When I graduated from Brandeis in 1972, where I majored in philosophy, I immediately knew that I owed Brandeis a great debt. And so, over the past 2 decades I have been, at times, an adjunct lecturer at the Brandeis International Business School, served on the Board of the Business School, and the Board of the University itself. With gratitude I have contributed significant sums to my alma mater, including a Chair in Financial Markets and Institutions to the Business School.
It was at Brandeis that I was introduced to the pre-Socratic philosophers and was fascinated with how they struggled to find ways to explain the world around them, and how their ideas influenced Plato, Aristotle and others who succeeded them. It was at Brandeis that I was introduced to the thought of Immanuel Kant, and the other giants of western thought, as well as the thought of other cultures. It was at Brandeis that I came to understand that in intellectual dialogue all ideas are on the table, that everyone is entitled to his point of view and that public scrutiny of ideas is the best way to assess their worth. It was at Brandeis that I was taught how controversy served as an impetus to critical thinking, and that it is often the very people who are condemned for expressing ideas, like Spinoza and Galileo, who are later considered the great minds of western thought. And it was this foundation that I relied upon when I next studied philosophy and politics at Oxford University and then law at the University of Chicago.
I must now confess to having serious concerns about the spirit of free inquiry at my alma mater when it rescinds an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a woman who champions women's rights in the Muslim world. A woman honored in Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. A woman who received the Moral Courage Award from the American Jewish Committee and was voted Woman of the Year for 2006 by the European editors of Readers Digest magazine.
And I thought it regrettable that upon learning that Hirsi Ali was offered an honorary degree 87 Brandeis faculty members were so “filled with shame” that they presented President Lawrence with a letter urging him to “rescind immediately the invitation to Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali for an honorary doctorate” based on her "virulently anti-Muslim public statements."
These faculty members said that "the selection of Ms. Hirsi Ali further suggests to the public that violence toward girls and women is particular to Islam or the Two-Thirds World, thereby obscuring such violence in our midst among non-Muslims, including on our own campus". And they also could not "accept Ms. Hirsi Ali's triumphalist narrative of western civilization, rooted in a core belief of the cultural backwardness of non-western peoples."
For the sake of argument, let’s stipulate that some of her comments may be provocative and controversial. But that is what intellectual inquiry is all about. For decades serious scholars have examined in all major religions the use of force, the role of violence and compulsion, male dominance over women, the role of honor killings, etc. Since when have these topics become off limits to scholars?
It is hard for me to imagine that these faculty members seriously think that violence against women on the Brandeis campus is in any way comparable to the violence against young women in a single Nigerian village. When was the last time a Brandeis student was sold into slavery?
What is worthy of note is that Hirsi Ali's views do not come from an ivory tower but from the concrete reality of her personal experiences as a woman. She was genitally mutilated as a child, fled a forced marriage at age 12 and lives under constant threat of death by the very people who proudly wear the ideology she condemns. Who are we to judge that her conclusions are beyond the pale? Surely we would not condemn a Christian or Jew at the time of the bloody Crusades who said similar things about Christianity. When Tony Kushner said that the very creation of Israel itself was a mistake, this did not disqualify him from receiving an honorary degree from Brandeis University.
And how preposterous is their issue with her Western triumphalism, especially when she fled to the West from the very ideology that is trying to kill her. Is not the belief in American exceptionalism triumphalist in nature? Just last September President Obama himself celebrated the idea of American exceptionalism before the UN General Assembly. Would this disqualify him for an honorary degree?
I am profoundly perplexed that there is no counter letter submitted by any faculty member to President Lawrence. Is there not a single woman faculty member in the Women and Gender Studies Program who can find the compassion to defend her? Is the majority of the faculty too intimidated to speak out against this new tyranny for fear of being ostracized?
The only acceptable response to bona fide controversy is robust dialogue. It now appears that Brandeis’ motto of 'truth unto its innermost parts' has been replaced by the eleventh commandment of political correctness – “Thou shalt not offend.”
Martin J. Gross
Member of the Board of Trustees of Brandeis University
(60) arthur, January 27, 2019 7:33 PM
Brandeis has lost its way
Brandeis also refused to allow Professor Dershowitz to debate or even to question former President Carters' claim that Israel is an apartheid state. Brandeis was founded in response to the quotas at the Ivy schools denying Jewish students the opportunity to study at them. Brandeis has become toxic to Jewish students who are knowledgeable and proud of their heritage. Ms. Hirsi Ali should have been received with respect and compassion, she is the victim a a brutal anti female society that she has dared to speak out against
(59) Anonymous, September 7, 2017 6:04 PM
We need to fight this everywhere....
This sort of thought is typical all over academia, not just at Brandeis. Much of the far left has bought the idea of Palestinians as victims, no matter what they may do to cause their situation. And cultural relativism, carried to excess, makes these academics accept abhorrent practices in that culture as "their norms." The way to fight this is with more ideas. We must make it known that Israel has a right to exist and to thrive, and that hate must never be tolerated, no matter whom it comes from.
(58) Avi Goldstein, June 6, 2017 5:20 PM
Stop Donating!
Martin, you are absolutely correct. But these are only words if you don't put your money where your mouth is. If you threaten to stop donating to Brandeis and you urge your fellow donors to do the same, perhaps the university will be persuaded to open its collective mind.
