Statement on the congress of the University and College Union (UCU) in Great Britain’s proposal for an academic boycott of Israeli universities

July 2007

It is in the nature of academic boycotts directly to impede academic freedom and the intellectual discourse that are at the heart of our mission in higher education. I believe the call for a boycott is at best deeply misguided and antithetical to fundamental academic values. I therefore encouraged development of, and endorse, the recent response to the UCU proposal issued by the president of the Association of American Universities, on behalf of members:

“On behalf of the 62 U.S. and Canadian research universities that make up the Association of American Universities, I urge members of Great Britain's University and College Union (UCU) to reject a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Academic boycotts are inimical to the free exchange of ideas that is essential to academic freedom. Members of the academic profession should seek to preserve academic freedom, not restrict it. It is our hope that the UCU will vote down this boycott. (PDF) ”

At the University of Michigan, we have many valued connections with colleagues in Israel, and I for one am prepared to stand in solidarity with Israeli academics in the face of a boycott, should it come to pass.