Urging graduates to repair "the public conversation" and rescue society from "grim careerists and ideologues," playwright Tony Kushner on Friday accepted the honorary degree that had briefly been withheld by the city's university system after a trustee accused him of being anti-Israel.
Alluding to the controversy, Kushner said that the honorary doctorate would remain "the most interesting one I had to work hardest to get" and praised the forces that led to his receiving the honor.
"Behind it there stands a shining community of people, of spirits of whom I'm proud to be able to call myself kindred . . . who believe in the necessity of honest exchanges of ideas and opinions, who understand that life is a struggle to synthesize, to find a balance between responsibility and freedom, strategy and truth, survival and ethical humanity," the playwright said.
The board of trustees of the City University of New York voted last month to deny the degree at the urging of trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who denounced the playwright's views on Israel
Wiesenfeld said Kushner had accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing." He didn't quote directly from Kushner's writings but cited Kushner statements that he attributed to the website of controversial political scientist Norman Finkelstein.
Kushner said Wiesenfeld had distorted his position.
Amid an onslaught of criticism, CUNY reversed the decision.