Regional Officers Regional Chair Jeffrey S. Robbins Vice Chair David M.

Grossman National Education Committee Chair Esta Gordon Epstein National Outreach and Interfaith Affairs Committee Co-Chair Ginny MacDowell National Leadership Committee Chair Michael N. Sheetz Past Chairs Michael N. Sheetz Esta Gordon Epstein James L. Rudolph Dennis Kanin Ginny MacDowell Carl E. Axelrod Harold W. Schwartz Richard D. Glovsky Judith A. Krupp Lester Gilson* Steven B. Kay William Sapers Bertram Paley* Warren B. Kohn* Simon Scheff A. Raymond Tye* Lawrence Goldberg* Leon Kowal* Jack Gottlieb* Morton Godine* Joseph Finkle* Alan Morse* Hon. David Rose* Abraham A. Cohen* *Deceased Regional Staff Regional Director Robert O. Trestan Community Outreach Associate Regional Director Ilana S. Snapstailer Development Director of Development Barbara S. Gold Education Director of Education Phil Fogelman National Officers National Chair Barry Curtiss-Lusher National Director Abraham H. Foxman

August 23, 2013 Office of the President Dr. Joseph E. Aoun Northeastern University 716 Columbus Place, Suite 620 Boston, MA 02120 Dear President Aoun:

We write in order to express our concern about the allegations itemized and described in considerable detail in the letter recently sent to you by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), to urge Northeastern to promptly conduct a searching investigation of those allegations and to report on the results of that investigation.
Many of the incidents described in the ZOAs letter to you have been described to us as well over the past year. Indeed, we have spoken to or heard from numerous Northeastern students and faculty members who have recounted either these incidents or similar ones. They have described what they perceive to be an atmosphere of intimidation of those who are supportive of Israel, or an official indulgence of anti-Semitism. We recognize that among the difficult issues that Northeastern has to weigh in matters such as this are those relating to the First Amendment and academic freedom. We also appreciate that you, Provost Stephen Director and General Counsel Ralph Martin have treated our concerns and those of Barry Shrage of Combined Jewish Philanthropies with good faith and seriousness. Finally, we are grateful to the University for the concrete steps it has taken over the past several months to address certain of the concerns that have been raised. Nevertheless, the assertions catalogued in ZOAs recent letter cannot, and should not, be dismissed. We regard them with the utmost seriousness, in part because they are consistent with what we ourselves have heard from Northeastern students and faculty members. Indeed, we have discussed these issues with Messrs. Director and Martin in our meetings with them. We are certain that you will agree that the allegations are of a serious nature, and that investigating them thoroughly is extremely important. We strongly encourage Northeastern to investigate the allegations and report on its investigation, and to do so promptly.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Robert Trestan New England Regional Director

Jeffrey Robbins Board Chair, New England Region