STATEMENT OF JOEL KOVEL REGARDING HIS TERMINATION BY BARD COLLEGE

[Jefferson23]

STATEMENT OF JOEL KOVEL REGARDING HIS TERMINATION BY BARD COLLEGE

2009 | joelkovel.org

_Introduction_

In January, 1988, I was appointed to the Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies at Bard College. As this was a Presidential appointment outside the tenure system, I have served under a series of contracts. The last of these was half-time (one semester on, one off, with half salary and full benefits year-round), effective from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2009. On February 7 I received a letter from Michèle Dominy, Dean of the College, informing me that my contract would not be renewed this July 1 and that I would be moved to emeritus status as of that day. She wrote that this decision was made by President Botstein, Executive Vice-President Papadimitriou and herself, in consultation with members of the Faculty Senate.

This document argues that this termination of service is prejudicial and motivated neither by intellectual nor pedagogic considerations, but by political values, principally stemming from differences between myself and the Bard administration on the issue of Zionism. There is of course much more to my years at Bard than this, including another controversial subject, my work on ecosocialism (/The Enemy of Nature/). However, the evidence shows a pattern of conflict over Zionism only too reminiscent of innumerable instances in this country in which critics of Israel have been made to pay, often with their careers, for speaking out. In this instance the process culminated in a deeply flawed evaluation process which was used to justify my termination from the faculty.

_A brief chronology_

* 2002. This was the first year I spoke out nationally about Zionism. In October, my article, “Zionism’s Bad Conscience,” appeared in /Tikkun/. Three or four weeks later, I was called into President Leon Botstein’s office, to be told my Hiss Chair was being taken away. Botstein said that he had nothing to do with the decision, then gratuitously added that it had not been made because of what I had just published about Zionism, and hastened to tell me that his views were diametrically opposed to mine.
* 2003. In January I published a second article in /Tikkun/, “’Left-Anti-Semitism’ and the Special Status of Israel,” which argued for a One-State solution to the dilemmas posed by Zionism. A few weeks later, I received a phone call at home from Dean Dominy, who suggested, on behalf of Executive Vice-President Dimitri Papadimitriou, that perhaps it was time for me to retire from Bard. I declined. The result of this was an evaluation of my work and the inception, in 2004, of the current half-time contract as “Distinguished Professor.”

remainder in full here: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=2710

[Jim Sagle]

1. Whadda fuckin' nutjob.

[Jefferson23]

2. Who is, the people responsible for terminating Kovel?

[Jim Sagle]

4. Bzzzzttttt....wrong answer.

[Jefferson23]

5. Nah, it is you who has it wrong. I attempted to give you the benefit

of the doubt as all, oh well. More on Kovel, "Controversy regarding Overcoming Zionism

The American distributor of Kovel's book Overcoming Zionism, the University of Michigan Press, temporarily suspended distribution of the book in August 2007 after accusations of anti-semitism. Philip Pachoda, Director of the University of Michigan Press, characterized Kovel's book as "hate speech."<4> Three members of the University's board of Regents criticized distribution of Kovel's book on the grounds that it "“debases the press’ franchise and leaves the press and the university open to damage.” <5> Betsy Kellman, director of the Michigan Anti-Defamation League chapter described the book as dealing in "anti-Semitic canards."<6> A group of six pro-Israel organizations, including the National Christian Leadership Council for Israel and the Michigan chapters of the American Jewish Congress, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and B'nai Brith, issued a statement describing Kovel's book as "often anti-Semitic in nature."<7>

Nevertheless, the University of Michigan Press "voted unanimously" in October 2007 to continue distributing books with Kovel's publisher, Pluto Press, overturning the original suspension. This came after what Democracy Now! called a "growing campaign led by fellow academics and civil libertarians", including historian Howard Zinn.<8> Zinn wrote a letter on behalf of the Committee for an Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ) - a group formed in September 2007 to support Kovel immediately and then organise a conference "that will address both the issue of suppression and Zionism itself"<9> - urging the end of the suspension, which he blamed on an "ultra-Zionist group called StandWithUs" with links to Campus Watch; he described Overcoming Zionism as "serious, well researched work espousing a humanistic resolution".<10> CODZ, who's Honourary Co-Chairs include Zinn and Norman Finkelstein<11>, further claimed to have "successfully solicited hundreds of letters in support of continuing the distribution agreement with Pluto Press Publications".<9> Other groups, such as Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) at the University of Michigan, also supported Kovel.<12>

Following a review of its arrangements with all outside publishers, the University of Michigan Press announced in June 2008 that it will sever its ties with Pluto Press when the current contract expires at the end of 2008, which will end UMP's distribution of Kovel's book. <13>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Kovel

[Jim Sagle]

7. You're not in POSITION to give me the benefit of the doubt.

Kovel is a self-hating academic bozo. Fuck'm with David Duke's dick.