(57) Anonymous, April 25, 2016 12:38 PM
Hypocritical Western Liberalism
I wonder how many people, other than the Jewish ancestors who heard the stories first hand or the well-read student of history, realizes that many boatloads of Jewish refugees - fleeing what was a certain genocide - were denied entry by not only the United States, but Canada, and many other modern day "champions of liberal pluralism" - meanwhile in the modern age, the so-called refugees from Syria - many of whom are neither refugees or Syrians, are given everything they could imagine.
And now that the world cannot kill Jews, they resort to undermining Israel in favor of a "Two State Solution" that the Arabs themselves rejected in the late 1940s. It's interesting how many people will say, "Well the Askhenazim aren't actually Jews - they're Khazars!" but nobody will say the truth: There is no Palestinian people; only displaced Jordanians and Egyptians who invented, albeit cleverly, a nation that only exists in their own imaginations. And the West is glad to help them play dress up and make believe.
All for what? Because Israel exists? And people say Jews run the world. Right. It's disgusting how many religious Jews have been subjugated by their own Israeli brothers and sisters - not to mention deported for being "too" religious.
I wish the secularists would understand this: it wasn't the Enlightenment, the concept of a "social contract" or democracy that strengthened Jews to endure pogrom after pogrom; genocide after genocide; and expulsion after expulsion: but rather, it was the Torah. You may not like that, but it is true.
(56) Jerrey Weiss, April 19, 2016 9:57 PM
Honorary Degree
I thought this was a country of free speech.I have no problem with a little contraversy but a Liberal College does isn't that Amazing
(55) marcella s, April 18, 2016 3:56 PM
Thanks for standing up for what is right and just
Thank you for standing up and speaking out for such absurdity, nonsense, and "political correctness".
Thank Gd my daughter did NOT choose Brandeis as a place of higher learning for the next 4 years!
(54) Anonymous, May 19, 2015 8:01 PM
Brandeis and Ms. Hirsi Ali
I have supported Brandeis for years. I am sad and disappointed at the treatment they showed Ms. Ali. It is against everything that Brandeis once stood for. You owe her an apology and now!
(53) Dvirah, May 15, 2015 11:28 AM
"Thou Shalt Not Offend"...Whom?
I am sure that Tony Kushner's remark that the the very creation of Israel itself was a mistake is offensive to about 9 million people worldwide. This did not stop him from saying it or others from listening. So it is not being offensive but who one offends that makes the difference.
Linda Sagan, May 19, 2015 3:59 AM
Tony Kushner's remark about Israel is stupid!
If Tony Kushner lived in Nazi Germany he would have ended up in the ovens of a concentration camp. Many millions of Jews did because they didn't have a country to call their own. Turns out that the Nazi's were free to murder Jews and no one stopped them.
Had Israel existed the Jews could have fled there. Many of the six million who were slaughtered would not have been.
(52) anmashelly, May 12, 2015 5:41 PM
Political correctness and no offense
I have always been proud of Brandeis and its wonderful reputation of truth and benevolence where needed. Now we have reached a point where college student s are being terrorized because they're Jewish and/or Israeli sympathizers AND now Brandeis will rescind a hon. degree because the persons thoughts and beliefs may irritate a part of the population. What is next?--chadoors for all female students.
(51) Boca Mom, May 5, 2015 5:09 PM
would she even want it now?
If I were her, even if they offered it to me now I would turn it down saying that a degree from that university would be insulting if they bow to these ridiculous posers who are so afraid of offending one group that they openly are offending MANY other groups! If this is the faculty at Brandeis, I would not consider it a good place to get an education.
Linda, May 5, 2015 7:06 PM
No grand-daughter of mine will go to Brandeis
Consider this action offensive and I'm highly shocked that this college is off the list when I think of a suitable college or university to send my gorgeous, precious super smart grand-daughter's education.
(50) Elliot Pines, Ph.D. -- Class of '78, March 25, 2015 10:30 PM
I am now ashamed to be a Brandeis graduate...
Thank you Mr. Gross, because you represent what Brandeis was supposed to be about.
How "representatives" of Brandeis have so "bravely" stood up for those who humiliate Jewish tradition and Israel, I'm not quite sure. I suggest that at least they consider bending over backwards when it comes to their own people to learn respect and love above difference as they seem so willing beyond any justification for others. And maybe, just maybe, that unity will lead to a brighter world where there won't be tragic and courageous people out there to be humiliated by politically-correct hypocrites.
(49) David Nathanson, March 25, 2015 10:14 PM
Bad move.
The man whose name Brandeis bears would have been embarrassed by what it did here? If it rescinded the honorary degree, can the rescission not be retracted?
(48) Meredith, September 18, 2014 2:44 AM
appeasement backfires
If Brandeis thinks it will curry favor with murderers, mutilators and hate-mongering liars by this type of action, they need to review the history of appeasement.
(47) Don Krausz, June 11, 2014 8:25 PM
We need an explanation from those 87 faculty members.
Stanzas on Freedom (Conscience?)
They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think;
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.
James Russell Lowell. (1819-1891) American poet writing on slavery.
(46) Dvirah, June 11, 2014 4:23 PM
Do Not Offend
Who? (Think about it - then decide who should not be offended.)
(45) Jeffrey Gross, June 11, 2014 2:27 AM
Shame on Brandeis University!
