John Cheney-Lippold faces the music

Occasionally, actions have consequences, even for tenured professors.

John Cheney-Lippold, a tenured American and digital studies associate professor at the University of Michigan refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student wanting to study in Israel.    

The University has launched disciplinary proceedings against Cheney-Lippold. In an Oct 3rd letter, published in the Detroit News,  Elizabeth Cole, the acting dean of UM’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts wrote:

"Your conduct has fallen far short of the University’s and College’s expectations for how LSA faculty interact with and treat students...This letter is a strong warning that your behavior in this circumstance was inappropriate and will not be tolerated."

"In the future, a student's merit should be your primary guide for determining how and whether to provide a letter of recommendation. You are not to use student requests for recommendations as a platform to discuss your personal political beliefs."

According to information obtained through a FOIA request, the Detroit News reported that Cheney-Lippold  

will not get a merit raise during the 2018-19 academic year and can't go on his upcoming sabbatical in January or another sabbatical for two years...  He could also face additional discipline, up to and including dismissal, if a similar incident occurs in the future.

Since then, it has been reported that Lucy Peterson, a graduate student instructor at  the university  also denied a student a letter of recommendation for study in Israel.

Civil Rights groups urge the University of Michigan to take action against anti-Israel professor

Fifty-eight religious, civil rights and educational groups have called upon President  Mark Schlissel of the University of Michigan to take actions to safeguard the rights of students seeking to study abroad in Israel.

The letter was coordinated by the AMCHA Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to investigating, documenting and combating antisemitism at institutions of higher education in America.

The letter follows:

Dear President Schlissel,

We are 58 religious, civil rights and education advocacy groups writing to you about an incident of grave concern to our organizations and our hundreds of thousands of members and supporters.

Earlier this month a University of Michigan faculty member in the department of American Culture, Prof. John Cheney-Lippold, refused to write a letter of recommendation for one of his students applying to study abroad at Tel Aviv University.  Cheney-Lippold unabashedly disclosed that the sole reason for his refusal is that the academic boycott guidelines forbid “writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study” in Israel. 

Impeding a student’s ability to participate in a university-approved educational program in order to carry out political activism is reprehensible. Individual faculty members have the right to express public support for an academic boycott of Israel. But when faculty like Prof. Cheney-Lippold go as far as implementing the boycott’s guidelines by taking action to suppress students’ ability to travel to or study about Israel, they have abrogated the most basic professorial responsibility of promoting the academic welfare of their students. Such discriminatory behavior that impedes the rights of students must be sanctioned to the fullest extent of university policy.  

We are aware that on 9/18/18 your office issued a public statement reiterating the university’s opposition to the academic boycott of Israel and stating that the academic goals of U-M students "are of paramount importance" and that the university will "take all steps necessary to make sure our students are supported."  With all due respect, this statement is simply insufficient to assure students, their parents, and all other U-M stakeholders that you recognize the egregiousness of this incident. Of particular concern are the omission in your statement of any condemnation of Cheney-Lippold’s behavior and your statement acknowledging that "members of the University of Michigan community have a wide range of ‘individual’ opinions on this and many other topics."  Both your omission and inclusion give the impression that individual U-M professors will be permitted by your administration to discriminate against students wanting to study about and in Israel. This is deeply alarming, given that there are at least two dozen U-M faculty members in a number of departments who have expressed public support for the academic boycott of Israel, including seven faculty members currently serving as chairs and directors of U-M academic departments and programs. Left unaddressed, this isolated incident could lead to unchecked discrimination, and the denial to students of their fundamental rights.

And while we appreciate your own remarks that were posted yesterday, in which you acknowledge that "personal views and politics should never interfere with our support of students," these remarks, too, do not go far enough.

We therefore call on you to make a public statement specifically stating that this behavior will not be permitted, affirming your commitment to ensuring that no U-M student will be impeded from studying about or in Israel, and detailing the steps you will take to ensure that faculty do not implement an academic boycott of Israel at the University of Michigan.

Thank you,

Academic Council for Israel

Accuracy in Academia

Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity (AEPi)

Alums for Campus Fairness - National

Alums for Campus Fairness - Swarthmore

Alums for Campus Fairness - UC Davis

Alums for Campus Fairness - UC Riverside

Alums for Campus Fairness - UCLA

AMCHA Initiative

American Council of Trustees and Alumni

American Institute for Jewish Research

American Truth Project

Americans for Peace and Tolerance

Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA)

BEAR: Bias Education, Advocacy & Resources

Campus Anti-Semitism Task Force of the North Shore

Center for Righteousness and Integrity

Christians and Jews United for Israel

Club Z

Coalition for Jewish Values

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)

CUFI on Campus

Davis Faculty for Israel

Eagles Wings

Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET)

Hasbara Fellowships

Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel

Iranian American Jewish Federation

Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization

Israel Matters

Israel Peace Initiative (IPI)

Israeli-American Civic Education Institute

JAM

Middle East Forum

Middle East Political and Information Network (MEPIN)

National Conference on Jewish Affairs

National Council of Young Israel

NCSY

NH4Israel

Proclaiming Justice to the Nations   

Religious Zionists of America

Rhode Island Coalition for Israel

Russian Jewish Community Foundation

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East

Simon Wiesenthal Center

StandWithUs

Stop BDS on Campus

Students and Parents Against Campus Anti-Semitism

Students Supporting Israel National

Students Supporting Israel at Columbia

Students Supporting Israel at UCLA

The Israel Christian Nexus

The Lawfare Project

Tufts Friends of Israel

World Jewish Congress, American Section

Zioness Movement

Zionist Organization of America

ZOA’s Fuel for Truth

Cc: University of Michigan Board of Regents

       Special Counsel to the President Liz Barry

The Hypocrisy of University of Michigan Professor John Cheney-Lippold

This is yet another example of how BDS is anti-peace, and how it hurts Jewish students and pro-Israel students on campus.  BDS seeks to actively prevent students from learning about the conflict first hand.  By stifling opportunities to engage, it limits academic discussion and academic freedom.

Via Club Z:

Abigail, a student at the University of Michigan, asked her Professor, John Cheney-Lippold for a letter of recommendation for her study abroad trip to Israel. Cheney-Lippold agreed initially, then rescinded his original offer, citing the academic boycott of Israel.

Tilly Shames, executive director of the University of Michigan Hillel, sent out this email:

You may be aware of the issue regarding a University professor's refusal to offer a letter of recommendation to a student applying to an Israeli university. Our Hillel has been actively engaged on this issue with the Provost's Office and other University leadership. Like many of you, we expect to hear the University strongly condemn this action and uphold the academic values of the institution by supporting all of our students' rights to the education they choose. This professor's decision is antithetical to the academic values of our University. A professor's political views should not factor into any student's access to learn, including studying in Israel.

We appreciate the University's serious attention to this matter at its highest levels, and support for the student involved. For us, the bottom line is our students and their campus experience. We are making ourselves available to our students as a supportive resource, and are actively engaging with our student leaders on how best to advocate and educate on this issue among our campus community.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to be in touch. Thank you, as always, for your support. 

She was likely disappointed by thie University of Michigan's tepid response

Statement from the  Public Affairs and Internal Communications  University of Michigan statement  Sept. 17, 2018

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.

The academic goals of our students are of paramount importance. It is the university’s position to take all steps necessary to make sure our students are supported.

It is disappointing that a faculty member would allow their personal political beliefs to limit the support they are willing to otherwise provide for our students.

We will engage our faculty colleagues in deep discussions to clarify how the expression of our shared values plays out in support of all students.

It is not readily apparent from the University's public statement if there will be any disciplinary action taken against  Prof. Cheney-Lippold

For more information see: 

University of Michigan ‘Disappointed’ After Professor Refuses to Write Recommendation Letter for Student Studying Abroad in Israel

Citing BDS, professor refuses to write reference for student to study in Israel

Professor Refuses to Write Letter For Student Wanting To Study Abroad in Israel

Pssst, Professor Cheney-Lippold.  Apple's second largest research and development facility in the world is in Herzilya, Israel.  Shouldn't you be boycotting Apple, too?

John Cheney-Lippold on transcoding the body into the body politic. #DataPowerConf pic.twitter.com/uqqphJrhGy

— Andrew Iliadis 🐞 (@andrewiliadis) June 22, 2017

UPDATE:

Remarks by U-M President Mark Schlissel
Sept. 20, 2018

I want to take a moment to address the recent situation in which a faculty member refused to provide a previously promised letter of recommendation for a student because she was seeking to study abroad in Israel – and to reiterate that this view is not the position of the University of Michigan, nor does it reflect the position of any department or unit on our campus.

I will state again: The University of Michigan strongly opposes a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The academic aspirations of our students – and their academic freedom – are fundamental to the University of Michigan, and our teaching and research missions.

