The Punchline Writes Itself

Joel Kovel a self-described eco-socialist and Jewish anti-Zionist used to teach at Bard College. No longer. He was dismissed from his position on Feb. 7. He has now posted a font color="#000000">web letter< presenting himself as an innocent victim of political persecution. Among his bold stances: leading a protest against an on-campus performance by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. (Kovel was especially affronted that the orchestra opened its performance by playing the American and then Israeli national anthems. Can't have that!) 

So that's the setup. Now comes the punchline. The exact title of the job from which Kovel was fired? The Alger Hiss Chair of Social Studies. 

Still, you almost have to agree that Kovel has some kind of valid complaint. If we're going to name chairs after Alger Hiss, people like Joel Kovel are exactly the sort of person who ought to fill them. As to the professor's own personal future? Surely there must be some college out there looking to fill an OJ Simpson Chair of Criminal Law?

UPDATE: Ron Radosh corrects me. Kovel was removed from the Alger Hiss chair at Bard many years ago. Since then, his position at Bard was an adjunct one. Better punchline: Bard's Alger Hiss chair is now filled by Jonathan Brent, editor of Yale University Press's distinguished Annals of Communism series. At his hiring interview, Radosh tells me, Brent said: "There is something you need to know. I think Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy." More details on Ron's blog, here.