University of Michigan’s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA) issued a resolution on Monday that indirectly rebuked Professor John Cheney-Lippold for refusing to write a letter of recommendation for a student to study abroad in Israel for political reasons.
The resolution states that professors should base their decisions on whether or not to write a letter of recommendation solely on “merit”:
“Within the guidelines set forth by the American Association of University Professors [AAUP], and ‘demonstrate(ing) respect for students,’ faculty should let a student’s merit be the primary guide for determining how and whether to provide such a letter.”
The AAUP guidelines cited state that professors should “make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to ensure that their evaluations of students reflect each student’s true merit” and “avoid any exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment of students.”
Cheney-Lippold told the student, Abigail Ingber, in a Sept. 5 email that he won’t write her a letter because he is part of an “academic boycott” against Israel. He told the Michigan Daily, “I was following a call by representatives of Palestinian civil society to boycott Israel in a very similar tactical frame as South Africa.”
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel said in a Sept. 20 statement that the university is opposed to any academics boycott against Israel; however, several Jewish groups have said that Schlissel’s didn’t go far enough and that Cheney-Lippold should be disciplined for refusing to write the letter.