(44) Dan Caless, June 10, 2014 5:31 PM
Should you support Brandeis?
Dear Mr. Gross, I want to profoundly thank you for your letter. This kind of well-argued criticism by influential alumni is the only hope for the Brandeis administration to change its position on an issue like this.
But I have to ask you what the next step is, assuming Brandeis continues to raise political correctness over truth and those 87 faculty members continue to teach it. As a trustee and supporter of the university aren't you supporting the spread of these destructive ideas? Aren't alumni like you the enabler of it? After all where would Brandeis be without the support of alumni like you? How many people would pay the full cost to have their kids taught this irrationality?
Assuming Brandeis doesn't fundamentally change please consider the implications of your support for the institution. A man who fights against his own values is doomed to failure.
(43) Larry, June 9, 2014 1:41 PM
Brandeis
Jews are their own worse enemies.
Jim Salomon, June 12, 2014 9:44 PM
Conflicted.
Often Jews have stood on opposite sides in debating complex moral issues. Being conflicted about ones choices is a sign of vigorous pursuit of truth. As best as I can determine both sides have some claim to the moral high ground in this debate. From my perspective second guessing in this type of issue creates more problems then it solves. The school should have stood by it original decision.
(42) jack, June 9, 2014 4:55 AM
Brandeis' narrow-mindedness
Thank god we had the good sense to withdraw our son from Brandeis after one year, so he could receive a real education elsewhere. We encountered narrow-minded faculty who were more interested in PC views then in true education or critical thinking.
(41) Anonymous, June 8, 2014 10:35 PM
Amen,
Right- on Mr Gross
(40) Anonymous, June 8, 2014 10:31 PM
maybe It's the threat, not the mealy-mouth apologies
I am mystified at the absence of even a hint of speculation into the possibility of sinister forces which could have been the undisclosed, underlying, actual motivating factor for the sudden swerve resulting in Brandeis’s President Lawrence obscene capitulation on Hirsi Ali. Let’s hypothesize for a minute. What might possibly occur in the prevailing universe of present world discourse that could so rapidly and powerfully inhibit the institution’s leaders and yet require them to dissemble rather than admit such actual motivator? Perhaps Islamic Jihad? Al Qaeda's “Inspire” magazine, which recently featured 12 individuals in a pictorial spread entitled "Wanted: Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam," captioned, "Yes We Can: A Bullet A Day Keeps the Infidel Away." Such constant, chronic, and very credible threats by Islamic terrorists of many stripes to get even with anyone who even contemplates criticism of Islam or who merely engages in humor or creates fiction with Mohammedan themes suggests that there is much more going on in education-land than what has been reported. No protest against the likes of Kushner can come close to convincing authorities to breach academic integrity, but even implied threats by the Mohammedan Community are credible and elicit prompt compliance and meek, unconvincing apologias.
Why no discussion of this? The goal appears to be to distract people to keep anyone from acknowledging this profound social illness. The real source of our problem is that people are terrified. And worse, they are justifiably terrified. They know damned well that Mohammedan threats of violence are real, credible, likely to be acted upon, and from which there is really very little defense unless the entire society mobilizes, as Israel has been forced to do. So the underlying issue is that our society refuses to act intelligently, fails to reject the Mohammedan blackmail which threatens to return us to the 12'th Century. But with 21'st Century arms.
(39) Samantha Morse, June 8, 2014 10:18 PM
cloistered bias
First, thank you for a wondeful article.
Second, isn't it ironic that the faculty members who I surmise have not been genitially multlaited, have taken it upon themselves to attack this courageous woman for speaking out about the miscogeny she has PERSONALLY experienced because they don't want to offend Muslims or to be perceived as racist. Essentially they have tried to derail her efforts to enlighten the Western World about the current state of oppression that Muslim women are experiencing now.
Their shame is very much misplaced. They should be ashamed that they side with sexist and cruel practices towards women because they are afraid of being labeled 'racist'.
(38) Anny Matar, June 8, 2014 4:44 PM
Wonderful article
Mr. Gross as member of the trustees of that same University you, so rightfully, accuse do about it? It is such a shame that, as far as I often get to read, many Universities in the USA get to change and are fully taken over by Muslim ideology. An Israeli Ambassador is being shouted down, as expected, by their very presence in the auditorium who does what? when?
(37) Evelyn Dow, June 8, 2014 4:19 PM
Brandeis is wrong headed in its recinding of the honor bestowed on Hirsi ali
Brandeis seems to be walking a line of "don't offend anyone powerful" in the University's decision to rescind the honor previously bestowed on her. The people who made this decision are instead offending the rest of us citizens who value people like Hirsi Ali. I hope the university will find its way out of the conundrum in which they have placed themselves. themselves. Hirsi Ali will go on to do great things.
(36) Barry, June 8, 2014 11:24 AM
Talk-show-mentality
Brandeis has chosen to display the convoluted reasoning so prevalent in the media, "Don't offend any protected group, lest you violate the rules of political correctness" ... the new American state religion. G-D bless Hirsi Ali and all who stand up to evil !
(35) Ben, June 8, 2014 6:06 AM
BDS for Brandeis
The Brandeis experiment has failed. Time to boycott, divest and sanction Brandeis University. Do not donate any money to it and do not hire Brandeis graduates, who have been corrupted beyond redemption by the fools in the faculty and adminisration. Let the United Arab Emirates support Brandeis and for all we care change its name to Al-Whatever University.
