Brooklyn College Alum "Disinherits" School Over Assignment

Brooklyn College alumnus Bruce Kesler has cut his alma mater out of his will over what he is calling an "unacceptable" book assignment. Like most colleges, Brooklyn College requires that incoming freshmen all read one book before they move in; the "common experience" is supposed to help the new class bond. This year the school chose "How Does It Feel To Be A Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America" by Brooklyn College professor Moustafa Bayoumi, whom Kesler describes as a "radical pro-Palestinian." Kesler writes on his blog:

When I attended in the 1960s, Brooklyn College - then rated one of the tops in the country -- was, like most campuses, quite liberal. But, there was no official policy to inculcate students with a political viewpoint. Now there is. That is unacceptable.
...

The author asserts “The core issue [of Middle East turbulence] remains the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” that the post-1967 history of the entire area is essentially that of “imperialism American-style,” and that the US government “limits the speech of Arab Americans in order to cement United States policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Again, preposterous.

Kesler also found two professors who agree with him that the incoming freshman need some more perspective on the issues of being Arab in America. One said, "This is wholly inappropriate. It smacks of indoctrination," while the other, currently on faculty, said, "While our community of learning is committed to freedom of speech and expression, does that require that we must expose new students to the anti-American and anti-Israeli preachings of this professor? At the least, do not our students deserve a balanced presentation?"

A third professor wrote to a Dean at the school, who told him the book was chosen "because it is a well-written collection of stories by and about young Arab Brooklynites whose experiences may be familiar to our students, their neighbors, or the students with whom they will study and work at Brooklyn College." She never replied to follow up e-mails from the professor, demanding that she assign a book with a differing viewpoint. So, is Kesler right in believing that the school should assign a different or contrasting book? And what do you think the reaction would be if the school assigned a book by a pro-Israel author instead? We've contacted Brooklyn College, and will update if they have a statement.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jaya Saxena in News on August 30, 2010 2:20 PM

Comments [rss]

snickerdoodle

Love those peaceful, moderate Muslims.

rdayk

I actually haven't read the book and should not have commented on it. Maybe it does speak to the broader human experience. I suspect it was chosen mainly because it was written by one of their own proffies. But without reading the book, it was a mistake for me to comment on its suitability as Common Reading.

mariposa_3676

1. Brooklyn College has the right to assign whatever book it wants, and Kesler can disown the school if he wants. Fine.

2. I'm glad the kids got assigned this book. After years and years of walking on eggshells around Israel and listening over and over to the Israeli sob-stories, we are finally hearing more and more about the other side of the story. What? Are people afraid that once kids find out Palestine's side of the story they'll no longer be comfortable with paying for Israel's existence? Cry me a river.

Helen Thomas knows the score

in response to the one sensible thing you said....they do share similar origins in ancient times. The first hebrews came from Ur [Babylon], modern day Iraq.

Islam is wholly based on judiasm/christianity...its no more morally conservative or aggressivly expansive than either of those religions.

wow 14th street

Possibly Muslims and Jews were the same people in ancient

times

henceforth the animosity amongst them now.

To bad young Muslim lite in this country don't protest

the lack of democracy in most Muslim countries but a

book in a minor college, wow gets commentary galore.

I wonder why they are a little paranoid about Brooklyn

College?

Cause Muslim Lite would not live 2 weeks in Saudi Arabia

Syria,Iran or elsewhere over dere.

What part of Islamic cultur/male circumcision,wrapping up females in Burka?

Dogsbody

Why is this news? Apologies if this sounds ignorant/naive, but is Bruce Kessler significant in any way? Who is he? This story is essentially "Random guy you've never heard of decides NOT to give his own money to mediocre college."

Also, does no-one else find it kind of weird that a college even has a prescribed book for ALL incoming freshman? Why should someone studying Physics be required to have some "common experience" with someone studying Fine Art or Foreign Languages or Accounting?

From my own personal experiences with CUNY students/grads, it seems like the whole system has messed up priorities. It produces people who can tell you when MLK day is, or why Christopher Columbus was such a bad, bad man, but they can't do basic high school stuff like write in paragraphs or deal with percentages.

mslioness

It's not mediocre...

and it's not about "giving up" money, so you've just wasted 10mn of your life!

Geesh, you're frustrated and angry...

Dogsbody

"It's not mediocre"...Ooops, looks like I've offended someone - I guess you're a Brooklyn College grad?

I guess that's subjective, but I described it as mediocre simply because it's not particularly renowned. I mean it's OK, but it's not Ivy League. I just checked its Wikipedia page, and there is no mention of Brooklyn College being in any top ten/top twenty/top 50 lists or anything like that.

