John Cheney-Lippold: "I must rescind my offer to write your letter."
A University of Michigan professor has refused to write a letter of recommendation for an undergraduate student who wanted to study in Israel for a semester abroad program, bringing a denouncement from the Anti-Defamation League, according to The Times of Israel.
John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the Department of American Culture, initially offered to write the letter, but then notified the student named Abigail that he missed a critical piece of information when reviewing the request.
“I am very sorry, but I only scanned your first email a couple weeks ago and missed out on a key detail,” he emailed.
“As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine. This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.
“I should have let you know earlier, and for that I apologize. But for reasons of these politics, I must rescind my offer to write your letter. Let me know if you need me to write other letters for you, as I’d be happy."
UM doesn't officially participate in a boycott of Israeli institutions, the paper notes, adding:
Last November, a pro-BDS (Boycott, DIvestment, Sanctions) resolution did pass the student government. It was the twelfth time such a measure was contested at the Ann Arbor campus. But the university’s board of regents rejected the proposal one month later, saying they “strongly oppose any action involving the boycott, divestment or sanction of Israel.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League tweets Monday:
“Not acceptable. A student striving to learn and further their education should never be a victim of political bias. The university needs to publicly clarify it opposes the academic boycott of Israel.”
The Ann Arbor university issues a statement:
The University of Michigan has consistently opposed any boycott of Israeli institutions of higher education.
That position has been stated publicly by university leaders, including this statement from the president and provost in 2013 and this statement from members of the university’s governing Board of Regents in 2017.
No academic department or any other unit at the University of Michigan has taken a position that departs from this long-held university position.
There also is no doubt that members of our campus community have a wide range of individual opinions on this topic and many other topics.
