Thank You Reply to UC Berkeley Chancellor Dirks Regarding 43 Group Letter Concerning Vetting Procedure for DeCal Courses at UC Berkeley
September 13, 2016
Dear Chancellor Dirks,
Thank you so much for your leadership in taking swift and decisive action by suspending the egregiously biased DeCal course, “Palestine: A Settler-Colonial Analysis,” pending further review. We also heartily commend the Executive Dean of Letters and Science for her acknowledgement that “any course which espouses a single political viewpoint and/or appears to offer a forum for political organizing” is contrary to “the kind of open academic inquiry that Berkeley is known for.”
We urge you to take additional steps to ensure that this sort of political indoctrination finds no home in the UC Berkeley classroom. Specifically, we ask that the review process for this course, and all new courses at UC Berkeley, explicitly include compliance with the UC Regents Policy on Course Content.
Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
Academic Council for Israel
Accuracy in Academia
Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity (AEPi)
Alums for Campus Fairness
AMCHA Initiative
AMCHA UCLA Alumni
American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
American Institute for Jewish Research
Americans for Peace and Tolerance
Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA)
BEAR: Bias Education, Advocacy & Resources
Bears for Israel
Chabad Jewish Student Group at Berkeley
Club Z
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)
CUFI on Campus
Davis Faculty for Israel
Eagles Wings
Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET)
Fuel For Truth
Hasbara Fellowships
Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel
Iranian American Jewish Federation
Israeli-American Council (IAC)
Israel Peace Initiative (IPI)
Jerusalem U
Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA)
Middle East Forum
National Conference on Jewish Affairs
Middle East Political and Information Network (MEPIN)
Proclaiming Justice to the Nations
Roc4Israel
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Simon Wiesenthal Center
StandWithUs
Stop BDS on Campus
Students and Parents Against Campus Anti-Semitism
Students Supporting Israel at UCLA
The Berkeley Jewish Student Union Executive Board
The Israel Christian Nexus
The Israel Group
The Shofar Project
Zionist Organization of America
Cc: Carol Christ, Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost UC Berkeley
Cathy Koshland, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education UC Berkeley
Robert L. Powell, Chair Academic Senate UC Berkeley
Leslea Hlusko, Chair Academic Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction UC Berkeley
Janet Napolitano, UC President
Aimee Dorr, UC Provost and Executive Vice President
UC Board of Regents
Regent Eddie Island, Chair Committee on Educational Policy UC Board of Regents
Senator Carol Liu, Chair California Senate Standing Committee on Education
Assembly Member Jose Medina, Chair of the California State Assembly Higher Education Committee
Assembly Member Shirley Weber, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate
Senator Marty Block, Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus