(New York Jewish Week) Amid a number of calls for Jeffrey Weisenfeld to step down as trustee of the City University of New York after opposing an honorary degree for Tony Kushner, a grass-roots group of academics has come to his defense and criticized the CUNY executive board for choosing, in the end, to honor the playwright. The board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East expressed concern that the CUNY board "collectively refused to come to the defense" of Weisenfeld, who cited Kushner's harsh criticism of Israel as reason not to honor him at graduation next month. In another development, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York wrote to the CUNY board to defend Weisenfeld's right to express his views.
2011-05-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive