On Dec. 18, the Brandeis American Studies program announced its departure from the American Studies Association, a nationwide collective of American Studies departments at colleges and universities, after the ASA announced its participation in a boycott of Israel's higher education institutions. Brandeis University was the second school to end its partnership, after Pennsylvania State Harrisburg, and joins institutions such as Indiana University and Kenyon College in ending its American Studies Association membership after the decision. 157 colleges and universities have made formal statements in opposition of the boycott. This board supports the decision made by Prof. Thomas Doherty (AMST) and his colleagues to end the partnership and oppose the illogical boycott.
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The ASA is the most prominent institution participating in this boycott, stating that "Israeli academic institutions function as a central part of a system that has denied Palestinians their basic rights." The ASA plans to prevent its member schools from participating in conferences and events sponsored by Israeli universities, but the association's power is purely symbolic. As an academic institution, its only function is to promote dialogue between colleges on American studies, and the boycott prevents even this from being accomplished. 
This decision represents the politicization of an academic association that should be committed to the free exchange of all ideas. By blocking Israeli colleges from participating in scholarly exchange, The ASA contradicts its own constitution, which states that it seeks to promote "the strengthening of relations among persons and institutions in this country and abroad devoted to [American Studies]." 
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While ASA members should be free to make their own choices about political issues, blocking an entire nation from participating in free exchange causes all to suffer, most of all the students who cannot engage in or recieve an Israeli perspective on issues of American culture.
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The boycott has been denounced by the Association of American Universities, which represents 62 schools across the United States and Canada. Telling about the nature of the boycott is a similar rejection by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who stated that he "does not support boycotts of the institutions that the ASA is now targeting."
Brandeis' decision to withdraw from the ASA should be lauded not only for showing the University's continued support of Israel, but more importantly, for showing its commitment to academic integrity and the free exchange of scholarly work. 
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In University President Frederick Lawrence's response to the decision, he stated, "The boycott even defies common sense; what Israeli universities can do that would end the policies that the ASA has condemned is hard to imagine." This board agrees wholeheartedly with Lawrence, and applauds the American Studies program's response to the boycott.