Aubrey, June 8, 2014 2:53 PM
Bravo, Ben, Bravo.
David, May 1, 2015 12:38 PM
BDS Brandeis
The University is part and parcel of the Left. No money of mine will go there, what money have there will be removed, and at every opportunity I will speak of them as the politically correct, self-beclowning place that it is.
(34) Karla, June 8, 2014 5:41 AM
Excellent response
Your written response to Brandeis' shameful rescinding of the honor bestowed upon Hirsi Ali is journalism at its finest! Thank you.
(33) Sara Meric, June 8, 2014 1:08 AM
They have gone mad
Who is running the show at what used to be a respected university? Nobody with half a brain will send their children to Brandeis now.
risa, June 8, 2014 4:51 PM
My daughter is being courted by Brandeis. I agree with this article. Although I loved the idea of her being around other Jewish students, I cannot condone her being around this kind of thinking cloaked in the reputation of what was once a great University.
(32) Roslyn Yomtovian, June 7, 2014 2:30 PM
A sad day in life of a proud university
Courage of character, not political correctness, is how our world ultimately survives. Rescinding an honorary degree from such a brave individual is morally incorrect, in my view, and comes from weakness not strength. Will the present day students at Brandeis (including my niece) be proud or ashamed of their alma mater in years to come?
Anonymous, June 8, 2014 3:34 AM
Proud or ashamed !
ASHAMED.
(31) hadassa, June 7, 2014 1:25 PM
political correctness equals dumbing down
These 'professors' remind me of the story of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. None of the courtiers wants to say that the emperor is parading around naked in his 'new clothes', in case they appear to be stupid! Even the emperor himself can't admit the truth in his vanity and desire to wear the new clothes which the tailors assure him look so magnificent! One day, the professors will be caught out by someone who can see the truth, like the child in the crowd who yells out, "but the emperor is naked"! Meanwhile, the professors should be deeply ashamed of themselves and their political correctness.
Anonymous, June 8, 2014 3:45 AM
That's not political correctness..
It's a combination of cowardness, ignorance and anti-american. We are involved in this up to our necks with this human civil rights issue and Americans never sit idly by and watch these atrocities continue occurring especially in countries we are involved with. To allow this University to put down anyone who is trying to show us the truth is an atrocity in itself.
(30) Suzanne, June 6, 2014 8:25 PM
It's outrageous what Brandeis did
SO depressing to hear that this situation has played itself out AND on a JEWISH campus, at that. Obviously the faculty and staff that run Brandeis are seriously flawed morally. If this is an indication of the character of the school, I don't think any Jews should send their kids there or give the place a dime.
(29) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 5:47 PM
Well said.
Hats off to a civilized, intelligent response to the Brandeis faculty.
In my opinion, they displayed more than intolerance; their petition showed shocking ignorance. They do not deserve to be taken seriously as academic scholars.
(28) Leah, June 6, 2014 4:05 PM
Gratifying!
Your letter was quite a perfect, articulate and concise response to a nauseating situation from a university that I used to have so much respect and admiration for.
(27) shery, June 6, 2014 4:01 PM
Having read Ms Hersi's biography I say, she above any of the teachers at this college knows the fate of women in Islamic states. Shame on them.
Shame shame shame on the teachers at this college. They are living in a dream world that in reality does not exist.
(26) Ann Margolin, June 6, 2014 3:28 PM
So What Did You Do About It?
You use terms like "serious concerns" and "regrettable" and "profoundly perplexed." You are being so careful not to offend. That is fine. But you don't say what you did about it. Did you write a letter of protest to the university? Did you say that you will no longer be a donor? In my opinion you are being mild and squishy. You don't want to rock the boat, make waves or jeopardize your position with the university. I find your post to be very disappointing.
(25) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 2:57 PM
A recent book review discussed why Denmark was so successful at protecting its Jews during the holocaust. The takeaway for me was that the Nazi's required cooperation from the occupied countries to successfully roundup Jews and others for extermination. The Danish King went so far as to say that he would wear a yellow star too saying :" I am a Jew" if the Nazi's tried to force that identifying symbol of stigma on Danish Jews.
Other countries geographically closer may have been overrun with Nazi soldiers and been less able to protest.
Apparently Brandeis is less able to protest. -Doing so is de facto acceptance of these stigmatic ideas of "Honor Killing" and other methods of systematically threatening, mutilating, beating and any other form of authoritarian submission to females -a gender designation not reserved for humans, merely all animal species.
Certainly not out of ignorance but out of fear do you rescind?
Brandeis is your submission and defacto acceptance an example of how this type of thinking is perpetuated out of cooperative fear. You are no Denmark.
(24) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 2:03 PM
Shame on Brandeis/Faculty 87
I as a Jew am ashamed for Brandeis and if I were a supporter of this institution,I would stop immediately.I urge those that do support,NOT TO.They surely don't deserve it.They should hail people like Ms.Ali not degrade her the way they did.Shame-shame-shame.Discusting!
