Giving University of Michigan associate professor of American culture (whatever that means) John Cheney-Lippold the benefit of the doubt, he is a sincere believer in the BDS movement. He’s allowed, no matter how simplistic the notion may be that the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians can be reduced to good v. evil. Nobody ever said that being an academic precluded a person from being dumb.
But when his belief crossed into the world of his student, was this a fair expression of his academic freedom or a denial of hers?
Apparently, his issue wasn’t with his student, for whom he was happy to write “other letters” of recommendation, but just with his support of an academic boycott of Israel in furtherance of his, and not his department’s, support of BDS.
Cheney-Lippold acknowledged his mistake in claiming University departments support the boycott and amended the statement he made in the email. His support of the boycott, he explained, is a personal stance.
Sure, there’s the aspect of his being a complete slacker and irresponsible as well, her detrimental reliance on his agreement to write a recommendation, but then, welcome to the world of academia, where actually doing something, thinking first, acting upon one’s commitments, no longer count. Get past this. Responsibility is for dinosaurs.
According to The Michigan Daily, this belated refusal raises the question of whether he’s an anti-semite.
University of Michigan professor John Cheney-Lippold is facing claims of anti-Semitism after rescinding his offer to write a recommendation letter for LSA junior Abigail Ingber, who requested the letter for an application for a study abroad program in Israel.
People who support BDS contend that this isn’t a matter of anti-Semitism at all, but rather a condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Jews are fine. Israel is awful. Completely separate issues. For the sake of argument, let’s assume this to be the case for Cheney-Lippold, and that he’s not anti-Semetic at all.
Is this insipid prof not entitled to his beliefs? Is he not entitled to the academic freedom to support Palestinians and refuse to be complicit in a regime he believes to be evil? But what of his student? Is Abigail to be precluded from studying in Israel because of her professor’s personal feelz?
Yet, this isn’t merely a question of academic freedom relative to BDS or any other fashion trend of social justice. Rather, it’s the confluence of academic freedom and an academic’s right to deny his students the education and opportunities based upon whatever shit-for-brains beliefs he might prefer.
In teaching American culture, is it acceptable, arguendo, that he teaches, for example, that all American institutions are illegitimate because they are based on racism and sexism, and it is thus a student’s duty to not merely despise America for its awfulness but actively resist the functioning of their nation by any means necessary?
Certainly academic freedom is of enormous value when used to permit scholars to ponder ideas that conflict with the orthodoxy, to challenge current assumptions and, perhaps, even to ascertain whether accepted heresy might in fact be true. But is there a line? Is there a point where a prof’s personal issues impair the education of his students such that he’s gone from informing to deprivation? Does academic freedom entitled Cheney-Lippold to deny his student the opportunity to study in Israel because he believes it’s an evil regime?
If the religious aspect of this issue is too inflammatory, consider whether it changes when the question is whether a prof believes math is too challenging, too patriarchal, and decides to teach engineering sans math. Is it acceptable to turn out engineers who can’t do the math necessary to keep the bridge from falling down because math is a social construct, or engineering otherwise has too few women?
One perspective is that such questions should be moderated by “common sense,” but that doesn’t help. Presumably, Cheney-Lippold believes his choices are entirely righteous, and that everyone with common sense would agree with him. After all, if he didn’t, he would believe otherwise, right? And even if you disagree, it just means you lack common sense from his perspective. It adds nothing to where the line should be drawn, which would require actual thought and, well, an actual line.
Is there a line to be drawn? Is there any hole too deep to leap for an academic? Are we, groundlings unworthy of an invitation to the faculty tea, capable of grasping the right of academics to deprive poor Abigail of a recommendation because of our tears for the Palestinians? Are we ready to cross that bridge and pray it won’t fall down?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply.
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Michigan issued a statement, labeling their reaction as “disappointed”. At age seven, my niece used to mispronounce it as “pissapointed”. Seems to fit here.
And he signed it “John”. What a shithead.
So you hate guys named John?
And this is why, children, you always line up more letters than you need, do that when one of the writers flakes or bails you aren’t left hanging and scrambling for a replacement.
That was my two cents. I have no clue whether Abigail was relying on this recommendation or had another dozen in the wings.
