JUNE 17 • 2021 | 21

“Dad was a swash-
buckler, a brilliant trail-
blazing adventurer who 
loved every minute of his 
charmed life. Unlike me, 
my father not only accept-
ed but embraced the years 
of sacrifice and struggle. 
“I was not willing to pay 
the price. I would say the 
difference between us is 
this. I would say, ‘every 
ship needs a harbor.’ Stan 
would say, ‘every ship 
needs an ocean.’” 
But they loved each 
other. “You know, Father’s 
Day was one of his favor-
ite holidays,” his son said. 
When the great inventor 
was dying of prostate can-
cer in 2012, Harvey helped 
organize a huge, pre-90th 
birthday tribute where 
everyone from respected 
scientists to U.S. Sen. Carl 
Levin spoke and congratu-
lated him. 
Harvey Ovshinsky did 
not cry when his father 
died on Oct. 17, 2012. But 
he did six years later, when 
he found a note in his 
father’s personal files that 
said, “I would fly anywhere 
to have seen and heard 
Harvey tonight. He not 
only has great talent but 
true depth and menschkeit.
“I am proud of him, not 
only as a son, but as a per-
son. I am happy to have 
lived to have seen him with 
his wisdom and maturity.”
This Father’s Day, 
Harvey Ovshinsky looks 
forward to hearing from 
his own grown son Noah, 
and daughter Sasha. 
And as always, he will 
spend some time thinking 
of his own enormously 
complicated and brilliant 
dad. 

T

he Wayne State 
University Student 
Senate approved an 
anti-Israel resolution on Friday, 
May 27. The statement, posted 
on Instagram, “condemned 
all forms of antisemitism, 
Islamophobia and violence 
against Israeli and Palestinian 
people,
” but criticized the use 
of American taxpayer dollars 
to support Israel’s “ethnic 
cleansing in Palestine.
” One of 
the Pro-Palestinian organiza-
tions it urged donations to was 
the Boycott, Diverstment and 
Sanctions Movement (BDS). 
 Immediately following the 
vote, Hillel of Metro Detroit’s 
WSU Student groups — the 
Jewish Student Organization, 
Students for Israel and AEPi — 
released a joint statement. 
In the statement, they said 
they were “disappointed and 
saddened” by the resolution.
It went on to say: “The 
double standard of singling 
out accusations against Israel, 
the only Jewish country, while 
ignoring atrocities around 
the world, is antisemitic. At 
this time, when antisemitism 
has increased in this country 
and abroad, such a one-sided 
statement creates an unsafe 
environment for Jewish stu-
dents and all supporters of 
Israel.”
In the statement, the stu-
dents called on WSU President 
M. Roy Wilson and the 
WSU Board of Governors to 
denounce the resolution and 
requested that WSU adopt 
the International Holocaust 
Remembrance Alliance 

(IHRA) definition of antisem-
itism, so that Jewish students 
will feel safe on campus. 
Wilson released 
a statement on 
Thursday, June 3, 
addressing stu-
dents and faculty: 
“Some members 
of the community 
have assumed 
that the [Student 
Senate] statement carries the 
endorsement of the university. 
It does not.
“
As stated on our website, 
We value all people, and 
understanding their unique 
experiences talents and per-
spectives make us stronger and 
better persons,
” his statement 
included.
The Detroit News reported 
June 8 that Wilson received 
backlash from the Michigan 
chapter of the Council on 
American-Islamic Relations, 
a Muslim civil rights organi-
zation, and the Wayne State 
University Student Senate for 
his statement. 
Wilson blocked the Student 
Senate from sending a mass 
email containing the anti- 
Israel resolution throughout 
the university. 

HILLEL RESPONDS
Hillel of Metro Detroit 
Executive Director Miriam 

Miriam 
Starkman

Starkman said the 
organization 
remains dedicated 
to ensuring the 
physical and men-
tal health and 
safety of students 

and will provide personal 
guidance to students and an 
“empathetic space [for stu-
dents] to process their feelings 
about the current rise in 
antisemitism, prepare to enter 
difficult conversations and 
engage with non-Jewish stu-
dents and campus leadership 
to advocate on important 
issues.” 
Starkman said that she hopes 
the university will adopt a 
definition of antisemitism that 
will help protect the Jewish 
students who are feeling 
“threatened and unsafe right 
now given the current climate 
on campus.
”
She was also concerned 
about the language used in 
the Student Senate statement, 
including the accusations of 
ethnic cleansing and the pro-
motion of BDS. 
“I believe the adaptation of 
the definition should take place 
at the administration level and 
not at the student government 
level,
” Starkman said.
“It should be pervasive 
throughout the university and 
not dependent on the student 
leadership.
”
Students are expect-
ed to return to campus in 
September. Starkman said, 
“Wayne State has histori-
cally been a positive place 
for Jewish students and the 
administration has been sup-
portive, so I’m hoping that 
by the time school is back in 
session that we will be able to 
do whatever we can to ensure 
a safe environment for Jewish 
students.” 

But Wayne State Student Senate statement is 
opposed by university president.

Anti-Israel Resolution at WSU

BRIAN GOLDSMITH JN INTERN

M. Roy 
Wilson