(23) Fred, June 6, 2014 2:01 PM
Hirsi Ali is a most courageous person. That what Brandeis professorship are not. I suppose Brandeis would bestow a medal to the leader of Boku Haram for his heroic kidnapping of near 300 children. US institution are loosing the path of enlightenment by preferring the darker Islamic outlooks. BDS is another US institution Hitlerian path & we know where this led to. Pity such lost souls .
(22) Avi, June 6, 2014 1:34 PM
Money talks
If Brandeis's donors withhold donations in the face of this stifling of free inquiry, perhaps the school will take a new look at its policies.
(21) Miriam, June 6, 2014 12:06 PM
Really? They think the violence against women in Moslem countires is just like that found on university campuses?
Then perhaps instead of sending their daughters to university this year Brandeis faculty members would like to broaden their daughters' horizons by sending them to live in an Arab village for a year? Or perhaps to live with a Moslem family in Lebanon?
Perhaps one of these open-minded, non-judgmental female faculty members would like themselves to live in an Arab village for a year?
Why not? They freely walk the college campus and this is the same thing!
Condoning evil is evil.
If the world had not condoned Hitler with its silence and inaction the Holocaust could not have happened.
This is worse than silence or inaction. This is positive encouragement of extreme and horrific levels of abuse towards millions of girls and women.
I only hope none of the women of the Brandeis faculty or daughters of male faculty members is ever treated, for one day, like many Moslem women are treated for decades.
Although why should I say that?
After all, it's just like walking through Brandeis Campus!
Shame, shame, shame on you, Brandeis!
(20) Miriam, June 6, 2014 11:55 AM
Young women in Nigeria?
That is a single case! Moslem women and children are constantly and consistently abused, to horrific, unimaginable levels, on a daily basis. One woman remembers how her husband pushed her down the stairs and she miscarried her baby because she walked outside after dark by herself. These kinds of abuses are constant and part of the Koran.
It's amazing to me when people speak about women not driving as an inequality in Moslem countries. They are constantly and consistently abused to a level beyond imagination. Read "Not Without My Daughter" for starters. Hitting and beating a wife are basic kinds of behaviors.
The abuse of children is unimaginable. Terrorists (who are Moslem men, after all) surround themselves with little children to protect themselves. Look at clips of the capture of Osama Bin Ladin. He pushed his wives in front of him to take the bullets. This is unheard of in any other society in the world.
And here is one woman who bravely tells her horrific story and she is further harassed, not by Moslems but by a U.S. university? The only explanation is that many liberals have turned evil. I'm sorry to the other liberals but the fact is that when you endorse evil you are evil. No two ways about it.
(19) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 11:39 AM
totally agree with article
I think Brandeis University should have an open debate on this. It is shameful that this women is denied an honorary degree. It seems men can says things but not women, even women like her whose life has been that of a victim. When she speaks out, she is not validated. I was a teacher for 42 years and have a Masters as well as many other diplomas. At McGill I was taught & appreciate intellectual debate.
(18) Ayee, June 6, 2014 11:30 AM
Disturbing...
To think that I intended to try for a PhD @ Brandeis... Loved the university when I was there some years ago... But after this political correctness gone too far... I would not dream of going there... and warning my friends too.
Ayee MdC London UK
(17) Joel Haravay, June 6, 2014 7:16 AM
Politically obtuse
The ability of professors to be unwilling to examine ideas that do not fit into their narrative is seen on many of our campuses. In 2014 it is impossible not to see how bankrupt the ideas of Islamic nations are. Realistically, it is impossible to find moral equivalency with Sharia and other codes of law in the East or West. What have these countries contributed to the world in the last several centuries other than pain and suffering. Our universities like I President refuse to acknowledge this obvious reality because it does not fit in with the narrative they choose to accept under the mantra of being politically correct. Shame on the administrators of these schools for caving in to these professors.
(16) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 4:51 AM
Bravo to Mr Gross
Thanks to Mr Gross for his moral courage. Brandeis has besmirched its once proud reputation.
(15) YehudahL, June 6, 2014 4:49 AM
Make Al1yah, Mr Gross...
Make Al1yah, Mr Gross, and devote your brain and time and money to worthwhile Jewish causes for your own People in your own Land. Worshipping "Brandeis" is foolish. America is finished, brought to its knees by the incumbent president. I have the right to free speech too.
(14) Jeffrey Dorfman, June 6, 2014 4:21 AM
Brandeis University will no longer be a recipient of my and my friends donations.
Brandeis University will no longer be receiving money from me or my friends due to their Anti-Semitic views displayed by their temp actions. I have donated anonymously for over 30 years. My friends who joined me in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for what we were convinced was an honorable university until this issue of denouncing such a notable and honorable person as Ayaan Hersi Ali for the reasons they stated. I submit President Lawrence is longer fit to head what used to be such a prestigous institution and if he is going to sell out the "old university's" principles because some (no matter how many) faculty members have shame upon themselves by unfit influence to change the history of this university. Brandeis University will no longer be fit to be the recipient of our donations as long as President Lawrence is on their payroll. We are concise ring asking those 87 faculty members to resign as well, that is, if they care about it's future. As for the silent faculty members, I submit they take a good look at their own conscience and stand up for those peinciples that made Brandeis University such a fine and one of the most, if not the most, prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world. Remember, Yom Kippur is coming.
John Arato, June 6, 2014 2:05 PM
Well done!
Well done!!!! I applaud you!!!!