[Jefferson23]

8. Yea but I was, that is why I asked you the question. Kovel is self hating because he doesn't share

your views? The David Duke remark is desperate on your part, perhaps this is just not a serious subject for you.

[Jim Sagle]

9. No more serious than life and death.

[Jefferson23]

10. Yes, free speech, dissenting views, can very well be a matter of

life and death. Unfortunately, Bard failed miserably here with respect to Kovel.

[Jim Sagle]

11. Kovel failed miserably in what I'm sure was a very hard test for him.

He deflected the world's relentless hate inward.

[Ken Burch]

15. Are you honestly saying every Jew is OBLIGATED to be a Zionist?

Where do you get that?

Nobody expects everyone of Irish descent to be a militant in the IRA.

[Jim Sagle]

18. No, but what would you say about someone of Irish descent

who obsessed on the flaws of Irish society and concluded that Ireland was the worst country in the world?

[Ken Burch]

21. You don't know that many Irish people, apparently.

Many of them, including many of the leading lights of Irish literature past and present, devote themselves to doing just that.

And a lot of Americans to that with THIS country.

All Kovel is doing is holding Israel, a country that presents itself as THE alpha and omega of Jewishness, to the same high standards he'd hold anybody else. That isn't self-loathing, it's integrity.

I admire all people who hold what they believe in to the highest standards. All such people are heroes.

Besides, we're LONG past the time in which Israel is the guarantor of the safety of the world's Jewish communities. These days its government and its apologists mainly endangers them by using Jewishness as a shield to defend everything it does. It isn't healthy when ANY government insists that it can never be criticized.

[Jefferson23]

16. Yea right, he couldn't possibly believe differently without self hate?

Unsubstantiated assumption on your part.

[Ken Burch]

14. You can't really be arguing that Israeli security policy has to be defended or all Jews will die.

That's insane and you know it.

Zionism didn't do a damn thing to help the victims of the Holocaust. And if the state had existed during World War II Hitler would simply have carpet bombed it(with nobody doing anything to stop him). So what the hell are you talking about?

[Jim Sagle]

19. I'm simply saying that views like his, which are so RELENTLESSLY negative,

get amplified, repeated, and amplified again. That is not a good thing.

[Ken Burch]

22. The man is only negative about what deserves negativity.

If you don't like the negativity, you should work to get the Israeli government to change the things that provoke it. Nothing Kovel criticizes is essential for the survival of that state.

Having said that, I'm grateful that you've actually chosen to have a discussion with me this time. See how much more reasonable we can be to each other when you do that?

[Jim Sagle]

26. Since when have I ever been unreasonable?

;)

[bemildred]

3. "Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies"

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266986/Alger-Hiss

[azurnoir]

6. That title made me do a double take n/t

[Ken Burch]

24. Do they have the "Whittaker Chambers Endowment for Agricultural Research"?

n/t.

[bemildred]

25. Or the "Rosenberg chair for Public Diplomacy" nt

[LeftishBrit]

27. Better than a few of the posts at my university...

We have a 'Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication' and a 'Robert Maxwell Fellow in Politics'. Yes, really.

[bemildred]

28. Oooog. nt

[LeftishBrit]

12. According to the university, the firing was for economic reasons

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/19/kovel


He never had tenure, only renewable contracts, the last one of which will not be renewed. (He will receive emeritus status, however.)

While Bard officials did not respond to inquiries, President Botstein did send Kovel a letter that included in it permission to release it, which Kovel did at this reporter's request. In the letter Botstein notes that Bard is eliminating a number of part-time positions to try to preserve full-time professorships, and that -- had finances remained "flush" -- Kovel's contract probably would have been renewed.

"To take what is self-evidently a result of economic constraint and turn it into a trumped-up case of prejudice and political victimization insults not only your intelligence but the intelligence of your readers," Botstein writes. He goes on to thank Kovel for teaching at Bard and to say that he was never offended by having someone with his views on the faculty. "I am delighted that you hold views that many consider wrong or dangerous. You are not as controversial as you would like to believe."


