California university’s anti-Israel crusade is endangering life-saving research
I recently retired after decades on the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz, including 10 years as chairman of my chemistry department. Like many scientists, I’ve spent my career on problems that don’t yield to slogans: building evidence, testing claims, revising conclusions. Universities work when that ethic governs campus life.But across the University of California system, a growing number of faculty and academic units, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, have been doing something different: using the…
A former UC Santa Cruz chemistry department chairman, Ilan Benjamin, argues that the University of California system's increasing politicization, particularly anti-Israel activism by humanities and social science departments, endangers life-saving research. This institutional advocacy, detailed in the report "When Faculty Take Side," uses UC platforms and authority to promote political agendas, creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and risking federal funding for the entire system. Benjamin highlights three key harms:
- Financial Risk: Federal research funding, crucial for STEM and medicine, is jeopardized by the UC's perceived failure to enforce non-discrimination and institutional neutrality.
- Professional Harm: Academic boycotts against Israeli scholars, pushed by some UC faculty, threaten vital international collaborations in areas like personalized medicine and agriculture.
- Reputational Harm: The university's overall standing and public trust are eroded when departments prioritize political activism over scholarship, impacting student enrollment, faculty recruitment, and partnerships.
Benjamin urges the Academic Senate, campus administrations, and the Regents to enforce clear boundaries between individual expression and institutional action to protect the university's research enterprise.
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