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marmar

(76,981 posts)
Tue Sep 16, 2014, 11:03 AM Sep 2014

The University of Illinois Fails on Due Process, Academic Freedom and Free Speech: Why the Salaita C


(Truthout) In many respects, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees' decision on September 11 not to reinstate Steven Salaita to the faculty at its Urbana-Champaign campus was a foregone conclusion. Despite some mild second-guessing of her own decision, Chancellor Phyllis Wise had not wavered from her position that the Board would not vote to hire Salaita. Nevertheless it was sickening to hear the various trustees pontificate, moralize and in many respects lie about their reasons for dismissing Salaita. And, with the exception of one African-American trustee, James Montgomery, who bravely stood up to both defend Salaita's free speech rights and talk about racism at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) during his time there as a student, the trustees voted against Salaita. A full report of the hearing, with important links, can be found here.

Here are the basic facts of the Salaita case: In October 2013, after the program in American Indian Studies had conducted a full job search, it made an offer to Professor Steven Salaita, a prominent scholar of American Indian and indigenous studies with six books and numerous articles to his credit. This offer had gone through all the necessary steps of being vetted and approved by a number of faculty and administrative committees and personnel, including the campus Executive Committee and the Office of the Provost. Salaita asked to have his start date pushed back so that he could fulfill his teaching duties at Virginia Tech. The UIUC dean agreed, and Salaita accepted the UIUC offer and resigned his position at Virginia Tech. His wife also gave up her job, and they sold their house and made arrangements for their small child to transfer schools. In his statement to the press, Salaita explains that they looked forward to their new life in Urbana-Champaign.

At that point, all that was needed was the formal approval of the UI Board of Trustees. Since trustees meet after the mandated time of appointment (which is usually in April of each academic year), it is normal in US colleges and universities to make hires assuming that the Board will approve in the summer - their role is administrative, rather than evaluative. If all procedures have been followed, Boards of Trustees simply sign off.

In Salaita's case, this lag proved fatal. For in the interval, the local newspaper printed several tweets of his that were sharply critical of Israel's attack on Gaza. Salaita's expressions were harsh, acerbic, troubling and emphatic in their condemnation of the killing of innocent Palestinian children and others. This report then resulted in the Simon Wiesenthal Center contacting the university to object to Salaita's hire. At that point, UIUC defended Salaita's free speech rights. But quickly more complaints were filed, and among those complaining were many wealthy donors. Emails recovered via a Freedom of Information request disclose that these donors threatened to stop their contributions if Salaita were not fired. At that point Phyllis Wise unilaterally halted the process. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26219-the-university-of-illinois-fails-on-due-process-academic-freedom-and-free-speech-why-the-salaita-case-matters



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The University of Illinois Fails on Due Process, Academic Freedom and Free Speech: Why the Salaita C (Original Post) marmar Sep 2014 OP
He tweeted that all Jews in the West Bank should be murdered. former9thward Sep 2014 #1
Why not, we have some that advocate torture. Downwinder Sep 2014 #2

former9thward

(31,798 posts)
1. He tweeted that all Jews in the West Bank should be murdered.
Tue Sep 16, 2014, 11:12 AM
Sep 2014

No serious university would hire someone like that. The U of I made the correct decision.

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