The University of Massachusetts Amherst, a highly ranked public school, is reviewing an upcoming conference that it plans to host in November after learning that the organizer excludes scholars who receive funding from Israeli institutions.
“The university has the matter under review,” Emily Gest, associate vice chancellor for news and media relations at the university, told JNS.
“The University of Massachusetts fundamentally opposes academic boycotts of any kind, including the BDS movement,” Gest said, referring to the movement to boycott Israel.
The Coalition of Women in German, a more than 50-year-old group based at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, which doesn’t state the size of its membership, is scheduled to hold a conference at UMass Amherst from Nov. 6 to Nov. 9.
Rory Lancman, senior counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, wrote to the university on Wednesday asking it to stop the group’s boycott policy.
“Israeli scholars must be allowed the same opportunities as scholars from every other country,” Lancman wrote. He added that the group “effectively bars Israeli students and academics from attending and participating” in the conference.
Gest told JNS that “the university does not condone viewpoint discrimination, nor does it exclude individuals from participation in academic conferences or events based on their beliefs.”
“Consistent adherence to these principles means oftentimes hosting conferences and speakers, with whose views some in our community may disagree,” she said.
