In a letter organized by the AMCHA Initiative, 69 organizations, including the Brandeis Center, urged the Department of Education to ensure that National Resource Center (NRC) faculty do not implement academic boycotts at universities. The letter, addressed to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, gave two examples of recent events held at the University of Michigan and New York University, both of which were organized and funded by Department of Education-designated Middle East Studies NRCs. The letter notes that NRCs “were established by Title VI of the Higher Education Act in order to equip university students and faculty with a full and unbiased understanding of regions and countries vital to U.S. security. The federal legislation providing these NRCs with millions of taxpayer dollars stipulates that the funding is specifically intended ‘to promote access to research and training overseas, including through linkages with overseas institutions.” An academic boycott, however, as the letter points out, calls for the exact opposite: it seeks to deny access to research, training and education in and about the targeted country, and to break linkages with the targeted country’s educational institutions. And while faculty members certainly have the right to express support for BDS, including an academic boycott of Israel, were these NRC directors or any of their fellow faculty to implement the academic boycott at their centers in such a way as to restrict or limit the academic opportunities of their students or colleagues, their behavior would contravene the explicitly stated purpose of their federal funding. The official guidelines of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) encourage faculty to “work toward shutting down study abroad programs in Israel and refuse to write recommendations for students who want to attend them; scuttle their colleagues’ research collaborations with Israeli universities and scholars; and cancel or shut down educational events organized by students or faculty featuring Israeli leaders or scholars, or that seek to ‘normalize’ Israel by presenting it in anything but a negative light.” Any NRC that adheres to these boycott strategies would be in violation of their federal funding requirements. Overall, six of the 15 Middle East Studies NRCs have directors who have expressed public support for the academic boycott against Israel, and two others have directors who have called to shut down their university’s study abroad program in Israel. Additionally, all but one of the 15 NRCs have faculty members who support the academic boycott of Israel. Supporting the academic boycott of Israel does not necessarily mean that the NRC directors or faculty will fulfill the PACBI guidelines for a boycott. However, six NRC directors signed a letter in 2014 that stated, “we pledge not to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions.” Studies in 2016 and 2017 have shown that pro-BDS directors and faculty members are more likely to host events that either promote the BDS movement or host BDS speakers. When applying for Title VI HEOA grant applications, these pro-BDS directors have stated that their programs offer educational and research opportunities to study in and about Israel, as well as linkages with Israeli institutions. The letter notes, “Were these same directors to implement the academic boycott they publicly espouse, they would be working to subvert the very opportunities and linkages they have promised their programs would provide, which would constitute a fraudulent misrepresentation of their programs on a federal grant application.” The signatories to the letter emphasize that they “do not intend in any way to impede or suppress a faculty member’s freedom of speech or right to engage in a personal boycott. But were a faculty member to take steps to obstruct or prevent others from accessing opportunities to engage with overseas institutions through research or training, it would clearly violate the stated purpose of the law.” The 69 organizations offered the following recommendations to the Department of Education to address this problem: The Department of Education should issue a statement warning NRC directors and affiliated faculty that implementing an academic boycott of one of the countries in the NRC’s purview would be a direct subversion of the stated purpose of Title VI funding. Area studies program directors applying for or renewing NRC or FLAS funding should be required to sign a statement affirming that neither they nor any of their program’s affiliated faculty will, as part of their academic responsibilities, implement an academic boycott of any of the countries within the purview of their program in such a way as to restrict or limit the academic opportunities of their students or colleagues.
Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver, Courtesy of Pitzer College On November 29th, Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver condemned the resolution passed by the school’s faculty to suspend the college’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa in a speech before the Pitzer College Council. The College Council was the next stop for the adoption of the resolution, and Oliver took a strong stance against it. In his speech, President Oliver said that he found arguments supporting the resolution to “show little or no consideration for our educational objectives and mission” and stated that: To deny Pitzer students who want to study at Haifa University the opportunity to study abroad and to enter into dialogue and promote intercultural understanding at the altar of political considerations is anathema to Pitzer’s core values. If the suspension of the Haifa University program becomes a reality, this will be paltry support for the cause of Palestinian rights and a major blow to the reputation and reality of Pitzer College as a scholarly institution committed to its stated values of intercultural understanding and the ability of students to pursue their vision of educational engagement. He also pointed out the fact that Israel was unfairly targeted and singled-out, since the college continues to have relationships with and support study abroad programs in countries like China, which engage in “significant human right’s abuses.” The faculty’s resolution garnered severe backlash from students and outside organizations alike. The Brandeis Center joined a letter, organized by the AMCHA Initiative and signed by 75 civil rights, education, and student organizations expressing dismay over the Pitzer Faculty’s vote. The letter stated that: The Pitzer Faculty’s attempt to implement an academic boycott of Israel that subverts the educational opportunities and academic freedom of their own students and colleagues, is reprehensible. Pitzer faculty members have abrogated their most basic professional responsibility – to promote the academic welfare of their students. It is important to understand that calling to shut down a study abroad program is expressly part of an the implementation of an academic boycott, and in full compliance with the 2014 guidelines of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). While portrayed as an effort aimed at Israeli universities and scholars, in reality the implementation of an academic boycott will violate the rights of, and directly harm, students and faculty on U.S. campuses. Indeed, PACBI calls for faculty members to: work to close their own university’s study abroad programs in Israel; impede a fellow faculty member’s collaborative research or teaching projects with Israeli universities and scholars; interfere with the equal non-discriminatory treatment of applicants to graduate programs; cancel, disrupt or shut down events that feature Israelis; and refuse to write letters of recommendation to students who want to study abroad in Israel. The letter called on President Oliver to issue a “statement that condemns this Pitzer Faculty action and commits to ensuring that no Pitzer student will be impeded from studying about or in Israel.” Fortunately, he did just that when he spoke before the College Council. The 75 organizations have since thanked him for his efforts, saying that they “deeply appreciate your standing up for the academic rights of all Pitzer students, including those who want to travel to or study about Israel. As you rightly point out, sacrificing students’ educational opportunities on ‘the altar of political considerations’ would be ‘anathema to Pitzer’s core values.’”
(Source: Wiki Commons, Attribution: Bohao Zhao, No Changes Made) On Wednesday, November 28th, Columbia’s Teachers College Professor Elizabeth Midlarsky walked towards her office to discover that she was the victim of an anti-Semitic act. At approximately 1 P.M., Elizabeth Midlarsky, who is a Jewish professor who teaches courses in Psychology and Education, and teaches and conducts research on the Holocaust, found two swastikas and the word “YID” spray-painted outside her Columbia University office. As the entryway to Midlarsky’s office is not shared with other offices, it’s more than likely the perpetrator conducted this act with Midlarsky in mind. After discovering the vandalism, Midlarsky notes that “I was in shock…I stopped for a moment, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.” Soon after this horrifying discovery, Midlarsky contacted the University’s Security and was visited by the New York Police Deparment (NYPD). The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is currently investigating this incident and is considering it an “aggravated harassment.” The Columbia Spectator notes that the NYPD discovered a different staff member come through the same entryway at about 11:47 A.M., “but did not observe anything unusual at that time.” Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Professor Midlarsky has been the victim of anti-Semitism; in 2007 a swastika was spray-painted on her office door. However, unlike this previous incident, the recent vandalism caused her to note, “I’m usually not a fearful person, but they got me. I’m afraid.” In response, President of Columbia’s Teachers College, Thomas Bailey, condemned the incident, stating: “We unequivocally condemn any expression of hatred, which has no place in our society. We are outraged and horrified by this act of aggression and use of this vile anti-Semitic symbol against a valued member of our community.” New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo also condemned the incident and directed the State Police Hate Crimes Unit to assist in the investigation. “I am disgusted by the abhorrent act of anti-Semitism and hate that occurred at Columbia University,” Governor Cuomo said. “In the wake of this incident, I stand together with Columbia University and the entire Jewish community of New York. I am directing the State Police Hate Crimes Unit to assist in the investigation. We will hold those behind this act responsible to the full extent of the law, and we will rise above this hate.” On Sunday night – the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah – Professor Midlarsky was the first to light the campus’s Hanukkah menorah. Campus Chabad Rabbi Yonah Blum stated: “As Hanukkah approaches this Sunday, we must stand as a light against the darkness of ignorance, hatred and discrimination.”