Ministry and French embassy call Executive Board over cancellation of Eva Illouz

Both the French embassy and the Dutch Ministry of Education have contacted the Executive Board of Erasmus University regarding the cancellation of a lecture by sociologist Eva Illouz by the Erasmus Love Lab, Bredenoord told the University Council on Tuesday.

Exactly what the embassy official asked or told Bredenoord is unclear. The embassy could not be reached on Wednesday. The ministry confirmed that a civil servant called the Executive Board president. In the University Council, the president implied that ‘phone calls and emails from various directions’ prompted the Executive Board (EB) to look into the matter, ultimately leading to the publication of an apology letter to the French-Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz.

‘Possible discrimination’

The council asked the Executive Board about the reasons behind the decision to write the letter. The lecture was cancelled by the Erasmus Love Lab in early October, as some team members felt ‘uncomfortable’ about the invitation, due to the position Illouz has at the Hebrew University. That is one of three Israeli universities with which Erasmus University has frozen institutional ties, because of the risk of involvement in human rights violations in Gaza.

According to Bredenoord, the Executive Board was aware of the cancellation even before the article appeared in NRC, but only later it became clear to the EB that this could be ‘a case of discrimination’. Several emails and phone calls pointed the Board in that direction. Bredenoord cited the French embassy and the ‘assistant to the minister’ as examples, although according to a ministry spokesperson, the call was only intended to verify media reports.

Impact on Illouz

The Executive Board then contacted the Legal Affairs department, which warned that – even if not intended that way – the cancellation could be seen as discrimination. “We were also concerned about the impact the cancellation had on Illouz personally”, Bredenoord said in the council. “That’s why we wrote a letter of apology.”

A council member who openly wondered how the cancellation could be seen as discriminatory, quickly dropped the point. The University Council had agreed to discuss only the procedure followed, not the substance of the matter.

Love Lab not directly involved

So the question went unanswered. Bredenoord did explain that the Executive Board does not determine researchers’ invitation policies, but that ‘there’s a difference between not inviting someone and actively uninviting someone’. “Uninviting – I prefer not to say cancelling because of the connotation – is a serious step”, said Bredenoord. She partly took the blame for the fact that due to the institutional freeze, the Love Lab team thought individual invitations were no longer advisable. “We need to explain more clearly that that’s not an issue at all”, Bredenoord promised.

The Love Lab was not involved by the Executive Board in drafting the apology letter. Nor did the Board directly ask the team about the situation, Bredenoord said during the council meeting. “We spoke with the dean, that’s how our organisation operates.” Rector magnificus Jantine Schuit added: “The dean informed us of what had happened within the team.”

Apology on behalf of the university

Schuit stressed that the apology letter was written on behalf of the university, not on behalf of an individual or the Love Lab. The Executive Board also contacted Illouz directly, inviting her to give a masterclass on academic freedom for executive boards. It is not known whether Illouz has accepted the invitation.

Correction 15 December: Previously, the university informed EM that Annelien Bredenoord had personally received a call from the French embassy. It later turned out that a university staff member spoke to the embassy on the phone.