President Phil Hanlon announced his opposition to the American Studies Association’s boycott of Israeli institutions in an email to campus Saturday morning. With his statement, he joins university presidents nationwide in condemning the decision of the group to block collaboration with Israeli colleges and universities.
“Collaboration, especially across significant points of tension and difference, is essential to fostering mutual understanding and solving the world’s most complex problems,” Hanlon wrote.
The association, composed of academics nationwide who study American culture and history, voted by a 2-1 margin in favor of the boycott, sparked by disapproval of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
In the weeks following the vote, however, many university presidents have condemned the boycott. Hanlon joins the presidents of Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University and Cornell University in rejecting the association’s decision.