Ann Margolin, June 6, 2014 3:33 PM
You are Right
Your response is correct. Mr. Gross's weak response to an outrage is unacceptable. and disappointing.
Paul Kessler, June 6, 2014 7:12 PM
Bystanders
The silent faculty is just as guilty. Bystanders, recall the Holocaust. Elli Wiesell said, "silence is more evil than the act".
Danny, March 26, 2015 5:50 PM
donations
Send your money to Yeshivas and true Jewish institutions, who really need it. You will also gain more than you can imagine as a result
(13) Ephraim London, June 6, 2014 4:08 AM
Right not to offend?
This is just another example of the triumph of this insidious 'philosophy.' Dr. King said he wanted to live in a world where a man was judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. Politically-coerced censorship spits at Dr. King. They have taken the position that anything Islam does is all right. Kind of like that old sign in a boss's office, "Rule number one, I am always right. Rule number two, if I am wrong see rule number one." It is a circular system that kills freedom of expression and censors anyone with whom they disagree. It makes 'people' such as those 75 'professors' into the exact same villains as the right wing. It is nothing less than left-wing censorship, there is NOTHING liberal about this behavior. Have you ever read the story "The Emperor's New Clothes?" I am waiting for someone to put the punch line into the narrow, inflexible, intolerant, calcified offices of those who genuflect at the altar of politically-coerced censorship.
Robert, June 6, 2014 7:14 PM
The Right Wing?
I agree with most of your post but I am confused as to who are the "villains ofd the right wing".
Phil, June 6, 2014 11:46 PM
Muslims are the sacred cow of the West.
You can say anything you want about anyone as long as he or she is not a Muslim --- in which case you can't say anything that could be perceived as being negative.
David, June 8, 2014 3:08 PM
There are no "sacred cows", only respect and civility
Phil,
We don't need to make defamatory statements about the entire Muslim community--nor should we ever--in order to stand with enlightened Muslims in our mutual, humanity-wide struggle against violent repression of women.
Your comment reflects a paranoia that is familiar to Jews, even though we certainly don't embrace it: anti-Semites frequently complain of conspiratorial infringement of their G-d-given hate perpetuation rights. I'd constructively ask that you consider not adopting the anti-Semites' technique.
Anonymous, May 1, 2015 12:46 PM
Paranoia or FACT?
Phil's comments reflect the reality that negative comments about islam or muslims is intolerable to the left, because they are fearful. The NYT and Northeast corridor never put Je suis Charlie on their front page because they are afraid. Men no longer run this country or control the culture, it's controlled by cowards. Brandeis is a part of that. Ugh.
(12) Jack bender, June 6, 2014 3:09 AM
Shameful
Totally shameful....the bradeis folks need to wake up ....the truth is that radical and even moderate Islam isa treat to the western world..the liberal fools have their heads in the sand
(11) isidore ifshin, June 6, 2014 2:49 AM
There is hope for us yet
Amen!!!
(10) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 2:41 AM
Echo of History
I shuddered when I heard of the cancellation of the lecture and degree. I felt the re-kindling of the Ashkenazic attitudes and acceptances which allowed 6,000,000 murders.
(9) Linda Wertheim, June 6, 2014 2:22 AM
Harvard's Crimson editorial staff agrees with the Brandeis decision
It was shocking to hear of this decision at Brandeis and then I was stunned to read that the staff of the Crimson, Harvard's student newspaper, agreed with the decision. This is madness! These people should be praising Hirsi Ali for telling her story and for fighting for women's rights. She knows of what she speaks! She grew up under Islamic terror toward women and she is perfectly correct to tell this story to the world. I really feel I am living on the "Animal Farm" and in the "Brave New World" where everything is topsy turvy.
Ann Margolin, June 6, 2014 7:31 PM
It's Simiple
It's all about disrespect for the USA and wanting to find ways to
belittle it.
(8) Yehudith Shraga, June 6, 2014 1:56 AM
Brandies vs. Creator or Brandies=Creator
If we look to the situation from the Kabbalah point of view, then we have to understand that the Creator tries to tell something very important to this brave woman through the case of the Brandeis Rescindment.The Sages state "Ain odMiLevado"(there is nobody, but Him),which means,that everything around a person should be seen as the Reality of the Creator.
There is no doubt that the experience of this outstanding woman is exceptional,nobody can underestimate her courage and forget that she lives under a permanent threat to her life, and STILL,there's a time for the statements and there's a time for the solutions, and that is what the Creator probably tells her through the Brandeis.
She has got the Honor for her act of bravery, but the time has come to earn the Honor for the ways out of the problem.It should be clear, that if there's a Muslim religion in this world, it's the Creator, Who permits it to be, if so,then may be it's time to start looking for the bright sides of this religion and to call the Muslim world to follow the best sides of it?
I personally come from the Caucasus where I lived for 28 years with the people of different religions including the Muslims and I can state that we may learn a lot from their best traditions: their hospitality, the respect to the eldest, their readiness to help and support others in the difficult times.
2.Is Koran just a book which calls for Jihad, or there is a lot more there, including the phrase which states, that out of all the wars, the war with one's own dark side is the most important?
3.And if still Hirsi Ali sees only the dark side of Muslim religion, what's her practical advice to the millions of it followers? Is it leaving the Muslim states and following another religions, which have also their dark sides? Or may be it is better to use one's high education to help the people of Muslim world to struggle for their own better world in the framework of the bright sides of their religion?
