The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has joined a growing number of academic organizations and universities that oppose a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

University of Iowa President Sally K. Mason, immediate past chair of the APLU board, is one of the signatories of the statement, issued yesterday by APLU’s leadership.

The statement reads:

“The Executive Committee and President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) strongly oppose the boycott of Israeli academic institutions supported by certain U.S. scholarly organizations.

“The core mission of the academic community is to create and disseminate knowledge through research, teaching, and service. Freedom of inquiry and expression are the foundational principles of this vital work, and free exchange of ideas is its lifeblood. This boycott wrongly limits the ability of American and Israeli academic institutions and their faculty members to exchange ideas and collaborate on critical projects that advance humanity, develop new technologies, and improve health and well-being across the globe.

“Members of the academic community certainly have the right to express their views, but the call for a boycott in this case is severely misguided and wrongheaded. We urge others to express their opposition as well.”

Those signing the APLU statement in addition to Mason are: Randy Woodson, chancellor of North Carolina State University and chair of the APLU board of directors; Teresa Sullivan, president of the University of Virginia and secretary of the APLU Council of Presidents; Jim Clements, president of Clemson University and chair-elect of the APLU board; Bernadette Gray-Little, chancellor of the University of Kansas and chair of the APLU Council of Presidents; and Peter McPherson, president of the APLU.

Mason says, “While I respect the right of all members of the academy to voice their opinions, I categorically oppose boycotts of universities because such tactics undermine academic freedom by curtailing the free exchange of ideas. The University of Iowa holds academic freedom and free expression among its very highest principles.”

The issue has become controversial since the American Studies Association (ASA) voted in December to endorse the boycott. In addition, two smaller scholarly associations, the Association for Asian American Studies and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, also support the boycott.

The UI Department of American Studies has an institutional membership in the ASA. Some universities have withdrawn their memberships in the wake of the controversy.

Department chair Horace Porter says, “When the spring semester starts, Iowa’s Department of American Studies will, at its first opportunity, thoroughly discuss the boycott’s implications and ramifications and evaluate its own standing in the ASA.”

Mason says that this is a matter for the department faculty to decide. “I will respect whatever position they decide to take,” she says.