[Peace-discuss] [OccupyCU] Job Offer Letter Found in Swanlund Dumpster

Mon Aug 18 23:08:32 EDT 2014

Two shameful public cases of hypocrisy at UIUC this year - Kilgore and Salaita - reveal the standard institutional regard for the principles of academic freedom. 

Anyone who's spent any time in an American university since Vietnam knows how it's done. 

On Aug 18, 2014, at 9:56 PM, Stan <swag901 at ymail.com> wrote:

> One incident does not mean the whole system is f$&@/d up. However this kind of satire goes a long way to push for change. Thank the author for me.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Aug 18, 2014, at 10:27 AM, "C. G. Estabrook" <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
> 
>> It nevertheless describes accurately UIUC's latest abridgment of academic freedom.
>> 
>> 
>> On Aug 18, 2014, at 10:18 AM, Stan via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> I am sure no reasonable person would think this to be anything other than sarcasm. Thanks for the laugh.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>> On Aug 18, 2014, at 8:34 AM, "C. G. Estabrook via OccupyCU" <occupycu at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I am not the author of "Job Offer Letter Found in Swanlund Dumpster." It was posted to to the website of the Campus Faculty Association <http://cfaillinois.org/> by Susan Davis <sgdavis at illinois.edu>, Professor of Communication. When I complimented her on it, she said she'd edited but not composed it - and didn't tell me who did. 
>>>> 
>>>> Given that the author is probably employed by UIUC, a serial violator of academic freedom, it's reasonable for her/him to remain anonymous.
>>>> 
>>>> --CGE
>>>> 
>>>> On Aug 17, 2014, at 9:07 PM, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> August 16, 2014
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dear Alma,
>>>>> 
>>>>> While rooting around in a dumpster outside Swanlund, I found what appears to be a new template for job offer letters. Do you think the Chancellor’s office could be contemplating something like this?  Read on and tell me what you think.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dumpsta Dyvva
>>>>> 
>>>>> ______________________________________________________
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dear Dr. _______
>>>>> 
>>>>> Congratulations! You may already be a professor at the University of Illinois!
>>>>> 
>>>>> I am pleased to say that we are provisionally offering you a possible job as an Associate Professor in the XXX department, contingent upon your background check and thought-process clearance. Please note that this offer is not enforceable in any way. It is, however, our sincere invitation to you to resign your current position, have your spouse quit their job, pull your children out of school and move to central Illinois on the off-chance that when you arrive, we might still hire you. Although the position is tenured, we ask that you to work for one month before we decide.
>>>>> 
>>>>> We are proud to say that you might be joining one of the finest research faculties in the world.   Of course, since Academic Freedom is central to our mission at Illinois, we would not want your freedom to speak out on controversial issues to be constrained in any way. Therefore, we offer our “Illinois Freedom Guarantee”: you are free to say whatever you like, and in return, we are free to fire you at the local newspaper’s request.
>>>>> 
>>>>> There are just a few more steps to take before we can provisionally confirm your employment: we will need to do a forensic analysis of your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace and AOL accounts as well as your ATM access and the inscriptions on your high school yearbook. Please send us your most recent passwords and the name of your BFF from 12th grade.
>>>>> 
>>>>> We will need to install surveillance cameras in front of your house and current office. When you get here, you’ll be delighted to find that video surveillance is a standard feature in most office suites at U of I.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Please note that all faculty and prospective faculty are now subject to random autonomy testing. Governor Quinn will be in direct touch about our excellent selection of retirement plans.
>>>>> 
>>>>> To start your background check and clearance, please fill out and return the enclosed forms, with a check or money order for $50 dollars (non-refundable) and a recent DNA sample. You’ll be hearing from us very soon.
>>>>> 
>>>>> With sincerely conditional best wishes,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Xxxx
>>>>> 
>>>>> U of I
>>>>> 
>>>>> ###
>>>>> 
>> 

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