Anonymous, June 8, 2014 3:29 PM
Ein Od Milvado does not mean that evil is good. You have a severe mixing of concepts going on. Yes, G-d is
One and everything that happens is a result of his will. However, that does not mean that we need to accept all of people's choices as good. Perhaps what G-d wants here is not that Hirsi Ali focus her efforts elsewhere, but that other people should stand behind her to speak out the truth and fight against evil and oppression.
And what's this about accepting the "good side" of a religion? Either it's Truth or it's not. The fact that Muslims in the Caucasus are very hospitable is irrelevant. All people contain good points. No one is denying that. What Hirsi Ali is speaking out against is the evil, and she needs the world's support.
Until the truth is out there and is accepted by the world, no one perpetrating this evil will even have a motivation to change.
Brandeis could have been a positive force in this scenario - and chose not to be. The question is aknowledging the Truth. Yes, G-d wills everything into existence - and G-d wants us to choose Truth, not falsehood; and life, not death.
Yehudith Shraga, June 8, 2014 11:24 PM
You have a severe mixing of concepts going on
Dear Anonymous,I'd like to pay your attention on my using of the terms "bright" and "dark" sides instead of "good" and "evil". Bright side of any person,religion,country etc. is their positive impact on the Way of the Humanity towards the World to Come based on the Free Wish to Bestow, while the dark side is the negative impact on the world,which pushes it to the State of Tokhu and Bokhu. If we are clear with these concepts, then we may see that the impact of the Brandeis in the situation is mostly negative,because deciding on something without detailed examination of the subject is below any reasonable standard both for the individual and for the university, BUT their positive impact is that the correcting the mistake is MOST important than even one's reputation in the "eyes" of others.I hope too that the situation is an important lesson of thoughtless choice of candidates for the Honorary Degree(the comments to this article has a lot of examples). It won't be easy for Brandeis to gain a respectable level among those to which opinion one may rely.
As for the activity of Hirsi Ali, no matter which part of her biography is true or false, her courage to speak openly about the dark side of Muslim religion is not a common practice, and it is a positive part of her activity, but the FORM she uses needs a lot of correction.The Sages say Ollam Hessed Ibane(the world will be built on Merciful Love), and that is why they teach us a Three Line Way of Spiritual work:we start with the Left Line, which is our understanding of what is True and False, but them we MUST move to the Right Line=have to believe by the Faith above the Knowledge, that every part of the Creation may be corrected, and then we come to the Middle Line=we make all we are able to change the situation from the getting form into the bestowing one. It takes a lot of courage to state the problem, it takes much more will and bravery to face and undergo the process of correction.
Yehudith Shraga, June 9, 2014 1:31 AM
To speak out the truth and fight against evil and oppression.
Hirsi Ali hasn't told anything new to the world,up till 1992 anthropological knowledge has advanced so greatly,that there was hardly a tribe which they haven't studied and described in details, including the most savage practices one may only imagine.
Hirsi Ali has told the world her personal story,which for sure demands the courage,she has also shared her experience, that mutilation doesn't lessen the sexuality,she has put into words what many Muslim women wish to say and are afraid of speaking aloud.She has stated, as many other before her, the fact that any woman has a right for self-determination in all the fields of the life,she has also published her "speech", which she was going to deliver at Brandeis, and she did it all under the special security protection.
A lot of common Jewish women(and men, of course) leaved a Jewish life in their own country and many foreign countries mostly without ANY PTOTECTION, were ready to be killed, murdered or tortured whenever it suited some of anti-Semitic groups.Turning into other religion or announcing oneself an atheist for many of them were not an option at all.
We do not know if they ever spoke out, and if they had even a chance to fight for their lives and how they managed to withstand everyday oppression, but we know that their Honorable Lives made a Great Difference in this world.
Speaking out the truth and fighting against "evil" and oppression is understood by each and every person in his own way and if you ask a terrorist, a revolutioner or a dissident they are most probably will define their activity in these exactly terms.
The Truth for a Jew is the teaching of our Holy Torah and our Sages. Fighting against evil- is a personal correction from egoistic into bestowing form of life, and their is no bigger oppression than one's own narrow mindedness, following the opinion of others, living the life according popular scenario and being unable to admit one's own mistakes.
(7) Anonymous, June 6, 2014 1:46 AM
Next Step
"The only acceptable response to bona fide controversy is robust dialogue." I would suggest that absent a robust dialogue at Brandeis, the next step ought to be to resign from the Board of Trustees. I am absolutely certain that there are many, many fine universities that have not succumbed to the kind of attacks against free and rational speech that has taken place at Brandeis and would welcome your support.
(6) Jong, June 6, 2014 1:39 AM
What a shame...!!!
I went to Brandeis in the hope to experience the Jewish culture and Judaism, but I found the university hardly related to Judaism, obsessed to religious tolerance, incredibly liberal and more secular than any other schools. Brandeis, however, stands out as an institution supporting diverse sexual orientation, since I heard a lot on LGTB rights. Brandeis will have to stop advertising it as a Jewish institution, because it is not.
