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.