Sonoma State University, a public liberal arts college that is part of the California State University system, has announced that it will not engage in any partnerships or collaborations with Israeli universities
NEW YORK – The president of Sonoma State University has been placed on administrative leave after his school became the first in the United States to agree to a full-fledged academic boycott of Israel.
Bowing to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists on campus, Sonoma State University, a small public university in northern California, announced Tuesday that it will not engage in any partnerships or collaborations with Israeli universities, in response to demands from its local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
On Wednesday, however, California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia announced that President Mike Lee "has been placed on administrative leave."
In her statement, Garcia added that, "on Tuesday evening, Sonoma State University President Mike Lee sent a campuswide message concerning an agreement with campus protesters. That message was sent without the appropriate approvals. The Board's leadership and I are actively reviewing the matter and will provide additional details in the near future. For now, because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative leave."
In a letter sent out to the SSU community on Tuesday night, Lee noted that Sonoma State University, a public liberal arts college that is part of the California State University system, currently has no exchange programs with Israeli institutions and promised to keep it that way.
"SSU will not pursue or engage in any study abroad programs, faculty exchanges, or other formal collaborations that are sponsored by, or represent, the Israeli state academic and research institutions," he wrote.
"SSU also commits to immediately updating any SSU pamphlets and SSU-hosted websites that may still be circulating or searchable and to remove hosting or linking to any pamphlets, flyers, or brochures advertising the study abroad program where students are encouraged to study abroad in Israel. SSU will make it clear to any students that any such programs are terminated until further notice, and not simply suspended."
From now on, Lee added, the university will only engage with Israeli scholars "acting in a personal capacity."
In recent weeks, various universities around the country have agreed to hold discussions on divestment from Israel and to review their policies regarding exchange programs with Israeli universities, in response to pressure from pro-Palestinian student groups. SSU is the first to agree in advance to an academic boycott of Israel.
"This seems to be the most definitive and extreme concession that we have seen on the boycott issues so far," said Shira Goodman, the vice president for advocacy and national affairs at the Anti-Defamation League.
Nearly three weeks ago, pro-Palestinian students at SSU, like pro-Palestinian students at universities across the country, set up an encampment on campus to protest the Gaza War and demand that their administrations cut ties with Israel.
In exchange for the concessions announced by their university, the students at SSU agreed to take down their encampment.
These concessions also included reviewing all of the university's investments with an eye toward "divestment strategies that include seeking ethical alternatives," setting up a new program in Palestine Studies, and creating a Students for Justice in Palestine advisory council that will work closely with the administration to ensure that all its promises regarding policies on Israel are fulfilled.
SSU's president also agreed to the student demand that he endorse an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza War.
Praising the students for taking a stand, Lee wrote in his letter: "Student activism, protest, and dissent in service of social and political change are key democratic principles that allow us to imagine a more perfect union – not only for ourselves, but also for others. None of us should be on the sidelines when human beings are subject to mass killing and destruction. I have said this before and it merits repeating: There is no political, religious, or cultural principle that merits the murder of the innocent, and the one battle we should all be engaged in is the fight for inclusion, respect, and freedom for all people, regardless of their background or identity."
In response to Sonoma's decision, Marc Levine, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, told Haaretz that "Lee capitulated to protesters and agreed to a dangerous set of demands in one of the most offensive and outrageous agreements to date with encampment protesters. Not only does the agreement include the establishment of an 'Advisory Counsel of Students for Justice in Palestine,' lending credibility and legitimacy to a group that has glorified Hamas terrorism and seeks to exclude Zionist Jewish students from campus life, but it also contains a sweeping academic boycott of Israeli state academic and research institutions. This dangerous and discriminatory capitulation puts SSU's Jewish community at risk."
Located in the California wine country, SSU has fewer than 5,500 students, among them a large Hispanic cohort. in 2011, Sandy Weill, the Jewish philanthropist and former chief executive of Citigroup, announced a $12 million gift to SSU – one of its biggest donations ever – to help fund its concert hall.
The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.