Letter from American Studies Association to President Schlissel and Provost Philbert

Identifier

ar_008

Title

Letter from American Studies Association to President Schlissel and Provost Philbert

Description

Letter to President Schlissel and Provost Philbert to protest the sanctions against Professor John Cheney-Lippold.

Creator

Roderick Ferguson

Subject

Arab Americans -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor

Arab-Israeli conflict

Islam

Islamophobia -- Michigan

Islamophobia -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor

Middle Eastern students -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor

Student organizations -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor

University of Michigan -- Faculty

University of Michigan -- Students

Source

https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/149384

Publisher

Islamophobia Working Group (University of Michigan)

Spatial Coverage

University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor

Washington D.C.

Date

2018-10-31

Type

Text

Format

text/PDF 97 kB

Rights

This content may be under copyright. Researchers are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

Rights Holder

Copyright is held by the Regents of the University of Michigan but the collection may contain third-party materials for which copyright is not held. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

Language

Eng

Provenance

Letter originally written by the American Studies Association (ASA). Letter was later saved (without alteration) by the Islamophobia Working Group (University of Michigan) on 2019-01-28 to be compiled with a larger collection on letters in support of Professor John Cheney-Lippold.

Bibliographic Citation

[item], https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/149377, Islamophobia Working Group (University of Michigan) records, Bentley Historical Library,
University of Michigan

extracted text

American Studies Association
1120 19th Street, N.W. • Suite No. 301 • Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: (202) 467-4783 • Fax: (202) 467-4786
Email: asastaff@theasa.net • URL: http://www.theasa.net

October 31, 2018
Dear President Schlissel and Provost Philbert:
I write on behalf of the Executive Committee of the National Council of the
American Studies Association, the oldest and largest scholarly association devoted to the
interdisciplinary study of U.S. cultures and histories, to protest the sanctions against one
of our members, Professor John Cheney-Lippold, and to urge you to overturn those
sanctions.
At issue is the violation of a faculty member’s academic freedom: If universities
stipulate that faculty members are obliged to write recommendation letters without regard
to their conscience or principled discernment, such a move would violate academic
freedom and reduce faculty members to mere functionaries of universities and their
administrations.
The most important use of academic freedom is to act in principled opposition on
matters that in diverse ways speak directly to the role and responsibilities of universities
in contemporary global society, such as the universal access to the right to education.
When a state (Israel) uses its university system to demean some of its citizens and
occupied people who are its responsibility under international law by withholding access
to education, this is clearly a case where a faculty member may exercise academic
freedom as principled opposition to injustice.
As a community of conscience, we are called upon to express our grief and
outrage over anti-Semitic acts such as the one that led to the terrible loss of life in
Pittsburgh. We are also called upon to address forms of inequality that are driven by
national policies. To act punitively against Professor Cheney-Lippold’s academic
freedom implicitly conflates anti-Semitism with opposition to the policies of the Israeli
government. In protecting an ideological position that eschews critiques of nation-states,
universities would in fact be saying that the ideological positions favored by their
administrations, donors, and state legislators should take precedence over the principled
stances of faculty members and students. The difference between criticism of the statesanctioned exclusions of the Israeli government and the denigration of Jewish life and
culture is a meaningful distinction that all persons—particularly scholars—must observe
and protect.
We remind you that no student’s right or opportunities are diminished by faculty
who choose not to write letters of recommendation, as thousands do every day. For this

reason, these administrative sanctions are flagrant and galling. Indeed, in this case,
Professor’s Cheney-Lippold’s principled engagement with his student presented an
opportunity for the student to learn an important perspective on the implications of
pursuing an educational opportunity in a state system that denies others those
opportunities on the basis of race, religion, political belief, and citizenship status. A
crucial responsibility of the field of American Studies is to provide scholarship, analysis,
and engagements that enable faculty and students, indeed all citizens of conscience, to
analyze and consider the role and influence of American universities in society. That is,
Professor Cheney-Lippold, far from abdicating his responsibilities as a professor of
American Studies in sharing his principled opposition with his student acted as a
responsible and compassionate teacher of his discipline. Time and again, the scholarly
community has turned to boycott – from civil rights, to the Vietnam War, to South
African apartheid – whenever the values of the universal right of education are demeaned
by the actions of states.
Finally, Dean Elizabeth R. Cole stated that the AAUP guidelines were followed in
imposing sanctions against Professor Cheney-Lippold. Yet, those guidelines clearly state
that any imposition of severe sanctions should be preceded by a thorough investigation
via a faculty committee as well as a demonstration of just cause by the university
administration. Given that neither of these actions were taken, we thus call upon you to
overturn this grievous decision against Professor Cheney-Lippold and to respect students’
and faculty members’ freedoms as academics and persons of conscience. As the
American Studies Association, we affirm that Professor Cheney-Lippold’s actions are
firmly within the fulcrum of the discipline’s conjoining of analysis and engagement. We
also underline the importance that the University of Michigan stand on the right side of
history at this moment, when the university as a space of informed and principled
discussion for the public about the role of the U.S. in increasing justice globally is under
attack.
Respectfully,

Roderick A. Ferguson, President
For the Executive Committee of the American Studies Association

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