[Peace-discuss] Finkelstein and DePaul Settle (passed along by Giraldo Rosales)

[Morton K. Brussel]

This is pure speculation, but my guess is that he knew he wouldn't  
get reinstated or get his last chance to teach at DePaul, and  
meanwhile he was offered a lucrative severance if he would go  
quietly. It is a great disappointment, which diminishes all  
concerned. --mkb


On Sep 7, 2007, at 5:04 PM, Jenifer Cartwright wrote:

> So.... WHY did Finkelstein throw in the towel???
>
> Anybody?
>
> Jenifer
>
> Stuart Levy <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 10:43:26 -0500
> From: "Rosales, Giraldo"
> Subject: [Aware] Finkelstein and DePaul Settle
> To: grosales at uiuc.edu
>
> Sept. 6
>
> Finkelstein and DePaul Settle
>
>
> Wednesday was supposed to be the day of the big showdown at DePaul
> University. Instead it turned out to be the day of the big compromise.
> DePaul and Norman Finkelstein, the professor to whom it had denied  
> tenure,
> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/11/finkelstein
> announced that he was resigning immediately. The university and
> Finkelstein even managed to say some nice things about one another.  
> But
> while Finkelstein will be leaving, some at the university and  
> elsewhere
> believe that significant academic freedom issues raised by his case  
> are
> very much alive.
>
> The statements
> http://sherman.depaul.edu/media/webapp/mrNews2.asp?NID=1655&ln=true
> issued by the university and Finkelstein did not contain details of
> their agreement and they reiterated some of the main arguments in the
> dispute: Finkelstein's view that outside groups had inappropriate
> influence in the process and the university's insistence that the  
> tenure
> denial was fair.
>
> In his remarks, Finkelstein blamed the outcome on "external pressures
> climaxing in a national hysteria that tainted the tenure process." But
> he went on to note ways in which DePaul had backed him up.
>
> "Although DePaul's decision to deny me tenure was a bitter blow, I  
> would
> be remiss in my responsibilities if I did not also acknowledge  
> DePaul's
> honorable role of providing a scholarly haven for me the past six  
> years.
> It is a fact, and I would want to acknowledge it, that the DePaul
> administration kept me on its faculty despite overwhelming external
> pressures. It is also a fact that my professional colleagues displayed
> rare rectitude in steadfastly supporting me. It is also a fact that
> DePaul students rose to dazzling spiritual heights in my defense that
> should be the envy of and an example for every university in the  
> United
> States. I will miss them."
>
> In the university's statement, it said that the tenure review was  
> based
> on appropriate criteria. "Professor Finkelstein has expressed the view
> that he should have been granted tenure and that third parties  
> external
> to the University influenced DePaul in denying tenure. That is not so.
> Over the past several months, there has been considerable outside
> interest about the tenure decision. This attention was unwelcome and
> inappropriate. In the end, however, it had absolutely no impact on
> either the process or the final outcome," the statement said. But  
> DePaul
> also praised Finkelstein as "a prolific scholar and an outstanding
> teacher."
>
> Finkelstein had been hinting of his intent to sue DePaul, and on
> Wednesday he had been planning to return to the office from which  
> he had
> been barred after he was placed on administrative leave.
> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/27/depaul
> In fact he announced the settlement to students who had
> gathered to support him, many of them wearing T-shirts that
> read "We are all Professor Finkelstein."
>
> The furor over Finkelstein has been building for several years. A
> political scientist, he is known for his books that offer harsh
> critiques of Israel and its supporters. He has argued that Israel uses
> the Holocaust to build support for policies that are immoral. And  
> he has
> engaged in public feuds with the likes of Alan Dershowitz, trading
> charges
> http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=50
> and countercharges
> http://www.alandershowitz.com/publications/docs/ 
> finkelsteinsbigotry.htm
> with him.
>
> While Finkelstein has long been controversial off the DePaul  
> campus, he
> was popular with his students and even his critics at the university
> acknowledged that he was an excellent teacher. The case is also
> frequently portrayed as one in which Finkelstein (a leftist critic of
> Israel) is allied against conservative supporters of Israel, but it's
> not so neat. Some academics who strongly disagree with Finkelstein's
> views have said his academic freedom was violated in the tenure  
> review,
> and some academics who share Finkelstein's politics have questioned  
> his
> scholarship.
>
> In the tenure case, Finkelstein took the first two rounds, winning the
> backing of his department and a collegewide committee,
> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/03/finkelstein
> but he started to hit roadblocks when his case went to the dean, a
> universitywide panel and eventually the president. As votes started to
> go against Finkelstein, a key factor was statements that his scholarly
> style conflicted with the Roman Catholic university's Vincentian  
> values.
> In his letter denying Finkelstein tenure, Rev. Dennis H.  
> Holtschneider,
> DePaul's president, said: "I have considered the fact that  
> reviewers at
> all levels, both for and against tenure, commented upon your ad  
> hominem
> attacks on scholars with whom you disagree. In the opinion of those
> opposing tenure, your unprofessional personal attacks divert the
> conversation away from consideration of ideas, and polarize and  
> simplify
> conversations that deserve layered and subtle consideration. As such,
> they believe your work not only shifts toward advocacy and away from
> scholarship, but also fails to meet the most basic standards governing
> scholarship discourse within the academic community."
>
> Comments like those raised red flags to many advocates for academic
> freedom. The American Association of University Professors and others
> have warned that when tenure evaluations start talking about the  
> impact
> of a scholar on people's feelings or about how collegial (or not) they
> are, attention is being diverted from the teaching and research issues
> that should be central. These groups have also warned that such
> critiques are frequently used against scholars whose views are  
> unpopular
> - precisely those academic freedom should protect. When DePaul  
> suspended
> Finkelstein's courses and took away his office last month, further
> alarms went off, since the norm in academe is for professors denied
> tenure to have a "terminal year" in which they teach and maintain  
> their
> academic lives, while looking for a new position.
>
> For Finkelstein, that process is now expedited, and it's unclear where
> he will end up. In the blog College Freedom,
> http://collegefreedom.blogspot.com/2007/09/finkelstein-and-depaul- 
> reach-settlement.html
> he is quoted as saying that "my prospects in academia are dim,"
> because colleges saw what DePaul experienced and
> "nobody wants to go through this hysteria."
>
> Daniel Klimek, a rising senior in political science and one of the
> students recently informed by the university that Finkelstein's course
> "Equality and Social Justice" was among those called off, said he had
> mixed feelings about Wednesday's developments. "We are disappointed  
> that
> Professor Finkelstein has resigned. Many students will miss him."  
> At the
> same time, Klimek said he thought Finkelstein had won a key victory in
> the university's praise for him as a teacher. "I think he left with  
> his
> head held high," Klimek said.
>
> It was also the case, however, that Finkelstein had until the very  
> last
> been vowing to fight on indefinitely. His Web site
> http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/index.php
> still proclaimed, as of last night, "I will return to my office.
> I will teach my classes."
>
> Dershowitz did not respond to an e-mail seeking his comment on the
> agreement.
>
> Jonathan Knight, who handles academic freedom issues for the AAUP,  
> which
> has been monitoring the case, said that in terms of Finkelstein's
> situation, "when a faculty member reaches an agreement with the
> institution, that brings the matter to an end." He added that the AAUP
> "will not second guess" a professor who does so.
>
> At the same time, he said that he continued to have concerns over a
> number of aspects in the case, including the lack of an appeal process
> after the tenure denial and the administrative leave Finkelstein
> received without a hearing. "Open and fair procedures for questioning
> controversial decisions are important," he said.
>
> One irony of the Finkelstein controversy is that DePaul's faculty
> actually has been working to revise its faculty handbook, including
> tenure procedures, and was doing so prior to this particular tenure
> case. "It is really unfortunate that DePaul came to the public eye in
> this way, but I think that the issues that were raised are extremely
> valuable and valid and going to be considered," said Anne Clark
> Bartlett, a professor of English and president of the Faculty  
> Council at
> DePaul.
>
> The council meets next week for the first time this academic year, and
> Bartlett said she expected a key topic of discussion to be how to
> proceed in light of the events of the last few months. "I hope we can
> turn it to the benefit of the faculty and the benefit of the  
> continuing
> integrity of our tenure and promotion and peer review process," she
> said.
>
> The Finkelstein case, to her, pointed to the need for clarity on the
> right to appeal tenure decisions, the importance of due process,  
> and the
> need to insulate tenure reviews from political pressure. "There is a
> larger political context" for the debate over Finkelstein, she said,
> "and we would be remiss if we didn't examine that larger context."
>
> Another issue of concern, she said, was the question of Vincentian
> values and how they play into tenure and promotion decisions. In  
> theory,
> she said, DePaul's current faculty guidelines place the emphasis on
> teaching, research and service, and "a huge issue" for her is keeping
> such a focus in tenure reviews, especially when looking at  
> controversial
> figures.
>
> "Vincentian values cannot be used as code for being a nice person,"  
> she
> said. Being a nice person shouldn't be what earns a scholar tenure.  
> For
> all kinds of reasons, she said, it just doesn't make sense to compare
> professors and saints. "As a medievalist, I can tell you that  
> saints are
> almost always a pain in the butt," she quipped. "Saints are never easy
> to get along with."
>
> - Scott Jaschik
> scott.jaschik {at} insidehighered.com
>
> The original story and user comments can be viewed online at
> http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/06/finkelstein.
>
> (c) Copyright 2007 Inside Higher Ed
>
> Giraldo Rosales,
> Assistant Dean of Students,
> Office of the Dean of Students
> 300 Turner Student Service Bldg, MC-306
> 610 East John Street Champaign , Illinois 61820
> Tele. 217-333-0050
> Voice Mail 217-244-6588
> Fax 217-333-7366
> email grosales at uiuc.edu
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