SJ0059 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0059 LRB098 20436 GRL 56246 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Freedom of thought and expression is at the heart of our academic communities; boycotts of academic institutions threaten the free flow of ideas that is the lifeblood of the worldwide community of scholars; and

WHEREAS, Students of the State of Illinois need to have access to a global education, which is prohibited by academic boycotts of any particular country; and

WHEREAS, Singling out one nation for a boycott on purported human rights grounds, while ignoring nations with egregious human rights records, is a disturbing trend among some segments of the scholarly world, and, in the context of unfairly targeting only the nation of Israel, further raises questions of anti-Semitism; and

WHEREAS, Numerous university presidents in Illinois, including the presidents of DePaul University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois system, including the University of Illinois campuses at Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield, have publicly condemned and rejected a recent resolution proposing an academic boycott of Israeli institutions; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we call upon all college and university presidents in Illinois to publicly condemn academic boycotts because of the threat it proposes to academic freedom, access to international education for the students of Illinois, and opportunities for scholarly exchange and joint research projects for Illinois universities and their faculty members; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we commend those university presidents who have spoken out against academic boycotts of recognized global institutions of learning.