TheĀ University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignĀ (UIUC) is facing a growing boycott by educators outraged at its abrupt firing ofĀ Steven Salaita, apparentlyĀ because of his criticisms of Israel.
While none of the educators are themselves using the word āboycott,ā it can be said that this is what their action amounts to.
Some say they will not visit the campus for lectures and conferences while others go as far as saying that they will not take part in the universityās tenure review process or accept positions as visiting faculty.
Last week it was revealed that UIUC Chancellor Phyllis Wise hadĀ abruptly terminatedSalaita weeks before he was due to start teaching in a tenured position in the American Indian Studies Program.
Neither the university nor Salaita has commented publicly.
Salaita has been a target for anti-Palestinian organizers and websites because of his high-profile advocacy forĀ boycott of Israeli academic institutionsĀ complicit in crimes against Palestinians.
Wiseās move has drawn broad andĀ forceful condemnationĀ from major academics, from theAmerican Association of University ProfessorsĀ and from SalaitaāsĀ own UIUC colleagues.
They have all called on the university to reverse a decision seen as violating basic and long-established principles of academic freedom and free speech.
Going further
But now dozens of academics are going further, saying they will refrain from visiting UIUC or participating in other activities with it until Salaita is reinstated.
Elaine Freedgood, a professor of English atĀ New York University, initiated a letter to Wise,publishedĀ on the blog ofĀ Brooklyn CollegeĀ political science professorĀ Corey Robin. The letter begins:
We are members of English Departments from around the world who write, regretfully, to inform you that we will not engage with the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as speakers, as participants in conferences or other events, or as reviewers for the tenure and promotion of your faculty until you rescind the decision to block Professor Steven Salaitaās appointment to the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
So far, according to Robin, about fifty educators have signed on.
A secondĀ statementĀ takes a more limited stance, committing signatories only to refrain from visiting the UIUC campus:
We the undersigned will not visit the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus until Professor Salaita is reinstated to the position offered him by the faculty and which he had accepted in good faith.
This statement is being circulated among political science professors by the University of OregonāsĀ Joseph LowndesĀ and among philosophy faculty by John Protevi, Chair of the Department of French Studies at Louisiana State University.
Thirty philosophy professors from major institutions in North America and Europe have already signed on to the statementĀ that is posted on Proteviās blog.
AĀ third letter, signed by more than two dozen āAmerican academics who have traveled to Palestine,ā warns that Salaitaās firing ādue to his speech acts, in particular for those uttered outside his professional capacity, portends a very bleak future for academic freedom.ā The letter adds:
We are alarmed by this turning back of the clock and now must, each and every one of us, reevaluate any commitments we have to participate in any scholarly endeavors associated with the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. Many of us have longstanding relationships with UIUC, its research centers, academic programs, faculty and students, but we will not accept invitations to lecture, accept visiting positions, or engage in other such activities that contribute to the institutionās business-as-usual until Dr. Salaitaās position is reinstated. We will encourage others to do the same.
āEgregiously bad decisionā
Protevi, who noted that he is acting in his individual capacity, told The Electronic Intifada that āthere has been no public utterance from UIUC despite thousands of emails, so this step is necessary to increase the pressure in order to reverse the egregiously bad decisionā to fire Salaita.
āOur actions are motivated by a defense of academic freedom,ā Protevi added. āThe petty legalisms used to distinguish āfiringā Salaita versus ānot hiringā him ring false.ā
While Salaita was hired to a tenured position, Protevi said that tenured faculty make up only about a quarter of the professors in US universities.
But, he argued, the protections from politically motivated firing which tenured faculty are supposed to enjoy should be available to all.
āAcademic freedom should be extended to all members of the academy regardless of contractual status,ā he said. āI donāt think anyone should be fired just for speaking on political issues.ā
Systemic effects
Protevi noted that the firing of Salaita was likely to have broad systemic effects: tenured faculty could become more reluctant to change jobs. For those who do, the process could take much longer as faculty would be unwilling to resign their previous posts until their new appointments had gone through all final approvals.
āIf Salaitaās firing stands, there would be a precedent that would make it genuinely risky to accept a job on a basis that would require one to resign oneās current position before the trustees of the hiring institution had approved oneās new appointment,āĀ one academic blog has noted.
Gathering pace
Brooklyn Collegeās Corey Robin had proposed in anĀ 8 August postĀ that statements by educators saying they would refrain from visiting UIUC would be āa powerful next step in the campaign to reinstate Steven Salaita.ā
His suggestion appears to be catching on quickly.
Several individuals had already publicly committed themselves to such action just as the broader campaign began to gather pace.
In aĀ 7 August postingĀ on his Facebook page, Columbia University humanities professor Bruce Robbins said he was refusing an invitation to UIUC for the screening of his filmSome of My Best Friends Are ZionistsĀ due to the firing of Salaita.
University of California at Los AngelesĀ Distinguished Professor of HistoryĀ Robin D. G. Kelley, author ofĀ Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original,Ā wrote to WiseĀ lamenting a decision to fire Salaita that he believes was the result of pressure from pro-Israel organizations.
āIf we are unable to persuade you of the moral, ethical, intellectual and legal reasons why you should reverse course,ā Kelley tells Wise, āI cannot in good conscience step foot on your campus so long as you hold the position as Chancellor. And I will encourage my colleagues to do the same.ā
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