Pratt Institute’s faculty governing body narrowly rejected a series of resolutions to have the prestigious Brooklyn-based arts college boycott Israel — during a vote that had initially been set to take place on the first full day of Passover. The Academic Senate rescheduled the vote after facing accusations of discrimination from the Brandeis Legal Center for Human Rights Under Law — a Jewish legal civil-rights advocacy group — as observant professors would have been kept from participating on the holiday. One of the resolutions, which was voted down 14 to 12, asked for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.
Another, also rejected 14 to 12, asked that “Pratt no longer engage in events, activities, agreements, or projects involving Israel, its lobby groups, or its cultural institutions.” A third resolution asked to suspend Pratt’s partnership with Bazel University, Israel’s national school for art and design. It failed, garnering only 11 votes.
The faculty council did pass a resolution — 20 to 6 in favor — asking for Pratt to provide “full transparency regarding institutional investments in Israeli companies or companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine and prepares to divest from these holdings, if any.” A top lawyer at Brandeis Center applauded the Academic Senate’s rejection of the anti-Israel resolutions. “Pratt’s Jewish students, faculty, and staff, many of whom are members of the Brandeis Center, deserve all the cred.
