In what’s sure to be a hugely contentious move, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner has been blocked from receiving an honorary degree from John Jay College by the trustees of CUNY which overseas John Jay after a single trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, claimed that Kushner had “disparaged the State of Israel.†In an interview with the New York Times, Kushner said “he believed the trustees had slandered him and owed him an apology†and added that even if CUNY reverses its decision, he would not accept the honorary degree.