Exclusive: Columbia U joins the chorus denouncing the ASA boycott of Israel

This was received from a faculty member at Columbia University. It is planned to be posted at the Columbia website later today or tomorrow.

I have made my opposition to academic boycotts of Israel emphatically clear over the years, most prominently in my 2007 letter that was signed by some 400 of my fellow college and university presidents speaking out against the British University and College Union's boycott of Israeli scholars and universities. I stand by that statement today when considering the recent vote by the American Studies Association for just such a boycott. To be sure, it is entirely appropriate for our campuses to provide a forum for discussion and debate about the policies of any government, including our own. But the ASA's vote runs counter to this essential academic and political freedom and, taken to its logical conclusion, would necessarily result in boycotts of fellow scholars and peer institutions from many nations around the world. I reject the ASA's position which would compromise an essential value of universities in an increasingly global society-and we look forward to continuing to Columbia's long history of engagement with our peers from Israel.

- Lee C. Bollinger, President, Columbia University

Columbia now joins dozens of other universities who have denounced the ASA boycott.

The latest list from Avi Mayer:

The following is a list of institutions whose presidents or chancellors have publicly rejected the academic boycott of Israel in recent days. The Executive Committee of the Association of American Universities, which represents 62 top institutions in the U.S. and Canada, has also expressed its strong opposition to the boycott, as has the American Association of University Professors, which counts more than 48,000 members.

• American University (President Cornelius M. Kerwin)
• Birmingham Southern College (President Charles C. Krulak)
• Boston University (President Robert A. Brown)
• Bowdoin College (President Barry Mills)
• Brandeis University (President Frederick M. Lawrence)
• Brown University (President Christina Hull Paxton)
• Case Western Reserve University (President Barbara R. Snyder)
• Cornell University (President David Skorton)
• Dickinson College (President Nancy Roseman)
• Duke University (President Richard H. Brodhead)
• Florida International University (President Mark B. Rosenberg)
• George Washington University (President Steven Knapp)
• Hamilton College (President Joan Hinde Stewart)
• Harvard University (President Drew Gilpin Faust)
• Haverford College (President Daniel Weiss)
• Indiana University (President Michael McRobbie)
• Johns Hopkins University (President Ronald Joel Daniels)
• Kenyon College (President Sean M. Decatur)
• Lehigh University (President Alice P. Gast)
• Michigan State University (President Lou Anna K. Simon)
• Middlebury College (President Ron Liebowitz)
• New York University (President John Sexton)
• Northwestern University (President Morton O. Schapiro)
• Ohio State University (President Joseph A. Alutto)
• Princeton University (President Christopher L. Eisgruber)
• Purdue University (President Mitch Daniels)
• Rhode Island College (President Nancy Carriuolo)
• Rutgers University (President Robert Barchi)
• Smith College (President Kathleen McCartney)
• Stanford University (President John L. Hennessy)
• Trinity College (President James F. Jones, Jr.)
• Tufts University (President Anthony P. Monaco)
• Tulane University (President Scott S. Cowen)
• University of Alabama (Chancellor Robert E. Witt)
• University of California, Irvine (Chancellor Michael V. Drake)
• University of California, San Diego (Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla)
• University of Chicago (President Robert J. Zimmer)
• University of Cincinnati (President Santa J. Ono)
• University of Connecticut (President Susan Herbst)
• University of Delaware (President Patrick T. Harker)
• University of Kansas (Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little)
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County (President Freeman Hrabowski)
• University of Maryland, College Park (President Wallace D. Loh)
• University of Miami (President Donna E. Shalala)
• University of Michigan (President Mary Sue Coleman)
• University of Pennsylvania (President Amy Gutmann)
• University of Pittsburgh (Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg)
• University of Southern California (President C. L. Max Nikias)
• University of Texas, Austin (President William C. Powers)
• Washington University in St. Louis (Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton)
• Wesleyan University (President Michael S. Roth)
• Willamette University (President Stephen Thorsett)
• Yale University (President Peter Salovey)
• Yeshiva University (President Richard M. Joel)

In addition, the following institutions’ American Studies programs have withdrawn their membership in the American Studies Association (ASA) following last week’s boycott vote:

• Brandeis University
• Indiana University
• Kenyon College
• Penn State Harrisburg

Furthermore, the following institutions have flatly denied being institutional members of the ASA, though the organization lists them as such:

• Brown University
• Hamilton College
• Northwestern University
• Temple University
• Trinity College
• Tufts University
• University of Alabama
• University of Southern California
• Willamette University

There have also been lots of articles denouncing the ASA.

I'm wondering if any universities, at all, will publicly side with the ASA.