[Linganth] seeking your support for an online petition

[D Tannen Assistant]

 Dear Colleagues and Friends,


I'm writing to invite you to sign an online petition now circulating among
AAA members.

*The petition is to allow all AAA members to vote on a change to the AAA
bylaws to prevent any systematic boycotts of any nation's academic
institutions due to their nationality*. As you have probably guessed, those
who drafted the petition were prompted to do so by last spring's vote by
26% of AAA members to boycott Israeli academic institutions—a vote that
produced an AAA-wide policy now in place for the organization, despite only
a quarter of the membership having voted in favor of it. However, the
current petition does not mention Israel nor any other nation, but rather
is meant as a broader policy. No matter your thoughts about the current
crisis in the Mid-East, this by-law is based on the general principle that
it’s counterproductive and wrong to punish fellow academics for what their
government is doing.

For this new resolution to be put to a vote by the full AAA membership, 250
current AAA members are needed to sign. (Around 200 have already done so.)
If the logic of the proposed new by-law makes sense to you as a general
guiding principle for the AAA—or if you believe that all members should
have the chance to indicate whether or not they believe it makes
sense--please consider signing the petition online. If you sign it here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScPALxzTPs_5EQRH8-sBUDvokMn2PGBtNsTe3AW97dmygcW4Q/viewform?usp=sf_link>,
your name will be publicly visible to any who sign the petition (you can
also see the signatories after you sign); if you sign it here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehrThck9qSkB-qKhWglu74gbGmZEmXAuxTmxHzijpFc8hpsA/viewform?usp=sf_link>,
your name will not be visible publicly, only recorded as Anonymous (the AAA
Executive Board would see your name, in order to verify your AAA membership
status). Clicking either link will give you access to a fuller discussion
of the thinking behind the proposed by-law change, whether or not you
decide to sign.

Please note, again, that the proposed new by-law makes no mention of any
specific country, and also that the current petition is not to make the
by-law change now but rather to give the full AAA membership the
opportunity to vote on whether or not to support such a change.

All best,

Deborah
_____________
Deborah Tannen
Georgetown University
202.687.5910
www.deborahtannen.com
(*she/hers*)
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