"It's not about "giving up" money"... Hmmm, yes it is actually. The story is about a man deciding not to give his money (in his will) to the college because he disagreed with it's choice of prescribed reading material. You don't even need to read the story to see that -it's right there in the headline. (Note, I am assuming that it was indeed MONEY that he chose to leave behind in his will, not some other posession).

As for being "frustrated and angry"...well that might or might not be the case, but what in my post made you conclude that?

Dogsbody

But anyway, regardless of the status of the college, my point is this: why is this newsworthy? If I choose not to donate my money to my old college because I dislike the range of sandwiches available in the Student Union cafeteria, does that make the news?

Mordicai

Lots of colleges have assigned reading for Freshman. & yeah, I for one support Liberal Arts Education. If you send people in to get business degrees & science degrees & don't expand their education to include some history, some classics, some literature, some art? Then you end up producing technicians, not scientists-- you produce useless people, fundamentally. There is a reason you have to learn some philosophy, & it is so that you can think for yourself & develop some awareness of your context in the world.

Than again, since you ended your post with some race baiting, I'm guessing what I'm saying is falling on deaf ears.

Dogsbody

First off, I didn't mean it to be race baiting. I'm married to someone of mixed race, so I'm hardly a racist. I just think civil rights, equality, diversity etc are all great, but seem to receive a disproportionate amount of emphasis in CUNY education. I think the basics of grammar and arithmetic are equally important (especially since the high-schools don't seem to be doing their job in this respect).

As for your other points, I agree and disagree:

Firstly, a rounded education is a great thing, but I think its just sad that this is still the aim of colleges - it should be achieved in highschool (and through hobbies etc). I've known plenty of people with very specific, focused educations who still have an impressively broad knowledge of other fields. I guess this is more a criticism of NYC public schools than CUNY itself.

Secondly, I don't agree that "technicians" are useless people - they obviously have a very specific use. If I hire an engineer, I want him to be an expert in engineering - not someone who's engineering degree involved spending half his time doing electives in Gender Studies or 19th Century Literature.

Also, I think the sheer lack of basics (i.e. grammar, basic maths) is what constitutes a "useless person". And I know plenty of CUNY grads who can't write in paragraphs, for example, and they certainly also lack any kind of critical thinking skills (despite all their "introduction to french literature 101" courses).

S.K.

When I attended CCNY, one of my professors assigned the Chomsky book Manufactured Consent. Although I believe that Chomsky's writings are nothing more than glorified rubbish, I dutifully read the book, passed the class, and moved on with my life.

As for Moustapha Bayoumi, his praise of his Arab identity comes at the expense of his Egyptian past. Some of my classmates were Copts, Christian Egyptians who spoke of a proud history in resisting Arab cultural and religious domination.

NYCynic

The problem doesn't arise from the text(s) chosen (or passed over). If passing grades were only given to those who agree with the material, then there would be a problem. Unless Mr. Kesler has evidence that this is the case, this is quite a knee jerk reaction.

Thespis

This guy can do whatever he wants with his money. But, still...this is stupid.

The point of higher education is to learn to think -- and reading this book is just the jumping-off point to a larger discussion of a difficult issue. Don't be so damned afraid of different points of view -- they're just the beginning. The students will read it and, if we're lucky, some will agree, some will disagree, and they'll all learn how to sort these things out through discussion and debate. The book isn't the point -- the book is just the background to the discussion. The discussion is the point.

Education isn't indoctrination -- we don't have to figure out some correct, "American" viewpoint to feed young people. In fact, the LAST thing we want to do is feed our young people some set of approved beliefs. Instead, teach them how to learn. Show them difficult ideas, and help them figure out how to address them. Help them figure out how to gain knowledge, how to analyze problems.

Teach them that, and neither "liberal bias" nor the steady stream of Fox News lies will matter -- they'll be above both. Teach them to think, and they'll figure everything else out on their own.

Mr. Know-It-All

Well-said.

hoodlum

This is just a small example of the real problem. The liberal elitist agenda of the higher education system. Most professors in colleges across the country are liberals and don't give our children a fair and balanced education. There needs to be more professors with good CHRISTIAN American values to balance out the liberal slant of our education system.

PKMKII

Oh yeah, that's what we need. In a day and age when America is lagging behind the rest of the world in the sciences, let's hire more professors who think the world is 6,000 years old.

handsomedevil

"There needs to be more professors with good CHRISTIAN American values..."

(In case you aren't kidding) you do know that there are lots of universities with a religious orientation, right? If that's what people want, that's where they should go. It's the free market at work.

Mordicai

Seriously, these hippies are out here preaching communism, demonizing the banking system, & advocating pacifism & racial diversity. We really should get these leftist guys & string them up in public.