Opinion

New York University & the anti-Israel boycott

Don’t write off all academia just yet: The American Studies programs of at least two schools, Penn State Harrisburg and Brandeis, have now cut their ties with an academic outfit that voted to boycott Israeli universities. Too bad universities in New York City have yet to do likewise.

That especially means New York University — because it has more members on this organization’s council than any other school. Indeed, almost a quarter of the American Studies Association’s 17 non-student councilors are from NYU, including the group’s president-elect, Lisa Duggan. The ASA’s views, it would seem, are heavily shaped by the NYU contingent.

How ironic. NYU, after all, is supported by many Jewish donors and attended by many Jewish students. It features buildings and programs with names like Steinhardt and Tisch. It makes its home in the US city that has the highest number of Jews.

And make no mistake: The vote itself was reprehensible. It’s one thing to oppose a country’s policies. It’s another to look at the world and single out the Jewish state as a human rights violator.

Surely NYU would want nothing to do with such an organization. And in a letter to the ASA Friday, NYU president John Sexton and provost David McLaughlin express “opposition” to the boycott, calling it “antithetical to the values” of universities and urging it be overturned.

Of course, that lets NYU have it both ways, with the university free to tell donors it opposes the boycott while members of one of its departments play a key role in the organization that passed it. So here’s the test: Will NYU’s American Studies program sever its ties the way the Penn State and Brandeis programs have?