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Jake Tapper Talks Current Events at Gratz Gala
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
W H E N C N N A NC HOR
a nd C h ie f Wa s h i n g ton
Correspondent Jake Tapper
received an honorary doctorate
in human letters from Gratz
College, he joked about how
proud his parents would be.

‘“My dad is a physician, Dr.

Ted Tapper, and my mom is
a nurse. So, finally they have
a doctor for a son, if not a
medical doctor,” he said.

Tapper headlined Gratz 125,
the Jewish education institu-
tion’s virtual 125th anniversary
celebration on Dec. 6. Gratz
President Paul Finkelman inter-
viewed him about his career, his
upbringing in Philadelphia, his
Jewish education and his take
on current issues in journalism
and politics.

“In confirming this honorary
degree, Gratz recognizes Jake’s
significant contributions as a
journalist, author and public
intellectual. Throughout his
career, he has demonstrated the
courage, intellectual power and
dedication to truth and objec-
tivity that are the hallmarks of
great journalism,” Finkelman
said. Finkelman also noted that
he could not have predicted
the event that would take
place just a few days before
Gratz’s anniversary event. On
Dec. 3, Tapper, anchor of the
weekday program The Lead
with Jake Tapper and host of
the Sunday morning show
State of the Union, became the
first reporter to simultaneously
interview both President-elect
Joe Biden and Vice President-
elect Kamala Harris since the
2020 presidential election.

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4 DECEMBER 10, 2020
Gratz President Paul Finkelman (left) interviews Jake Tapper.
“I thank you Jake for
scoring this incredible journal-
istic coup, right before we gave
you an honorary degree. We
couldn’t have asked for so
much,” Finkelman said. “It was
a fair, tough and important
interview.” He later asked Tapper if
there were any questions he
did not get to ask during the
40-minute interview. Tapper
said he hoped he would have a
chance to ask the Biden admin-
istration about the Abraham
Accords, and whether the
Trump administration’s
success at helping negotiate
treaties between Israel and
the United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain would cause Biden
to rethink conventional ideas
about peace in the Middle East.

Finkelman asked Tapper
to talk about how his experi-
ence attending school at Akiba
Hebrew Academy — now Jack
M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
— shaped his life and career.

He responded that his time
at the school, particularly his
study of the Talmud, instilled
in him a respect for people
of all faiths and backgrounds
as well as an appreciation for
open debate.

“You really learn to value the
idea of debate and discussion
in a way that is very helpful
for anybody in this world, but
certainly helpful for anyone who
goes into journalism,” he said.

JEWISH EXPONENT
Tapper also praised Gratz’s
commitment to inclusion,
noting its nondenominational
approach and its decision to
have men and women study
together from the outset, a
forward-thinking concept for
the late 19th and early 20th
century. “It’s an institution that
has a vision for Jewish life in
America that includes those
of all backgrounds, which is
very meaningful for me. I was
raised conservative, my mom
converted to Judaism, my wife
converted to Judaism, we now
go to a Reform temple,” he said.

Tapper and Finkelman also
discussed the concept of partisan
media and the challenges of
covering politics in a highly
polarized environment.

Finkelman disclosed that
he had received hate mail
from people on the right after
announcing Tapper would
receive an honorary degree.

He reported receiving similar
vitriol in 2018 from people
on the left when he gave the
same honor to lawyer Alan
Dershowitz. Tapper said that he did not
take political positions in his
news coverage and received
plenty of hate mail himself
for being critical of President
Barack Obama’s administra-
tion. However, he said he did
take a strong stance in favor of
facts and decency.

Courtesy of Gratz College
“We can pretend that there
is a ‘both sides’ when it comes
to covering some of the more
deranged conspiracy theories
about election fraud, ones
that have been shot down by
judge after judge after judge,
election official after election
official, Democrat, Republican,
nonpartisan. We can pretend,
but that’s not, in my view,
journalism,” he said.

Tapper said that he was
excited that his home city
played a decisive role in the
presidential election.

“I liked it just because I like
anything that has to do with
Philadelphia, so having Philly
play a role in it was exciting to
me personally, no matter who
ended up winning the election.

I was seven when the bicenten-
nial happened, so I really think
of Philly as the birthplace
of democracy in America,”
he said.

Grat z a lso presented
honorary master’s degrees in
Jewish studies to Regina Horden
and the late Martin Horden, who
both completed the equivalent
of master’s degrees in courses
as non-matriculating students.

Jewish educator Sora Landes, the
late Lois and Martin Bachman
and Congregation Mikveh Israel
received Gratz Medals for their
contributions to the college. l
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