The faculty meeting on Tuesday, March 11, concluded with a motion put forth by professor of religious studies Erik Davis to remove the University of Haifa and Hebrew University of Jerusalem from Macalester’s pre-approved list of study away programs. Immediately after the motion was seconded, another faculty member successfully motioned to table the vote until the faculty meeting on April 8.
“This question has been discussed for quite some time now, and it seemed useful to me to schedule a vote by the faculty on the matter, rather than continue to engage in non-binding discussion,” Davis wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly. “My hope is that the faculty can take up the matter, deliberate on the matter, and take a binding vote at the next meeting.”
According to Presiding Officer of the Faculty Tom Varberg, this motion puts the decision regarding Macalester’s support of the two Israeli universities as pre-approved study away programs into the faculty’s hands.
“The faculty control the curriculum,” Varberg said. “I’ve looked at the study away web page… so those two [universities] would be removed [if faculty vote to pass the motion].”
However, removing these two programs from Macalester’s pre-approved list would not prevent Macalester students from applying to these programs. Macalester students can apply to any study away program they choose, though the Center for Study Away (CSA) requires students to submit a Non-Approved Program Request for programs that are not institutionally sponsored.
Earlier in the meeting, Educational Policy and Governance (EPAG) Committee Chair Mario Solis-Garcia presented EPAG’s Resolution on continuing to list University of Haifa and Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Macalester’s list of pre-approved study away programs. The Resolution states EPAG that Macalester’s faculty support the continued listing of these two programs. It was introduced with the intention of having faculty vote on it during the April faculty meeting.
Seven faculty members and two students make up the committee’s nine voting members who voted to approve the Resolution, with five in favor and four opposed. EPAG then voted, also with a five-to-four majority, to present their Resolution before the faculty for approval.
EPAG’s recommendation is a response to Mac for Palestine’s study away proposal submitted in May 2024, which seeks to remove said study away programs in Israel from the pre-approved program list. This proposal was initially reviewed by the Social Responsibility Committee (SRC). In October 2024, the SRC concluded that removing programs from the pre-approved study away list fell within the jurisdiction of EPAG, the Faculty Advisory Council (FAC) and the Study Away Review Committee (SARC).
EPAG’s semester-long process of evaluating this aspect of Mac for Palestine’s Study Away proposal entailed inviting proponents and critics of the proposal portal, as well as President Suzanne Rivera, to their meetings.
“By the end of the semester, [EPAG] had realized a couple of things,” Solis-Garcia said. “One, we had a lot of information coming from all the affected parties. Two, it wasn’t really a clear slam dunk decision to delist or to keep [the University of Haifa and Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the pre-approved list].”
In an effort to elevate the perspectives that they had spent the semester considering, EPAG introduced a period of informal discussion open to all members of the Macalester community during the February faculty meeting. EPAG also circulated a document listing what they saw as the pros and cons of delisting the two universities prior to this month’s faculty meeting.
“At least hearing that conversation that took place in February, and having room for a frank, open, civilized discussion between two parties that don’t agree… I think that was a big win,” Solis-Garcia said.
According to Solis-Garcia, EPAG’s Resolution was presented as “taking the temperature” to determine whether faculty should proceed to motion on removing the two Israeli universities from Macalester’s pre-approved list. Due to complexities related to the rules of order that govern faculty meetings, Davis’s motion is considered “unfinished business” and will be addressed before EPAG’s Resolution in next month’s meeting.
Solis-Garcia sees it as unlikely that EPAG’s Resolution will remain on the April faculty meeting agenda, but he won’t have a definitive answer until the committee has an opportunity to discuss this matter during their meeting on Thursday, March 13.
“I would still need to talk with my committee members, but it would be really surprising if someone says, ‘No, let’s keep [EPAG’s Resolution] anyway,” Solis-Garcia said.
Faculty meetings are open to all current Macalester students, faculty and staff, unless a faculty member motions to close the meeting and faculty vote to approve this motion. Macalester’s April 11 faculty meeting will occur from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the Alexander G. Hill Ballroom of Kagin Commons, where faculty will vote on whether to remove the two Israeli universities from the college’s pre-approved list of study away programs.