(5) Divorah Esther Applebaum, June 6, 2014 1:33 AM
Your assessment of the situation is correct
Given that the same Brandise U. was buddy buddy with that anti-Semitic professior from Ramallah -- I am not surprised at this. Having lived in Israel I became all too familiar with the honor killing murders of arab muslim women by their fathers and brothers in Israel and Jordan in particular. It seems that any woman who comes forward about these crimes against women in the Muslim world in shunned by the mainstream media in the US. Shame on these idiot "Liberal Jews:". Shame on them for ignoring such atrocities against Muslim women in particular. Once a muslim family makes a decision to murder a female member of their family there is no stopping them. Shame on Brandeis. The people who run the show their have divorced themselves both from reality and from the Jewish People.
(4) Anonymous, June 3, 2014 2:06 PM
Brandeiss is a shame to itself
Where are the Jews. Why don;t they speak out, or are they all Muslim supporters now?
Beverly, June 6, 2014 1:48 AM
Oh please...
where are the Jews? Right here in Scottsdale, AZ and like other Jews...totally appalled at your remark and at Brandeiss. There is no Jew who supports Muslims....that is the stupidest statement that I have ever read. Bravo Hirsi Ali and one must be brave in the muslim world to defy Sharia law. I never expected Brandeis to shrink from the right thing to do. Deeply disappointed.
Hugh Kessler, June 7, 2014 4:34 PM
Why are you appalled
You should be appalled by the Jews attending the college and not standing up for freedom of speech, not the person asking the question. As an American Jew, I'm appalled by how Jews vote and support the Democratic Party, as if that is their religion. Whatever happened to voting for the person that will do the most and best for the country. There are good people running in all the parties and there are bad people in all the parties also. How can you say you are appalled with the college if you support liberal views 100%. (I'm not sure that you are liberal, but I would bet you are, since liberals get their feeling hurt if someone states something they don't agree with.) How is you being appalled with the other writer and therefore using words to try to stop that person from making further comments and difference from the college stopping any speaker that does not reflect the views of the college from speaking. If you are a Liberal, just look at what Liberals are doing to the colleges of this country, and ask yourself if this is what you want for America.
Marshall Frank, June 6, 2014 5:00 AM
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY has much to learn about freedom of speach
Brandeis is fortunate to have a trustee by the name of Martin J. Gross. The school would perform a mitzvah by having him speak to and engage in a dialog with all of the faculty and students regarding the narrow-mindedness that so many there have recently displayed. Kudos to Mr. Gross.
David, June 6, 2014 6:14 PM
Of COURSE we Jews support Muslims!!!
Brandeis chose the wrong side of the Islamic world's ongoing civil rights struggle.
The Jewish world's value system naturally leads us to support the oppressed innocent Muslim women.
On the other hand, Brandeis, which claims a Jewish heritage but which obviously conducts itself in a manner deeply contrary to traditional Jewish values, stooped to make common cause with the Islamist establishment that oppresses Muslim women. That is the crux of the issue under discussion here.
(3) DOLLA MATHEE, June 2, 2014 6:57 AM
Hirsi Ali
BRAVO!! TO Martin J. Gross to stand up in the face of 'political correctness' and tell the truth. I don't know the university but it seems to me that they are scared to be attacked by radicals. BRAVO to Hirsi Ali, may more women come out under sharia law and speak out against the abuse to women and young girls.
Anonymous, June 6, 2014 7:33 PM
How Did he Stand Up
Tell me how Mr. Gross stood up to Brandeis. By writing this tepid article? How is that standing up?
(2) David, June 1, 2014 10:26 PM
Wow! Powerful letter--and nice to know someone at that institution has some sense
After witnessing that affair unfold at Brandeis and noting that the only criticism of it came from outside the institution, I had written Brandeis off as intellectually and morally bankrupt. I find Mr. Gross' letter refreshing, and given that he's an insider at Brandeis, hopefully it will help to spur a change there.
Though professing nominal Jewish affiliation, my experience in Boston was that Brandeis stood for extremist secularism rather than Jewish tradition. Perennial biased anti-Israel battleax HDS Greenway, who alternately condemned Israel from the news and opinion pages at the Boston Globe, retired to an honorific office at Brandeis. That appointment, like this sorry episode, clarified just how disingenuous Brandeis claims to a Jewish values identity really are.
To Mr. Gross: Should you determine Brandeis no longer meets your standards for financial support, may I respectfully request you consider making even a relatively small donation to Yeshivas Bais HaChinuch in Monsey, NY? Bais HaChinuch lacks the treasure chest of a major institution like Brandeis, but unlike Brandeis it fills a critical educational niche for the entire metro NYC Jewish community. Yeshiva Bais HaChinuch tuition is a massive burden to young families, comparable to private college, but it's an elementary school with small classes for children who are bright but who have struggled to succeed in a traditional Jewish classroom setting. These children are being inculcated with a real framework of Torah Jewish values, Talmudic inquiry, and secular studies that can prepare them for college, and, most importantly, they're in an environment that is fostering renewed self-esteem so that they will take pride in their academic accomplishment. Both the merit and the need of your support at Yeshiva Bais HaChinuch is heads and shoulders above that for your support of Brandeis, and I beg you to consider seeking that institution out for at least some of your support.
(1) Isahiah62, June 1, 2014 7:26 PM
FIFY
“Thou shalt not offend {Muslims}.” there FIFY- offense to everyone and anyone else is NOT ever dealt with this way