Reading the latest President’s Page (“Standing Strong for Academic Freedom,” April 2026), I was struck by President Chris Eisgruber ’83’s tone-deafness to the needs of the moment and the demands of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. A century ago, many considered Germany the global center of academia. It is thanks to the insistence of German academics that hatred for Jews was meritorious, if couched as “Anti-Semitism,” and that its institutions no longer carry the same cachet.
If America’s elite universities wish to demand “academic freedom” to teach that hatred for Jews is meritorious if couched as “Anti-Zionism,” they will fare no better in the eyes of history. And per both Title VI and basic fairness, they deserve nothing from the federal government or from alumni until they undertake needed reforms.
Reading the latest President’s Page (“Standing Strong for Academic Freedom,” April 2026), I was struck by President Chris Eisgruber ’83’s tone-deafness to the needs of the moment and the demands of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. A century ago, many considered Germany the global center of academia. It is thanks to the insistence of German academics that hatred for Jews was meritorious, if couched as “Anti-Semitism,” and that its institutions no longer carry the same cachet.
If America’s elite universities wish to demand “academic freedom” to teach that hatred for Jews is meritorious if couched as “Anti-Zionism,” they will fare no better in the eyes of history. And per both Title VI and basic fairness, they deserve nothing from the federal government or from alumni until they undertake needed reforms.
Rabbi Yaakov (Ken) Menken ’86
Executive vice president, Coalition for Jewish Values