To the Editor:
Re “CUNY Blocks Honor for Playwright After Trustee Faults His Views on Israel” (news article, May 5):
As president of one of the 15 institutions of higher education that have awarded the playwright Tony Kushner an honorary degree, I feel compelled to respond to the outrageous decision, now being reconsidered, by the City University of New York to deny him this honor because of his alleged political views.
Even if the portrayal of his political ideas were accurate, and it was not, the very act of taking them into account by a university considering a highly deserved academic honor for one of America’s most distinguished artists and thinkers is appalling.
How can we as Americans confront violations of human rights and limitations on freedom of expression by other nations when American institutions whose missions embody the highest ideals of democracy and freedom of thought decide to punish an individual for his political beliefs, whatever they are?
GEORGE CAMPBELL Jr.
President, The Cooper Union
for the Advancement
of Science and Art
New York, May 6, 2011
To the Editor:
If Tony Kushner were a student, no trustee or administrator would have the right to deny him a degree if the requisite requirements were fulfilled.
On the other hand, an honorary degree is wholly within the discretion of the board to grant. It identifies the university with accomplished, generous citizens or public figures. It is also a tool that enhances a university’s image in the educational marketplace.
Mr. Kushner’s degree was opposed by a majority of the CUNY board because he is an extremist. No extremist from any quarter, whether from far left or far right, is a good face for any university.
What makes Mr. Kushner different from other honorees who are known Israel critics among the 450 or so honorary degrees awarded during the 12 years I have been on the board (all of them approved, including with my vote) is that he accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing — a term that crosses the line.
Ethnic cleansing is Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Darfur and Rwanda, to name a few (the American Indians didn’t fare too well, either). If Israel is an ethnic cleanser, how is it that over one million Arabs live better there than in almost any Arab state?
CUNY should remain a place of comfort and welcome for all of our students, faculty and administrators — including supporters of the Jewish state.
JEFFREY S. WIESENFELD
New York, May 5, 2011
The writer is the CUNY trustee who initially raised objections to an honorary degree for Tony Kushner.
To the Editor:
Since 1847, the City University of New York has been a wellspring for home-grown scholarship and creativity from the city’s diverse populations, especially its immigrant communities, among which New York’s Jews were prominent for several generations. No one could be a more appropriate candidate for an honorary degree from one of the university’s schools than Tony Kushner, among the nation’s most distinguished playwrights and a son — a Jewish son — of this city.
It would be appalling if CUNY denied such an honor on the basis of a political litmus test; it would be appalling if the honor were denied because the proposed honoree held outré or extreme views. It is all the more appalling that the denial was based on innuendo and misconstructions of Mr. Kushner’s critique of Israel’s policies.
In fact, Mr. Kushner’s stance is held by a substantial segment of this city’s Jewish population, including this writer.
JUDITH MAHONEY PASTERNAK
New York, May 5, 2011
To the Editor:
As a CUNY graduate, I cannot imagine being more shocked at and ashamed of the spinelessness of the CUNY board in denying Tony Kushner an honorary degree.
Are we to usher in a new kind of McCarthyism in which the exemplary minds of our age have to be vetted for some (irrelevant) politically correct attitudes — correct according to merely a few people?
This decision is an embarrassment to all CUNY students, faculty and graduates. A profound apology is owed to Mr. Kushner.
MICHAEL PARLEY
New York, May 5, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/opinion/l07kushner.html