This professor rescinded an offer to write a letter of recommendation for a student when the student revealed she was going to study abroad in Israel.
We have covered this story since last fall. Read the back story here and here.
Here is the update, via MLive:
Student recommendation decisions should be academic-based, UM panel saysFaculty recommendations for students must be based solely on educational and professional reasons, according to a statement of principle recommended by a University of Michigan panel.The recommendation from the six-member Blue Ribbon panel of UM faculty members was accepted by Provost Martin Philbert after its March 21 submission. It comes in the wake of an incident last fall when a UM professor rescinded an offer of a recommendation letter for a student to study in Israel.John Cheney-Lippold, a UM associate professor of American culture, was punished by the university in October 2018 after telling the student he was taking part in an academic boycott against Israel, and could no longer provide the recommendation. He is no longer eligible for a merit pay increase for the 2018-19 academic year and his sabbatical eligibility has been frozen for two years.”In all such settings, absent the most unusual circumstances, faculty must base their actions solely on educational and professional reasons,” the new statement of principle reads in part.The statement is well-reasoned and solidly grounded in the traditions and past practices of the university and its faculty, Philbert told the University Record.“I believe this is a strong statement that makes it clear that faculty must judge students only on the basis of their academic performance and leave everything else on the sidelines,” he said.
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