Tamsin Shaw has very helpfully compiled the following basic informational points about the Salaita case. Please read this if you are not already familiar with the situation at the University of Illinois. Im copying it here as it was Tamsins expressed wish that this information be shared widely. ******************************************************************************************** The Salaita case is probably the most important freedom of speech case in America in our lifetimes and it will have repercussions in higher educational institutions across the world. Here are three simple but important points of information about it: 1. Steven Salaita was hired by the faculty of the American Indian Studies program after a rigorous academic vetting procedure and then effectively fired by the board over views expressed in his non-professional activities (on twitter). As is customary, after accepting an offer of employment he resigned his previous position prior to approval of the new one by the board of trustees since their input is considered a rubber-stamp: it is not the traditional role of that body to overturn the decisions made by qualified members of faculty. AIS writes: While she has yet to furnish specific reasons, we believe that Chancellor Wises decision was in fact made in response to external pressures that sought to block Prof. Salaitas hire, coupled with her objection over the content and tone of his personal and political tweets over the subject of Israeli bombing of Palestine. ais.illinois.edu/news/current/noconfidence_wise_8.22.14.aspx Chancellor Wises most recent statement makes only the vaguest claims about academic civility, grounds on which any faculty member, given this precedent, could be fired. She writes, A] tenured faculty position at the University of Illinois is a tremendous honor and a unique privilege. Tenure also brings with it a heavy responsibility to continue the traditions of scholarship and civility upon which our university is built. This constitutes an attack on tenure, which serves as a vital basis for academic freedom. illinois.edu/blog/view/1109/115906 2. Concerns that he will create a hostile academic environment or discriminate against students who do not share his views are utterly baseless, rooted only in deeply irresponsible speculation. In fact he has a record of collegiality and teaching excellence that any of us would be proud of. The former is evidenced by the fact that his colleagues at Virginia Tech granted him tenure there, after years of close interaction with him. The latter is evidenced by his extraordinary teaching evaluations. See here for information on them: coreyrobin/2014/08/21/2700-scholars-boycott-ui-philosopher-cancels-prestigious-lecture-salaita-deemed-excellent-teacher-and-ui-trustees-meet-again/ 3. His tweets were provocative and controversial.They certainly did not rise to the level of hate speech (there is no instance in which any scholar or lawyer has claimed that they do) and although Chancellor Wise considers them abusive they clearly do not fit the criteria for abuse since nobody claims to have been abused. Some of them have been willfully misread. See, for example: coreyrobin/2014/08/08/what-exactly-did-steven-salaita-mean-by-that-tweet/ Here is Salaitas twitter feed. https://twitter/stevesalaita This is not about Israel/Palestine. This is about academic freedom which is now under threat for all of us. ---Tamsin Shaw
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 14:12:05 +0000
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