Faculty Letter Leads to Substantive Administrative Response
April 15, 2016
To the Editor:
Thanks to my colleagues [Professors Kozol, Lee, Pérez and Romano] for writing [the above letter to the editor, “Professors Urge Campus to Engage in Inclusive Discussion”]. I’m sure I join those who did sign the statement in saying that we too fully respect the decision of [those] colleagues who preferred not to do so. Moreover, I too would have preferred a substantive response to anti-Semitism over a faculty letter denouncing it. In fact, after talking with President Krislov, I began in early March to urge the Dean’s Office to develop a “dialogue [to] foster a more open and inclusive campus.” When an excruciating month went by with no response, the faculty clearly wanted to turn to something urgently, so I organized the letter. But that was only a beginning, and I’m glad if it helped galvanize us for the real work we need to do. I’m very pleased to learn that the Dean’s Office is now organizing what promises to be a terrific panel on anti-Semitism on May 3 at 4:30 p.m., and I hope everyone concerned will attend.
– Marc Blecher
Professor of Politics
