U. of Michigan Professor Refuses to Recommend Student Whose Destination Is Israel

U. of Michigan

Last month a student at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor asked a professor for a letter of recommendation. They haggled over deadlines, and on September 5, the professor agreed. But minutes later, he withdrew his offer, for an unusual reason: The student wanted to study in Israel.

“As you may know, many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine,” wrote John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the department of American culture, to the student. “This boycott includes writing letters of recommendation for students planning to study there.”

“I should have let you know earlier,” he continued, “and for that I apologize. But for reasons of these politics, I must rescind my offer to write your letter.”

Someone posted a screenshot of the professor’s email on social media, and the criticism began pouring in, some of it accusing Cheney-Lippold of being anti-Semitic. It wasn’t long before the university issued a statement condemning the professor.

Appalling e-mail from Prof. John Cheney-Lippold at UMich, refusing to write reco. for student to study abroad in Israel. @BetsyDeVosED are you listening? @lilindian @KCTaz @amyacpa2 #besties @benshapiro @FreemanWSJ @jamestaranto @RealJamesWoods pic.twitter.com/KE816Pmutv

— Sari Greenberg (@SEGreenb) September 17, 2018

No department at Michigan supports such an academic boycott of Israel, said Rick Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the university, in a statement to The Chronicle. “Injecting personal politics into a decision regarding support for our students is counter to our values and expectations as an institution,” the statement read. The University of Michigan “has consistently opposed” any academic boycott of Israel, Fitzgerald said.

In a later interview with The Michigan Daily, the student newspaper, Cheney-Lippold clarified that his stance was his own, not on behalf of his department or any others. He said his decision was not anti-Semitic. “I was following a call by representatives of Palestinian civil society to boycott Israel in a very similar tactical frame as South Africa,” he told the Daily, adding, “I have opinions, and even though a letter of recommendation is about the student, a lot of thought goes into them. It’s not a blank check where I’m signing for them to go to any place they want, it is a dialogue.” Cheney-Lippold was not available for an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

Club Z, the Zionist youth organization based in California that first posted on Facebook the screenshot of Cheney-Lippold’s email, said it had obtained the message from another professor.

“We hope that the U.S. Department of Education will take note of this case,” Club Z wrote, referring to the agency’s controversial new definition of anti-Semitism, which includes “denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination” and holding Israel to a “double standard … not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement’s academic boycott of Israel discourages writing letters of recommendation for students pursuing studies there, according to guidelines on the movement’s website. Several academic associations, including the American Studies Association, have formally supported an academic boycott of Israel in the last five years; meanwhile, the American Association of University Professors generally opposes the use of academic boycotts.

Almost a year ago, support for BDS crested among students at the University of Michigan, in a movement called #UMDivest. In November 2017, after years of unsuccessful attempts, the student government passed a resolution calling for the Board of Regents to examine investments with companies that do business with Israel. The board rejected the proposal. “We strongly oppose any action involving the boycott, divestment, or sanction of Israel,” the regents wrote.

“We remain committed to the university’s longstanding policy to shield the endowment from political pressures,” the regents’ statement continued.

The University of Michigan has divested on two occasions: In 1988 it divested its holdings in companies doing business in South Africa, in response to more than a decade of student and community activism, and in 2000 it divested from tobacco companies.

Correction (9/19/2018, 1:06 p.m.): This article originally stated that John Cheney-Lippold initially agreed last month to write the student’s letter of recommendation. He did not initially agree until September. The article has been updated to reflect that correction.

Follow Steven Johnson on Twitter at @stetyjohn, or email him at steve.johnson@chronicle.com.