RECONSIDERED

CUNY Backtracks on Kushner Snub

Likely to honor playwright despite Israel criticism.

The vindication of Tony Kushner? Benno C. Schmidt, the chairman of the board of the City University of New York has called an executive committee session to reconsider giving the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Angels in America) an honorary degree, an award that was initially withheld due to Kushner’s criticism of Israel. Schmidt said that board members had “made a mistake of principle” by not awarding the degree to Kushner earlier this week. The statement continued, “It is not right for the board to consider politics in connection with the award of honorary degrees except in extreme cases not presented by the facts here.” The executive committee consists of seven of the 17 members on the board. It will most likely approve the awarding of the degree, because several of the executive members had previously voted for it.