Indiana U. to Withdraw from American Studies Group

A third university has announced it will withdraw from the American Studies Association in the aftermath of a vote by the organization to back a boycott of Israeli universities. A growing number of presidents have condemned the boycott, but Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie went a step further and said the university would immediately contact the ASA to withdraw as an institutional member. 

"Boycotts such as these have a profound chilling effect on academic freedom, and universities must be clear and unequivocal in rejecting them," McRobbie said in a statement.

Higher education organizations that have condemned the boycott include the Association of American Universities, the Association for Jewish Studies and the American Association of University Professors. Two other universities, Brandeis University and Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, have also announced plans to end their institutional membership in the ASA.