A petition opposing New York University’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis’ decision to end its relationship with the Tel Aviv campus gathered almost 3,000 signatures within days of being posted online.
“The University's position on the issue of academic boycotts of Israel is clear: they are at odds with University policy, and they are at odds with the tenets of academic freedom, as the [American Association of University Professors] also notes,” NYU spokesman John Beckman told Newsweek. On Thursday, NYU's Department of Social and Cultural Analysis ended its official relationship with the university's Tel Aviv campus. Google Maps
Ben Zinevich, a student at NYU, disagreed and said the number of signatures wasn’t “representative of the climate on campus” or how faculty members feel about the non-cooperation pledge. NYU Professor Andrew Ross, who voted in favor of implementing non-cooperation resolution, told Newsweek the petition misrepresented the resolution.
Ross previously told Newsweek that having a site in Israel was contradictory to NYU’s values because the entry law discriminated against certain students and faculty, thereby restricting their academic freedom.