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.’”