LIPSTADT CONFIRMED

As Us Special Envoy To Fight Antisemitism

Emory historian Deborah E. Lipstadt has been confirmed by the US Senate as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, a position in the Department of State with the rank of ambassador.

Described by the White House as “a renowned scholar of the Holocaust and modern antisemitism,” Lipstadt is Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies in Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and the Department of Religion.

President Joe Biden announced Lipstadt’s nomination for the post July 30, 2021. On February 8, she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which voted March 29 to approve her nomination. She was confirmed by the US Senate on a voice vote March 30.

“There is no person more qualified for this important role than Deborah Lipstadt,” says Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. “During a time when antisemitism is on the rise across the country and world, she is the leader our nation needs to help us overcome and transform hatred through her peerless knowledge, scholarship, and expertise.”

At her confirmation hearing, Lipstadt was introduced by Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who described her as “arguably the nation’s foremost expert on antisemitism and Holocaust denial, with over four decades of groundbreaking scholarship.”

Lipstadt noted the January 15 attack on a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, where a gunman held four people hostage. “Senators, this was no isolated incident. Increasingly, Jews have been singled out for slander, violence, and terrorism,” Lipstadt said. “Today’s rise in antisemitism is staggering. It is especially alarming that we witness such a surge less than eight decades after one out of three Jews on Earth was murdered.”

She praised the US government for recognizing “Jewhatred as a serious global challenge,” including by elevating the special envoy to the level of ambassador.

While she has taught about and studied antisemitism throughout her career, Lipstadt said that she has also “repeatedly confronted real world antisemitism” and listed three “life-changing” moments:

• In 1972, as a graduate student, she went to the Soviet Union to meet with Soviet Jews whose applications to go to Israel or the US were denied. They “spoke truth to tyranny and were profoundly liberated by doing so,” leaving Lipstadt “strengthened by them and acutely aware of democracy’s precious gift.”

• In 1996, while a professor at Emory, she was sued for libel in the UK by a Holocaust denier. While the years-long legal battle ended in a “resounding verdict” for Lipstadt and against antisemitism, she spent weeks in the courtroom “listening to a Hitler apologist spew Holocaust denial, antisemitism, and racism.”

• In 2021, Lipstadt served as an expert witness in the civil lawsuit against the organizers of the 2017 “Unite the Right” demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. “For those extremists, who came to Charlottesville ready to do battle, neo-Nazism, racism, and antisemitism are intimately intertwined,” she told the senators.

“As those episodes suggest, Jew-hatred can be found across the entire political spectrum,” she said.

Lipstadt will take a leave of absence from Emory to serve as special envoy. When her nomination was announced, she noted that should she be confirmed, “I will miss one thing: Being in the classroom with my Emory students.”

Valeda F. Dent has been selected as Emory University’s inaugural vice provost of libraries and museum, the Office of the Provost announced. In this newly formed position, Dent will work to unite Emory Libraries and the Michael C. Carlos Museum under a new leadership structure, working closely with the Office of the Provost and providing support in planning for the future of both areas—including advancing shared discovery and conservation of the university’s extraordinary collections while continuing to expand access, programming, and community engagement.

Dent comes to Emory from Hunter College of the City University of New York in New York City, where she serves as acting provost and vice president for academic affairs, as well as vice president for student success and learning innovation. Expected to formally take the role in July 2022, Dent has already begun to engage with Emory’s libraries and museum staff in a consultative way.

As a librarian who has consistently held leadership positions of increasing responsibility, Dent notes: “Leadership of today’s academic libraries and campus-based museums is anything but routine. These entities continue to evolve; thus, one’s ability to anticipate emerging trends and evaluate their potential is key.”

Among those movements? “The socialization of library and museum resources (open access), growing collections that support