Express Gratitude to 25 American Universities for Protesting ASA Boycott of Israeli Universities

My friend and colleague, Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, has written an appeal for us to perform an important mitzvah: hakarat ha-tov – “recognizing the good” by thanking the Presidents and Chancellors of 25 American colleges and universities that have refused to join the boycott of Israeli universities called by the American Studies Association (ASA).

Not only have these academic leaders refused to join the ASA boycott, but many have made strongly worded public statements condemning the Association’s bigoted assault not only on the integrity of Israel’s institutions of higher learning, but on the State of Israel itself.

Israel is a great democracy, and as all great democracies it has its share of imperfections. However, for the ASA to single out Israel when truly grievous human rights abuses are occurring in countries all over the world that make Israel’s imperfections pale by comparison raises serious questions not only about the fairness of the supporters of the ASA anti-Israel boycott, but also about their deeper motives, their anti-Jewish and anti-Israel animus, and their personal integrity.

Rabbi Salkin has provided us the names, email addresses, and mailing addresses (below) of the leadership of these 25 institutions. He says

“… it is not enough to scream gevalt when we have been wounded. We also have to scream ‘thank you’ to those who are our friends, to those who stood up for truth, to those who have refused to have their educational institutions seduced by all too common siren song of anti-Israelism. We need to thank those institutions, especially if we are alumni of them, and/or our children or grandchildren attend them.”

Here is the letter that I wrote and sent this morning, in answer to Jeff’s call, to each of the twenty-five university and college presidents and chancellors. I urge you to follow suit and fill their mailboxes with our individual and collective love and gratitude. Feel free to use my letter as is, or change it, or write your own; but write to let them know that their courage and commitment to truth and decency has not gone unnoticed nor unappreciated.

Dear President/Chancellor:

      I want to add my voice to the voices of countless fair-minded people in expressing my deepest gratitude to you and your university for your commitment to truth, intellectual honesty and independent inquiry, to common decency and fairness, and to your courage and generosity of spirit in standing up to and protesting the American Studies Association (ASA) boycott of the State of Israel’s academic institutions.

      What you have done preserves the dignity and integrity not only of Israel’s institutions of higher learning, but of your own.

      I am grateful beyond words.

Sincerely,

Rabbi John L. Rosove

Senior Rabbi – Temple Israel of Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA

Boston University. Dr. Robert A. Brown, President. John and Kathryn Silber

Administrative Center, 1 Silber Way (8th Floor), Boston, MA. 02215.

president@bu.edu

Brandeis University. Fred Laurence, President. Office of the President,

Irving Enclave 113, MS 100, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453

Brown University. Christina Paxson, President. Office of the President,

Brown University, Box 1860, 1 Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912

Cornell University. David J. Skorton, President. Office of the President,

300 Day Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. president@cornell.edu

Dickinson College. Nancy A. Roseman, President. Dickinson College, Post

Office Box 1773 , Carlisle, PA 17013. presofc@dickinson.edu

Duke University. Richard A. Brodhead, President. Office of the President,

Duke University, 207 Allen Building, Box 90001, Durham, NC 27708-0001.

president@duke.edu

George Washington University. Steven Knapp, President. Rice Hall, 2121 I

Street, NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20052

Harvard University. Dr. Drew Faust, President. Office of the President,

Harvard University, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138

president@harvard.edu

Indiana University. Michael A. McRobbie, President. Office of the

President, Indiana University, Bryan Hall 200, 107 S. Indiana Ave.,

Bloomington, IN 47405

Michigan State University. Lou Anna K. Simon, President. Office of the

President, Michigan State University, 426 Auditorium Road, Hannah

Administration Building, Room 450, East Lansing, MI 48824-1046.

presmail@msu.edu

New York University. John Sexton, President. Office of the President, New

York University, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012

john.sexton@nyu.edu

Northwestern University. Morton Shapiro, President. 2-130 Rebecca Crown

Center, 633 Clark Street, Evanston, Illinois 60208.

nu-president@northwestern.edu

Princeton University. Christopher L. Eisgruber, President. Office of the

President, 1 Nassau Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544

Tulane University. Scott S. Cowen, President. Tulane University, 218 Gibson

Hall, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118-5684

University of California-Irvine. Michael V. Drake, MD, Chancellor.

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697 chancellor@uci.edu

University of California-San Diego. Praddep K. Khosia, chancellor-elect.

Office of the Chancellor, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman

Drive # 0005, La Jolla, California 92093-0005. chancellor@ucsd.edu

University of Kansas. Bernadette Gray-Little, Chancellor. Chancellor's

Office, University of Kansas, 230 Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045-7518.

chancellor@ku.edu

University of Maryland. Wallace D. Loh, President. University of Maryland,

1101 Main Administration Building, College Park, MD 20742-6105

president@umd.edu

University of Pennsylvania. Amy Gutmann, President. Office of the President,

University of Pennsylvania, 1 College Hall, Room 100, Philadelphia, PA

19104-6380. presweb@pobox.upenn.edu

University of Pittsburgh. Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor. University of

Pittsburgh , 107 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260

University of Texas-Austin. William Powers, Jr., President. Office of the

President, 110 Inner Campus Drive, Stop G3400, Austin, TX. 78712-3400

Washington University in St. Louis. Mark Stephen Wrighton, Chancellor.

Campus Box 1192, One Brookings Drive , St. Louis, MO 63130

wrighton@wustl.edu

Wesleyan University. Michael S. Roth, President. 229 High Street,

Middletown, CT. 06459. presoffice@wesleyan.edu

Willamette University. Stephen E. Thorsett, President. 900 State Street,

Salem, Oregon 97301 president@willamette.edu

Yale University. Peter Salovey, President. President's Office , Yale

University PO Box 208229 , New Haven, CT 06520-8229

presidents.office@yale.edu