroach upon academic freedom. Thank you for affirming this essential principle at this time.Sincerely,[updated list of 37 signatories as of 1/1/2014]David Ahlgren, Karl W. Hallden Professor of EngineeringBarbara Benedict, Charles A. Dana Professor of English LiteratureMiller Brown, Professor of PhilosophyWilliam Butos, George M. Ferris Professor of Corporation Finance and InvestmentsNed Cabot, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and LawWard Curran, Distinguished Professor of Economics, EmeritusHenry DePhillips, Vernon K. Krieble Professor of Chemistry, EmeritusLeslie Desmangles, Professor of Religion and International StudiesJudy Dworin, Professor of Theater & DanceFrancis Egan, Associate Professor of EconomicsJonathan Elukin, Associate Professor of HistoryEllison Banks Findly, Scott M. Johnson ’97 Distinguished Professor of ReligionRenny Fulco, Associate Professor of Legal and Policy StudiesAndrew Gold, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, EmeritusAdam Grossberg, Professor of EconomicsKarl Haberlandt, Professor of Psychology, EmeritusSam Kassow, Director, Jewish Studies Program and Charles H. Northam Professor of HistoryDori Katz, Professor of Modern Languages & Literature, EmeritusAriela Keysar, Associate Research Professor, Public Policy and Law ProgramRonald Kiener, Chair, Department of Religion and Professor of ReligionFrank Kirkpatrick, Ellsworth Morton Tracy Lecturer and Professor of ReligionBob Kirschbaum, Professor of Fine ArtsBarry Kosmin, Director, Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture and Research Professor, Public Policy & Law ProgramMichael Lestz, Associate Professor of HistoryRalph Morelli, Professor of Computer ScienceBeth Notar, Associate Professor of Anthropology Borden Painter, Professor of History, EmeritusMitch Polin, Associate Professor of Theater and DanceKatharine Power, Associate Professor of Theater and DanceRichard Prigodich, Dean of Academic Planning and Professor of ChemistryMilla Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of EnglishMartha Risser, Associate Professor of ClassicsMichael Sacks, Professor of Sociology, EmeritusMark Silk, Director, Leonard Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life and Professor of Religion in Public LifeGreg Smith, Professor of Political PhilosophyRon Spencer, Lecturer of History, Emeritus James Wen, Professor of Economics and International Studies
As with the letter attacking the President, most of the signatories are from the Social Sciences and Humanities. Together, the two groups (as of this writing) represent about 20% of the faculty.
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