Do I believe them? I don't know. But I know from long experience and observations of university life (in Britain) that:

(a) Universities are often short of money; have been for a long time under pressure to run 'like businesses'; and can be very ruthless about economizing on staff in hard times. An increasing number of staff over the years have been non-tenured staff on temporary contracts, easy to dismiss when times get hard. (Part of the general move to what I call a 'non-tenured society'.)

(b)It's not at all unknown for a powerful academic to turn against staff who offend them in some way; challenge a pet theory; don't obey them sufficiently; are rivals of a favoured individual; etc. The idea that the Ivory Towers of Academe are full of gentle unworldly individuals obsessed with abstract truth is often very far from the reality. Sometimes I get the impression from this forum that the *only* way to attract a workplace bully is to hold the wrong views on Israel. There are plenty of other ways!

So Kovel may be being penalized for his views on Israel - but he's more likely IMO to be a victim of cost-cutting or of university politics with a small 'p'.

[LeftishBrit]

13. In looking up the situation, I came across this interesting joint project between Bard and Al-Quds

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5941/bard-college-and-al-quds-university-to-open-joint-college

Jerusalem — Bard College, in New York, and Al-Quds University, in East Jerusalem, will open a joint college in September, modeled on the college Bard opened in Russia with St. Petersburg University a decade ago....

The Al-Quds Bard Honors College for Liberal Arts and Sciences, as it will be known, will eventually accept 100 new students each year for the four-year course. The first 60 students are expected to enroll this fall and will be awarded joint degrees from Al-Quds and Bard. The self-standing autonomous college is recruiting an entire new faculty and will occupy a building on the Al-Quds campus originally built to house the Palestinian Parliament and Yasir Arafat’s office. Applications for the founding dean of the new college, who is expected to speak both English and Arabic, have been requested by the end of February.

Bard and Al-Quds are also planning a joint program offering a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) and a model high school. “The honors college and M.A.T. programs are to be launched in summer 2009 and will be located on the Abu Dis Campus of Al-Quds University. The model school is scheduled to open in fall 2010,” according to a job announcement for a project coordinator advertised on Bard College’s Web site...


Plans for the new college were made final in a joint memorandum signed by Bard’s president, Leon Botstein, and Al-Quds’s president, Sari Nusseibeh, during a visit to Bard by Mr. Nusseibeh and his senior colleagues in August 2008. Half of the $3-million budget for the first two years is being donated by the George Soros Foundation, with the balance coming from Bard’s fund-raising programs.'


There definitely need to be more projects like this!

[Jefferson23]

17. Yes, for the most part Bard has always provided a progressive learning environment.

The Kovel situation is a nasty stain on an otherwise wonderful institution of higher learning.

[Jefferson23]

20. I personally don't believe them, and money for Bard, even during these

economic times I have strong doubts that their decision was influenced by any budget concerns. What I find very curious is why Bard's chaplain was involved in the evaluation at all.

[iconicgnom]

23. Of course they say that.

"Cost efficiency" is a neutral, elusively general rationale. If I were giving a press release I'd say something like that, along those lines - if someone's job had just been terminated and questions were asked after accusations had been made.

That said, I think I'd like to have a tenured spot at Bard College.
http://www.bard.edu/about/location/

Now, on the topic of Zionism, I confess that I don't fully understand the Zionist rationale. The intricacies of it aren't that important to me, and I haven't read any of Kovel's work.

I understand it even less after reading Jim Sagle's remark: "Kovel failed miserably in what I'm sure was a very hard test for him. He deflected the world's relentless hate inward." What test is this? How does the existence of this fantastic "test" relate to the cronology of events listed by Kovel, terminating his employment at Bard? If I were to read a line like "He deflected the world's relentless hate inward" in a religiously oriented poem, I might imagine it said of a Christ-like or Satan-like character (my simile shouldn't be offensive to religious people!). A character for whom emotions of one's own and of others are objects that can be controlled, e.g. as a river can be controlled by dams, fishways, canals, diversions, and so for whom such channeling of "the world's" emotions was portentous. Something of the nature of a topic for a sermon or poem of some religious sort. But what justifies or explains the application of such language to Kovel, and what the fuck does this have to do with a fantastic "test" that Kovel was supposedly undergoing?

In fact, Jim Sagle's remark is a total brainstopper.

[GoesTo11]

29. Some adjunct gets let go and it's big news?

If he was any good in the first place he would've gotten tenure and there wouldn't be any layoff to argue about. None of the hired help has a very secure job these days.