When the Israeli-Hamas war broke out, Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian, Israeli, history, government, economics, and political science faculty quickly reached out to each other to find out exactly what Asghar was missing at Harvard. I have put together a series of proposals to achieve what I felt. : Educate students and everyone inside and outside the university about the myriad issues, impacts, assumptions, and real-world risks. The result is a thoughtful approach and no questionable confusion.
Why didn’t Harvard think of that? And why isn’t the media putting this story on the front page? It’s not too late.
wendy howland
pocasset
Universities need to clarify their priorities
Zahra Asghar, a student at the Harvard Kennedy School, laments in “Harvard Students’ Plea to Get Educated About the Middle East”: Because it helps us understand conflicts. ”
Few things have been more clear about how universities need to clarify their priorities.
Felicia Nimue Ackerman
providence
The author is a professor of philosophy at Brown University.
As a Harvard graduate and a Jew, I was appalled to read Kenneth Roth’s Nov. 6 op-ed, “Universities Should Stop Commenting on World Events.” If our universities do not comment on evil when it occurs in the world, what message does it send to the students it is supposed to educate? The barbaric torture of innocent civilians? Is there a situation in which murder is acceptable and the university should silently signal its acceptance? Also, should administrators refrain from speaking out when Jewish students are physically threatened or attacked on campus? The average German, university-educated or not, can tell where Roth’s ideas are going.
Rosalind E. Golin
boston
We must seize the moment to confront the world’s challenges.
Kenneth Roth’s astute advice, offered as the war between Israel and Hamas shifts to ground operations, is short-sighted, even short-sighted. Professor Ross suggests that universities should stop commenting on world events and instead prioritize protecting academic freedom.
Compare that perspective with the deep experience of someone who has faced the real challenges of academic leadership. A year and a half ago, a prominent university president visited Imperial College in London and spoke in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion. He also talked about other global events, pointing out that “the costs of climate change will be borne by the world’s poorest people everywhere.” He understood that engaging with the world and supporting academic freedom does not mean having to choose sides.
The words of former Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow still ring true. So is his sense of optimistic determination at the time. “I believe in people’s ability to seize this moment and tackle the world’s great challenges.”
Stuart N. Brotman
Knoxville, Tennessee.
The author is a former faculty member at Harvard University, Tufts University, and Boston University.