We are committed as an institution to support our students’ academic growth.

We are a large and diverse public university, and the individual opinions of our community range widely on many issues. But personal views and politics should never interfere with our support of students. It is counter to our values and expectations as an institution.

The Regents, Executive Officers and I have been deeply engaged in this matter. We will be taking appropriate steps to address this issue and the broader questions it has raised. 

More Campus BDS Fail, Via Honest reporting

The "by any means necessary strategy" of the Israeli haters in their effort to revive the impotent campus BDS tactic is highlighted nicely in today’s Honest Reporting Blog. Unable to achieve a legitimate victory based on debate, discussion and academic discourse, dirty tricks have become the tactic of choice for the BDS cru.

From the Honest Reporting Blog.

The divestment strategy seems to be a real bust for the BDS this year.

A case in point is the University of New Mexico, where the Graduate and Professional Student Association reversed an earlier decision to divest from Israel because the pro-Israel side did not get the chance to defend its position against divestment.

According to the JTA:

Since the agenda of the earlier meeting was not available in advance, members of the pro-Israel community did not attend and were not available to debate the resolution. The second hearing was held in order to allow the association to hear the other side of the issue, the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs said in a statement.

 

Even without representation from the pro-Israel community, the earlier measure ended in a vote of 10-10, with the meeting chair casting the deciding vote. Israel’s defenders only had to sway one voter to defeat the measure.

Besides losing a large percentage of the divestment votes that have come up in recent months, BDS supporters have employed a range of “dirty tricks” to try to sneak their measures through student governments.

At Cornell, divestment supporters tried to schedule a vote during the Passover holiday, when many Jewish students would be off campus. The attempt failed, and the measure was tabled indefinitely.
At the University of Michigan, Jewish students on campus complained about intimidation and threats of violence. Even so, the divestment resolution failed there as well.

At UCLA, another divestment failure, students running for student government are being asked to sign a pledge to avoid taking trips to Israel sponsored by pro-Israel organizations. Commentators suggest the purpose of the pledge is to impact the make-up of the student council.

Read it all here

You'd never realize this by reading the latest email from the Palestinian BDS National Committee, which proudly announces that the " Divestment movement continues to sweep across US campuses." Its precisely the type of response we've come to expect from a movement constructed on a foundation of bitter, defenseless lies.

Divestment Hearings: Loyola and University of Michigan

If you ever needed any proof that BDS is a violently divisive, intimidating and disrespectful thing to thrust on a campus, you need look no further than on twitter and in the live feed of the divestment hearings at Loyola and at the University of Michigan.

There were insults: (Zizi is short for zio-nazi)

 There was classic antisemitism

 There was race-baiting and general misogyny

And there was no attempt to achieve consensus or mutual understanding

In the week prior to the hearing at U Michigan, pro-Israel students on campus were taunted with racial epithets, threatened and harassed.  Fearing for their safety, the student council chose to vote by secret ballot, and overwhelmingly defeated the resolution by a margin of 25-9.

The Loyola United Student Government Association voted March 18 to call on the university to divest from eight companies The vote on a measure proposed by the Loyola chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine passed 26-0 with two abstentions. SJP had 8 representatives on the council, and pro-Israel students were not given the opportunity to formulate a response.

From JNS:

Brett Cohen, a Loyola University alumnus and National Campus Program Director with StandWithUs, told JNS.org that the divestment resolution was introduced suddenly “using undemocratic tactics and no debate or opposition.”

“Students for Justice in Palestine introduced the bill without warning at the meeting, precisely to prevent debate. The BDS movement often relies on these unseemly political maneuvers to force through their agenda, which shows that they are afraid to debate this issue on its merits,” he said.

Cohen added, “The student government was hoodwinked by a movement which is openly against coexistence and a two state solution, and seeks the destruction of Israel.”

The resolution was reintroduced, and  last night, after hours of debate, narrowly passed by a vote of 12-10 with nine abstentions 
 
Today, Pedro Guerrero, the president of the United Student Government Association (USGA) at Chicago’s Loyola University, vetoed the  resolution, writing,

 " ...the undemocratic way in which the resolution was introduced, the harm the resolution caused to the Loyola University community, and the fact that divestment and socially responsible investment are two separate issues which the resolution conflated.

 “This legislation was framed in a manner that infers socially responsible divestment in a vacuum,”  “If we want to enact change, we must understand that our university will respond to a broad coalition of student concern, not an isolated one.”

Its been a good week for the forces of truth, justice and democracy.