Against the Boycott of Israeli Universities

As President of Montclair State University, I express my strong opposition to the boycott of Israeli universities by certain scholarly associations and, in so doing, I join our peers in the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.  Such boycotts constitute a gross violation and interference with the free exchange of knowledge and ideas among the universities of the world.  Montclair State University has had and will continue to seek successful collaborations with Israeli institutions of higher learning that contribute to the education of students and the scholarly work of faculty.  While members of an academic community in the United States have the right to hold and to express political views, the boycott of academic institutions generates only darkness precisely from the very source that should be generating light. 

Susan A. Cole, President
Montclair State University
January 2014