Shots In The Dark: Drew Faust: She's No Anti-Semite

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Drew Faust: She's No Anti-Semite

The Harvard-obsessed New York Sun commends Drew Faust for opposing the British boycott of Israeli academics, then adds this:

The stance taken by Ms. Faust on the matter is closely watched, and is particularly welcome, because there was more than a whiff of anti- Israel — even anti-Jewish, some students sense — sentiment in the faculty rebellion that forced Ms. Faust's predecessor, Lawrence Summers, from Massachusetts Hall. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences motion in March 2005 expressing no confidence in Mr. Summers was made by a Harvard professor, J. Lorand Matory, who had signed a petition calling on Harvard to divest from Israel.

That petition, like the British boycott effort, singled out Israel for opprobrium among all the countries of the world, and Mr. Summers, showed the courage to reject it, more bluntly than other university presidents, as being anti-Semitic in effect, if not intent. That position earned Mr. Summers the enmity not only of Mr. Matory but no doubt others on the faculty who are hostile to Israel. With Mr. Summers gone, there is no doubt that the anti- Israel camp at Harvard will try to gain ground.

Note carefully that artfully worded insertion—"even anti-Jewish, some students sense." Huh. Would that be some students making that assertion, or some newspaper editors in New York attributing their own opinions to Harvard students?

What a Rorschach test the Summers ouster is!

¶ 6:04 AM

Comments:

One of my favorite moments ever in the Crimson:

"Wisse told The Crimson last week that anti-Semitism was “one of the factors at play” in the run-up to Summers’ resignation....

"Diana L. Eck said after the meeting that Wisse’s remarks “don’t make much of an impression on the Faculty” because of their “extreme” nature. "

Once again: if the nation's foremost authority on religious diversity, and the founder of the Pluralism Project, finds your views about your religious identity 'extreme' -- you might want to consider the possibility that you're just a *smidge* outside the mainstream.

(Wisse is moreover a crazy bat. I once heard her make a public comment heard by forty people that prominently featured an anti-feminist explanation of who real women like to fuck. I am not making this up.)

Oh and by the way: re the NY Sun: The STUPID!!! It burrrns!!!!!!!

Standing Eagle

# posted by Standing Eagle : September 18, 2007 8:09 AM

SE,
It's interesting that the NY Sun might be The Stupid as you say, but Harvard has no problem taking money from the family that backs it.
Speaking of stupid,from the Crimson: Faust, who was greeted to applause and cheers, said she was eager to take on the challenge of making the University more diverse—to the point where Harvard’s black scholars and staff would no longer be able to squeeze into Queen’s Head Pub.

“One of our goals is, three years from now, maybe, we can’t have this party here anymore, it’s going to be so big,” Faust said. “First, we’re going to move up to Annenberg. Next, we’re going to have to go to the stadium.”

Perhaps just a wee bit of discrimination in those remarks? Isn't Harvard supposed to judge people by their ability,not by the color of their skin

JA

# posted by Just Asking : September 18, 2007 9:01 AM

SE, you can't leave us hanging like that. What's an anti-feminist explanation for who real women like to fuck? (I thought Wisse was genteel, at least, not likely to use words like 'fuck.')

# posted by Anonymous : September 18, 2007 9:39 AM

Sorry, she said it. Trying to be funny, of course, but not being. The context isn't important but it wasn't a small private occasion.

No more details from me in deference to the host of the occasion....

SE

# posted by Standing Eagle : September 18, 2007 9:41 AM

c'mon, this is getting gross.

# posted by Anonymous : September 18, 2007 9:42 AM

Actually, I'd like to hear that.

# posted by Richard Bradley : September 18, 2007 9:57 AM

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