Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We are pleased to invite you to the founding meeting of what we hope will become a large and vibrant Stanford Chapter of the national faculty organization Scholars for Peace in the Middle East(SPME).
Date: November 14th
Time: 12:00 – 1:30PM (Lunch will be served)
Location: Seminar Room 351, Economics Department (Landau Bld.)
Participation: By invitation only (but feel free to bring interested colleagues).
Please RSVP by November 10th so we can inform the caterer.
About SPME:
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is an independent, faculty-driven, not-for-profit, “big-tent” grassroots community of scholars with well over 19000 academics and members receiving our SPME Faculty Forum on over 1000 campuses worldwide. Over 20 of these campuses now have their own and chapters are forming in a number of countries as well. (See: spme.org ). The peace we seek in the Middle East is consistent both with Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state within safe and secure borders, and with the rights and legitimate aspirations of her neighbors. Our mission is to inform, motivate, and encourage faculty to use their academic skills and disciplines on campus, in classrooms, and in academic publications to develop effective responses to the ideological distortions, including anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist slanders, that poison debate and work against peace. SPME welcomes scholars from all disciplines, faiths groups and nationalities who share our desire for peace and our commitment to academic integrity and honest debate. SPME believes there is room for negotiation. SPME is trying to counterbalance the well-documented and increasing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces that have made their way to the college campuses today, as SPME believes they do not contribute to peace for anyone affected. SPME agrees with Thomas L. Friedman who wrote, “Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.” Campus Hypocrisy.
Kenneth L. Marcus,
Staff Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Mr. Marcus has supervised the preparation of numerous civil rights publications, including Campus Anti-Semitism (2006), and is the author of several academic articles, including Anti-Zionism As Racism: Campus Anti-Semitism and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, published in 2007.
Kenneth L. Marcus is the Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Appointed by the President of the United States with the concurrence of the Commission, Mr. Marcus is an experienced civil rights attorney, litigator, and leader. As Director, he serves as the agency’s chief executive officer, responsible for providing leadership and direction to the agency’s staff. In this position, Mr. Marcus continues his long-time work of combating discrimination and working on behalf of those who have been denied basic constitutional and civil rights. At the Commission, Mr. Marcus has supervised the preparation of numerous civil rights publications, including Campus Anti-Semitism (2006), Voting Rights Reauthorization and Enforcement (2006), Disparity Studies as Evidence of Discrimination in Federal Contracting (2006), Reauthorization of the Temporary Provisions of the Voting Rights Act (2006), The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (2006), Federal Procurement After Adarand (2005), Funding Federal Civil Rights Enforcement (2005), and The Economic Stagnation of the Black Middle Class (2005).
Mr. Marcus is also the author of several academic articles, including Anti-Zionism As Racism: Campus Anti-Semitism and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, published by the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal (2007).
Prior to joining the Department of Education, Mr. Marcus served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. As head of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), Mr. Marcus was the principal civil rights advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and oversaw the work of FHEO’s 54 offices. As HUD’s civil rights chief, Mr. Marcus developed initiatives regarding predatory lending, post-9/11 harassment, and targeted housing discrimination.
Before entering public service, Mr. Marcus served as a litigation partner in two major law firms. In the courtroom, he was known for his successful representation of individuals who had been denied constitutional and civil rights, including rights protected under the First Amendment.
Mr. Marcus is a graduate of Williams College, magna cum laude, and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). He and his wife and daughter live in Leesburg, Virginia.
