Ah, that's better: Harvard

Drew Gilpin Faust poses for photographers after being introduced as the 28th president of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 11, 2007. Faust, a celebrated historian, on Sunday became Harvard's first female president since its founding in 1636, succeeding Lawrence Summers whose short tenure was dogged by controversial remarks about women and a faculty revolt. REUTERS/Adam Hunger (UNITED STATES)

A different and less attractive photo from AP includes in its caption that Ms. Dr. Faust "is seen as more collegial than the school's controversial former chief Lawrence Summers."

Larry Summers, you will remember, lost the "fight for the soul of America's oldest and greatest university."

I remain convinced that opposition to Summers was due in largest part to his September 2002 speech about the rise of antisemitism (and that most everything after that was an excuse):

... today, I am less complacent. Less complacent and comfortable because there is disturbing evidence of an upturn in anti-Semitism globally, and also because of some developments closer to home.

Consider some of the global events of the last year:

• There have been synagogue burnings, physical assaults on Jews, or the painting of swastikas on Jewish memorials in every country in Europe. Observers in many countries have pointed to the worst outbreak of attacks against the Jews since the Second World War.
• Candidates who denied the significance of the Holocaust reached the runoff stage of elections for the nation’s highest office in France and Denmark. State-sponsored television stations in many nations of the world spew anti-Zionist propaganda.
• The United Nations-sponsored World Conference on Racism -- while failing to mention human rights abuses in China, Rwanda, or anyplace in the Arab world -- spoke of Israel’s policies prior to recent struggles under the Barak government as constituting ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The NGO declaration at the same conference was even more virulent.

I could go on. But I want to bring this closer to home. Of course academic communities should be and always will be places that allow any viewpoint to be expressed. And certainly there is much to be debated about the Middle East and much in Israel’s foreign and defense policy that can be and should be vigorously challenged.

But where anti-Semitism and views that are profoundly anti-Israeli have traditionally been the primary preserve of poorly educated right-wing populists, profoundly anti-Israel views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities.

Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent.

With all the current hoopla over Harvard's first woman president, few will remember that Larry Summers was its first Jewish president.

In a letter dated February 24, 2006, Harvard Hillel president and director Dr. Bernard Steinberg thanked outgoing University President Lawrence H. Summers for his “unapologetic identification with the Jewish people.” Summers was Harvard’s first Jewish president, and Steinberg wrote that Summers stood firm in his support of the community. But following Summers’ ouster, whether or not Harvard’s next president will be so resolute is less certain.

Good luck to Dr. Faust. At least she doesn't use the Jewish surname of her Jewish husband, Charles Rosenberg. That was a smart move... and very Feminist of her. I'm sure it's much appreciated.