[Peace-discuss] AAUP: Statement on Case of Steven Salaita

[Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss]

http://www.aaup.org/media-release/statement-case-steven-salaita

Statement on Case of Steven Salaita

August 7, 2014
For more information, please contact Rudy Fichtenbaum
<rfichtenbaum at gmail.com>
or Hank Reichman <henry.reichman at csueastbay.edu>

*Washington, **DC–*Today, Rudy Fichtenbaum, AAUP president, and Hank
Reichman, first vice-president and chair of the AAUP's Committee A on
Academic Freedom and Tenure issued the statement below.

*Statement on the Case of Professor Steven G. Salaita*

We have read with concern yesterday's report
<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/06/u-illinois-apparently-revokes-job-offer-controversial-scholar>
on
insidehighered.com that the University of Illinois has apparently withdrawn
a job offer to Professor Steven G. Salaita. It appears that this decision
came in response to the tone of his controversial comments on Twitter about
the Israeli military action in Gaza. Because both Professor Salaita and the
university administration have so far declined public comment, a number of
facts concerning this case remain unclear. In particular, it is not certain
whether the job offer had already been made in writing when Professor
Salaita was informed that he would not be hired and hence whether or not
Salaita could be considered to have already acquired the rights accruing to
a faculty member at Illinois.

However, if the information communicated in yesterday's report is accurate,
there is good reason to fear that Professor Salaita's academic freedom and
possibly that of the Illinois faculty members who recommended hiring him
have been violated.

We feel it necessary to comment on this case not only because it involves
principles that AAUP has long defended, but also because Cary Nelson, a
former president of the Association and a current member of our Committee A
on Academic Freedom and Tenure, is quoted as approving the Illinois
Chancellor's action. Professor Nelson is entitled to his opinions. Indeed,
one of AAUP's great strengths is our ability to bring together many
differing viewpoints and ideas, including about the meaning of academic
freedom. However, we wish to make clear that Professor Nelson's comments do
not reflect an official position of AAUP or of its Committee A.

While opinions differ among AAUP members on a wide range of issues, the
AAUP is united in its commitment to defend academic freedom and the free
exchange of ideas more broadly. On the basis of this commitment we have
opposed <http://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-statement-asa-vote> efforts by some
pro-Palestinian groups to endorse an "academic boycott" of Israel. This
commitment has also led us to defend the rights
<http://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-opposes-anti-boycott-legislation> of critics
of Israel, including the right of faculty members such as Professor
Salaita, to express their views without fear of retaliation, even where
such views are expressed in a manner that others might find offensive or
repugnant.

Recently we argued in a policy statement on "Academic Freedom and
Electronic Communications
<http://www.aaup.org/report/academic-freedom-and-electronic-communications-2014>,"
that faculty comments made on social media, including Twitter, are largely
extramural statements of personal views that should be protected by
academic freedom. While Professor Salaita's scholarship does appear to deal
with the topic of Palestine, his posts were arguably not intended as
scholarly statements but as expressions of personal viewpoint. Whether one
finds these views attractive or repulsive is irrelevant to the right of a
faculty member to express them. Moreover, the AAUP has long objected
<http://www.aaup.org/report/collegiality-criterion-faculty-evaluation> to
using criteria of civility and collegiality in faculty evaluation because
we view this as a threat to academic freedom. It stands to reason that this
objection should extend as well to decisions about hiring, especially about
hiring to a tenured position.

Rudy Fichtenbaum, President, AAUP
Henry Reichman, First Vice-President and Chair, Committee A on Academic
Freedom and Tenure, AAUP
Media Contact:
Rudy Fichtenbaum and Hank Reichman
Publication Date:
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Tags:

   - Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure
   <http://www.aaup.org/import-tags/committee-academic-freedom-and-tenure>
   - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
   <http://www.aaup.org/import-tags/university-illinois-urbana-champaign>


===

Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1
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