President Helm's statement about the ASA boycott of Israeli colleges and universities
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 00:09 PM
Many academic institutions have expressed their opposition to the American Studies Association (ASA) boycott of Israeli colleges and universities. For those members of the Muhlenberg family who are concerned about this issue, I would like to say first, that Muhlenberg is not a member of the ASA. Individual members of our community are, of course, entitled to their own views on this matter, but as President of Muhlenberg College I emphatically and categorically oppose the ASA boycott. Issues of peace, justice, and security in the Middle East and elsewhere are of fundamental importance and merit robust consideration and debate. I regard the arguments for the boycott as specious, and the idea of boycotting other academic institutions as repugnant. The world needs more discussion, not less, and academic institutions must exemplify this commitment to civil and reasoned debate.
