Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Alice Walker has been outspoken about Israel and its relationship to Palenstine, going as far as refusing to allow her works to be translated and sold in Israel.

After some of the school’s donors removed funds due to her stance, Walker was been disinvited as a speaker at the University of Michigan.

Here’s the message Walker received as well as part of her response:

 

“I’m saddened to write this because I’m a proponent of free speech and have been brought up to allow everyone to have their say. But I also realize that there are other considerations that institutions are faced with. This afternoon I was contacted by the University of Michigan instructing me to withdraw their invitation due to the removal of funding from the donors, because of their interpretation of Ms. Walker’s comments regarding Israel. They are not willing to fund this program and the university/Women’s center do not have the resources to finance this on their own. They are deeply regretful but I wanted to let you know immediately either way. I hope you can appreciate the fact that I’m uncomfortable even having to send this email in the first place. Hopefully we can work together again down the road. Thanks for understanding. I wish things had turned out differently.”

 

I so appreciate the tone of the agent’s letter, alerting my assistant and me to this situation. It isn’t hard to imagine how he feels, having been so enthusiastic about getting me to come to help the women celebrate a major milestone in their many struggles for education and equality. But there is a bright side: Such behavior, as evidenced by the donors, teaches us our weakness, which should eventually (and soon) show us our strength: women must be in control of our own finances. Not just in the family, but in the schools, work force, and everywhere else. Until we control this part of our lives, our very choices, in any and every area, can be denied us.

 

Read more at Speak Out.

 

Thoughts on this story?

Should universities and other institutions remove invitations and other appointments when their donors don’t like a particular political stance?

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