Morton Schapiro Gets It Right I really like the way the president of Williams College explains his decision not to sign the petition opposing the boycott of Israeli academics. He writes a letter to the entire community (thanks to the poster below who pointed it out) explaining his thinking on the issue and behind his decision not to sign the petition.

So why didn’t I sign the ad in the New York Times? There are three reasons — (1) without any community-wide discussion, I don’t think the President of Williams should make institutional commitments that might affect many members of our community in serious ways; (2) I think that such public pressure from the U.S. at this stage might very well backfire and actually strengthen the position of the UCU delegates who advocate a boycott; (3) the ad was paid for by the American Jewish Committee and I feel very strongly that it was inappropriate to involve a third party in expressing our outrage.

Smart, credible reasons all. But just as important, I like the way Schapiro engages the community in the discussion and makes this a teachable moment. There's no sense of an announcement from on high, as is, unfortunately, the case with Drew Faust's rather lofty explanation, which doesn't explain her reasoning. There's a sense of confidence that if the president shares his reasoning with the community, students and professors and others can actually learn from the episode and share their opinions in an equally reasoned way.

Very nice, President Schapiro.  ¶ 12:44 PM