Women’s Rights Activist Criticizes Brandeis’s Decision to Cancel Her Honorary Degree

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a women’s rights advocate and critic of Islam, said in a statement on Wednesday that Brandeis University had betrayed the principles of freedom of expression and religion by rescinding an invitation to her to receive an honorary degree.

“Neither Brandeis nor my critics knew or even inquired as to what I might say,” Ms. Hirsi Ali said in the statement. “They simply wanted me to be silenced. I regret that very much.”

As reported on Wednesday, Brandeis withdrew its invitation to Ms. Hirsi Ali because of her past statements about Islam, saying they did not reflect the university’s core values. The university had been sharply criticized for extending an invitation to honor Ms. Hirsi Ali at its commencement on May 18.

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York TimesAyaan Hirsi Ali in 2007.

A native of Somalia, Ms. Hirsi Ali rebelled against a Muslim upbringing in which she endured genital cutting and her family tried to force her into an arranged marriage. She moved to the Netherlands, where she was later elected to Parliament. After she and Theo van Gogh made a film critical of Muslim treatment of women, they received death threats, and Mr. van Gogh was murdered.

First known as a campaigner for women’s rights, she has also become known for sharp comments about Islam, including calling it a “nihilistic cult of death” and “the new fascism.”

The full text of Ms. Hirsi Ali’s statement:

Yesterday Brandeis University decided to withdraw an honorary degree they were to confer upon me next month during their Commencement exercises. I wish to dissociate myself from the university’s statement, which implies that I was in any way consulted about this decision. On the contrary, I was completely shocked when President Frederick Lawrence called me â€" just a few hours before issuing a public statement â€" to say that such a decision had been made.

When Brandeis approached me with the offer of an honorary degree, I accepted partly because of the institution’s distinguished history; it was founded in 1948, in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust, as a co-educational, nonsectarian university at a time when many American universities still imposed rigid admission quotas on Jewish students. I assumed that Brandeis intended to honor me for my work as a defender of the rights of women against abuses that are often religious in origin. For over a decade, I have spoken out against such practices as female genital mutilation, so-called “honor killings,” and applications of Sharia Law that justify such forms of domestic abuse as wife beating or child beating. Part of my work has been to question the role of Islam in legitimizing such abhorrent practices. So I was not surprised when my usual critics, notably the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), protested against my being honored in this way.

What did surprise me was the behavior of Brandeis. Having spent many months planning for me to speak to its students at Commencement, the university yesterday announced that it could not “overlook certain of my past statements,” which it had not previously been aware of. Yet my critics have long specialized in selective quotation â€" lines from interviews taken out of context â€" designed to misrepresent me and my work. It is scarcely credible that Brandeis did not know this when they initially offered me the degree.

What was initially intended as an honor has now devolved into a moment of shaming. Yet the slur on my reputation is not the worst aspect of this episode. More deplorable is that an institution set up on the basis of religious freedom should today so deeply betray its own founding principles. The “spirit of free expression” referred to in the Brandeis statement has been stifled here, as my critics have achieved their objective of preventing me from addressing the graduating Class of 2014. Neither Brandeis nor my critics knew or even inquired as to what I might say. They simply wanted me to be silenced. I regret that very much.

Not content with a public disavowal, Brandeis has invited me “to join us on campus in the future to engage in a dialogue about these important issues.” Sadly, in words and deeds, the university has already spoken its piece. I have no wish to “engage” in such one-sided dialogue. I can only wish the Class of 2014 the best of luck â€" and hope that they will go forth to be better advocates for free expression and free thought than their alma mater.

I take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported me and my work on behalf of oppressed women and girls everywhere.