The Louis D. Brandeis Center was pleased to sign on to the following letter, signed by over 100 organizations and organized by the AMCHA Initiative, commending Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver for his strong stance against an attempted academic boycott of Israel on Pitzer’s campus. The boycott, which sought to suspend Pitzer College’s study abroad program in Haifa, was approved by the Pitzer College Council before President Oliver refused to give his required approval. President Oliver stated that resolutions like the one proposed on Pitzer’s campus “curtail the academic freedom of those students who wish to study [in Israel]. Among Pitzer’s core values is the promotion of intercultural understanding.” President Oliver went on to state that study abroad programs in Israel provide Pitzer’s students with the opportunity to “reach their own conclusions about some of the world’s most vexing challenges through on-the-ground, face-to-face, people-to-people experience.”
The entire text of the letter can be found below.
Our organizations heartily applaud you for your courageous leadership in vetoing the College Council’s vote to shut down Pitzer’s study abroad program at the University of Haifa. Your staunch defense of the academic freedom and educational opportunities of Pitzer students and faculty in the face of an academic boycott of Israel is exemplary. We hope that your outstanding statement affirming Pitzer’s commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and the fostering of intercultural understanding and acknowledging that academic BDS undermines that commitment will serve as a model for university presidents across the country.
Thank you again for your strong moral leadership,
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