Harvard University will keep a Jewish history professor who signed a letter calling Israel a “regime of apartheid” as the co-chair of the presidential antisemitism task force, according to Jewish Insider.
Interim Harvard President Alan Garber announced the creation of an antisemitism task force on Friday, with Professor Derek Penslar as one of the leaders of the group. Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman criticized the decision, but the school has decided to keep Penslar on as co-chair, according to Jewish Insider.
“Professor Derek Penslar is a renowned scholar of modern Jewish and Israeli history who is highly regarded as a leading authority in his field. He is widely respected across the Harvard community as someone who approaches his research and teaching with open-mindedness and respect for conflicting points of view and approaching difficult issues with care and reason. He is deeply committed to tackling and improving the experience of Jewish students at Harvard,” Harvard told the Insider in a statement.
“Interim President Garber believes that the effort to combat antisemitism at Harvard will benefit from a variety of perspectives and experiences, including those offered by co-chairs Professors Raffaella Sadun and Derek Penslar and through other members who will be named to the task force,” the statement continued.
The task forces announced by Garber, one of which will combat antisemitism and the other Islamophobia, will look at the “recent history and current manifestations of bias” and “the root causes of and contributing factors to bias-based behaviors on campus,” according to a Friday press release. The groups will recommend “approaches to combat bias and to mitigate its impact on campus.”
Harvard created a separate antisemitism task force after a rise in antisemitic activities on campus following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. Rabbi David Wolpe quit the group in December.
Penslar defended former Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned on Jan 2. after several accusations of plagiarism and criticism over her handling of antisemitism at the university. He spearheaded a faculty letter in December calling on the university to not remove Gay from the presidency.
Harvard and Penslar did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Brandon Poulter on January 23, 2024