I’ll go out on a limb: I’d bet Abigail no longer needs a letter of recommendation. He probably helped her by not writing the letter. Ain’t it something that his blowhardedness results in a situation completely contrary to his goal?
But what about all the other Abigails out there? How can your cold, cold heart not break for them?
Why? Their hearts don’t break for each other in any rational way. I only care about what’s in it for me, and today is National Cheeseburger Day. Cue Jimmy’s song, and I’ll wander over to paradise.
Oh, wow, is it really NCB? I’m stopping at Shake Shack to stock up for Yom Kippur.
The looks on peoples’ faces at the synagogue when a fat guy reeks of cheeseburger on the day of fasting is only bested by the slurping of the shake.
What are they going to do? Threaten me with hell? We ain’t got no hell.
I was thinking the same thing. An own goal by John. Next time he should consider sabotaging the students chances by writing a half-hearted letter.
I doubt that John’s department has any meaningful boycott as these types of decisions are made at a college or more likely the university level. Being a publicly supported university such a boycott is not going to happen, and shouldn’t happen. It may make him and his colleagues feel woke but that doesn’t make it true.
As it turned out, it wasn’t a departmental policy, but just John’s personal feelz. He bad.
“Is there a line to be drawn?”
We don’t need no stinking line! Here on the moon the atmosphere is so thin it does not reflect any light. This, of course, allows us to see quite clearly the demarcation between the dark and the light. If you could just get out of that Platonic cave you call the “trenches” maybe you could see too. Come and join us, the logic, like the weather, is….fine.
Regards, Astro-John, Luna-tic-U.
…wait…I wrote something….and you replied with a vid*…? uh-huh…OK.
I think…..” somethings wrong from the moon my friend…” *LMAO
It was just too obvious for words.
It is possible that he may be in need of letters of recommendation of his own, as the UMich website states that he is “On Leave.”
https://lsa.umich.edu/ac/people/faculty/jchl.html
Meh, he’s got tenure. He’s there until he murders a student.
Am I on the only one who is facinated by the fact that there is an “Associate Professor of American Culture”? What does he study?….reruns of Happy Days, Miami Vice, Martin, Friends, and Seinfeld? If I were him I would be happy to write anyone a letter for anything. Just so long as they don’t laugh when they read my title.
How did I get stuck in my office arguing which spouse gets stuck with the car title loan AND what’s the acceptable amount of damage to crops?
Frankly, I expected someone more woke than me to explain what exactly that was.
I would assume it’s all about how patriarchal and mysogynistic the Fonz is… Not to mention a thief! Never putting money in the jukebox…
You know, I never thought about that before. Damn, you’re right.
Now now, Jake can’t be here to be the spokesperson (spokesthey?) for the woke.
Pronouns are hard.
I was fascinated by “code and algorithm studies”. Am I wrong to doubt it has anything to do with computer science?
I am torn, he certainly has the right to write or refuse letters of recommendation for any reason he chooses and the student would typically have no right to expect one from him. However his reneging on a promise to write the letter makes him an ass for breaking the promise. Once the promise was made he should have followed through and kept it, now he has demonstrated that no future student should ever ask him for one and should probably seek a new advisor if they are working with him as he cannot be trusted to keep his word or honour obligations.
I wonder if John would have similarly refused a letter of recommendation if his student had decided to study in, oh, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Guinea, or any other of the depressing panoply of despotic polities.
Given that this obviously can impact opportunities open to students, the professor should disclose this in the course catalog so students know about it before they sign up for his classes. Then if it is important to them (and assuming he is not the only professor available for required core classes), the students can sign up for classes with professors who do not have this issue. Because he obviously didn’t do that, it would be fair for him to make an exception here.
Well obviously, “fair for him” is foremost on his mind.
It is somewhat incongruous that modern faculty are willing to go with the “safe spaces,” the choice of pronouns, and letting students run the classroom discussions, but then crap on them when it comes to things that might actually be relevant to an educational experience.
Scott, I am a little surprised about one of your points
“For the sake of argument, let’s assume this to be the case for Cheney-Lippold, and that he’s not anti-Semetic at all.”
The point is moot as Palestinians are Semites.
As for writing a recommendation or not, if her entire future is dependent on one person writing a happy letter then she should perhaps re-examine her idea of success.