jews d
in
the
1
LONG
The
#
continued from page 18
EST-
RUNNING
AMERICAN
MUSICAL
in Broad
BACK
BY POPULAR
DEMAND!
PHOTO BY NAOMI KALTMAN
way
History!
BroadwayInDetroit.com , ticketmaster.com, 800-982-2787 & box office 313-872-1000.
Groups (10+): Groups@BroadwayInDetroit.com or 313-871-1132.
8PM Oct. 19.
36 Under 36
Nominations
Now Open
thirty
six
Do you know someone making
an impact in the community you can
nominate for this special honor?
UNDER
36
The Well, an organization building inclusive Jewish
community in Metro Detroit for the under-40 crowd,
and the Jewish News are once again partnering on “36
Under 36” to recognize doers, activists, entrepre-
neurs, philanthropists, community organizers and
other young Jewish professionals reshaping and
broadening Metro Detroit’s Jewish community.
“In short,” Rabbi Dan Horwitz of The Well said, “we
are looking for the people who give of themselves to
the community in robust — and often thankless —
ways. In essence, the kinds of people we admire and
aspire to be, whose accomplishments we want to
celebrate and who we want the world to know make
their home in Metro Detroit.”
Nominations are due by Oct. 30. A special group of
nine volunteer judges (none of whom are affiliated
with The Well or the JN) will be reviewing submis-
sions and choosing the 36 winners. Honorees will
receive free three-year subscriptions to the JN and be
featured in a February 2019 issue.
To nominate someone, logon to bit.ly/welljn36
20
September 27 • 2018
jn
to oppression. What’s at issue here is
that Israel’s universities have devel-
oped weapons and military training,
and Palestinians have specifically
asked people to take a stand.”
Regent Newman said, “This is
about a boycott of students, not of
Israel, It essentially creates, both
implicitly and explicitly, a different
status for students who are primarily
Jewish who want to study in Israel.
Imagine being a student who wants
to study in Israel. Do you now have to
pick classes, majors and universities
based on who will write letters? The
extended application of the profes-
sor’s ideology is destructive to educa-
tion.
“This has nothing to do with the
First Amendment or academic free-
doms. Writing letters of recommen-
dation is an accepted responsibility
of teaching students. Assuming the
student is academically qualified, and
this student was, and this professor
specifically recognized that, with-
holding a letter of recommendation
because of his political views dam-
ages the education of this student.”
MICHIGAN HILLEL REACTIONS
The JN’s attempts to reach student
Abigail Ingber were unsuccessful.
U-M Hillel students and staff mem-
bers voiced their shock at the nature
of the professor’s email.
Kendall Coden, chair of the U-M
Hillel Governing Board, said she is
proud to be part of the university
community, which is “diverse and
inclusive and nurtures productive
discourse,” but she says she feels
Cheney-Lippold’s action was inap-
propriate.
“I feel this act goes against the
academic values of our university,”
she wrote in a statement. “Professors
should encourage their students to
explore educational opportunities for
themselves, not deny them. I believe
that a student’s access to learn as
they wish should not be restricted by
their professor’s political views … I
also hope the university will support
any student’s choice to study abroad
in Israel, and that no other student
will be put in this situation in the
future.”
U-M Hillel
Executive Director
Tilly Shames said
the organization is
actively addressing
the concerns regard-
ing the professor.
“A professor’s
Tilly Shames
political views
should not factor into any student’s
access to academic opportunities,
including studying in Israel,” she
wrote. “We appreciate the university’s
serious attention to this matter.”
ZOA, ADL WEIGH IN
The Zionist Organization of America
(ZOA) believes U-M did not go far
enough in its statement.
“The University of Michigan
leadership has to do more than sim-
ply express its disappointment in
Professor Cheney-Lippold’s actions,”
said a written statement from ZOA’s
Susan B. Tuchman, Esq., director,
Center for Law and Justice.
“The university’s
leaders must clearly
and forcefully con-
demn the professor’s
conduct as discrimi-
natory, a violation of
academic freedom
and a violation of
the university’s poli-
Susan Tuchman
cies.
“We expect the university to stand
behind these policies, for the protec-
tion of this particular student and all
students,” Tuchman said. “This pro-
fessor and the entire university com-
munity must get the message that
discriminatory anti-Israel conduct
like this, which hurts students and
violates academic freedom, will not
be tolerated, and there will be serious
consequences for engaging in it.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the
Anti-Defamation League, told the JN,
“Professor Cheney-Lippold’s refusal
to write a letter of recommenda-
tion is absolutely
unacceptable. It
demonstrates the
damaging effect of
anti-Israel boycotts.
They do little more
than shortchange
students, limiting
their academic free-
Jonathan
dom. In this case, an
Greenblatt
apparently qualified
student has been denied an oppor-
tunity for intellectual inquiry simply
based on the personal politics of the
professor.
“His statement that he ‘would be
happy’ to write other letters of recom-
mendation for the student suggest
that he is applying a double standard
to study in Israel.
“The identification of Israel alone
among all the nations of the world
as worthy of boycott, according to
the State Department’s working
definition, potentially crosses the
line from criticism of Israel to anti-
Semitism.” •
Kenneth Waltzer, former head of Jewish Studies
at Michigan State University who now directs the
Academic Engagement Network, gives his views of
U-M’s response in the Views section. See page 6.