In other words, for example, with respect to the ASA boycott: first the secretary of education would determine whether there is an American Studies Department at a given university. If there is, and that AS department or the parent university has not withdrawn from the ASA, the university’s federal funding will be at risk. The same would be true for any other association that passes an academic boycott measure.
HARVARD STUDENTS PUBLICLY ASKED THEIR UNIVERSITY TO WITHDRAW FROM THE ASA
Harvard students Sara Greenberg and Yoav Schaefer applauded Harvard University President Drew Faust for condemning the ASA boycott in a letter written to Faust published in the Harvard Crimson earlier this month. The students urged Faust to go the next step, demonstrating “moral leadership and immediately withdraw Harvard’s institutional membership from the ASA.” The students pointed out that other universities had done exactly that, in the wake of the ASA boycott. Brandeis Univesity, Penn State Harrisburg, Kenyon College and Indiana University have all already withdrawn from the ASA.
The Harvard students asked its university “to uphold its values and set an example for other universities around the country, showing that organizations promoting such boycotts will not only be denounced, but will also lose support from America’s leading academic institutions.”
Now Greenberg and Schaefer can add a financial basis to their moral basis for encouraging Harvard to withdraw from the tainted American Studies Association.
Last month, Congressman Roskam led a bipartisan letter signed by 134 Members of Congress, including Congressman Lipinski, to the American Studies Association (ASA) condemning its academic boycott of Israel.
Congressman Roskam announced this initiative on the House floor on Tuesday morning. Watch the video of his announcement, below. The bill will be referred to the House Committee on Education.