[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] More News on the Salaita Case

Sat Dec 6 14:16:14 EST 2014

Interesting news here, but more; I recommend the link to the panel discussion that took place at Brooklyn College, and importantly the question period, all with so much more insight than anything that I am aware of that took place here in the belly of the beast. It illustrates for me how wrong were those who disparaged the intellectual abilities of Steven Salaita, and what a loss the UIUC campus has suffered and may continue to suffer. Again, this communication should be exposed broadly to the Illinois community and of course to the University administration and faculty.

—mkb

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> Date: December 5, 2014 at 2:10:05 PM CST
> To: mkb3 at mac.com
> From: Corey Robin <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
> Subject: [New post] More News on the Salaita Case
> Reply-To: Corey Robin <comment+r38qziukobdcyct2bobu80p at comment.wordpress.com>
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> Respond to this post by replying above this line
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>  <http://coreyrobin.com/author/coreyrobin/>	
> More News on the Salaita Case <http://coreyrobin.com/2014/12/05/more-news-on-the-salaita-case/>by Corey Robin <http://coreyrobin.com/author/coreyrobin/>
> 1. Thirty-four heads of departments and academic units at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wrote a scorching letter to the University of Illinois's new president <http://academeblog.org/2014/12/02/open-letter-on-the-salaita-case-from-university-of-illinois-department-heads/>. With some startling information about the effect the boycott <http://coreyrobin.com/2014/09/09/over-5000-scholars-boycotting-the-uiuc/> is having on the University:
> 
> More than three-dozen scheduled talks and multiple conferences across a variety of disciplines – including, for example, this year’s entire colloquium series in the Department of Philosophy – have already been canceled, and more continue to be canceled, as outside speakers have withdrawn in response to the university’s handling of Dr. Salaita’s case. The Department of English decided to postpone a program review originally scheduled for spring 2015 in anticipation of being unable to find qualified external examiners willing to come to campus. Tenure and promotion cases may be affected as faculty at peer institutions consider extending the boycott to recommendation letters.
> 
> Most troubling of all, the ability of many departments to successfully conduct faculty searches, especially at the senior level, has been seriously jeopardized. While the possible negative effects on even junior searches remain to be seen, the Department of History has already abandoned a previously authorized senior search in U.S. history this year in recognition of the bleak prospects of attracting suitable applicants in the current climate. An open rank search in Philosophy attracted 80% fewer applicants at the rank of associate or full professor than a senior search in the same area of specialization just last year.
> 
> I had no idea about these canceled or crippled searches and the postponement of a program review. That is a major development, as anyone who's ever been part of a search or program review knows, and it shows just how pervasive the opposition to the university's handling of the case has been—or, if not outright opposition, how corrosive to the university's reputation the case has been. What's more, that sense of the university's contamination shows no signs of letting up. If anything, it's getting worse.
> 
> 2. That 34 heads of departments and units are now signed on in opposition to the university's handling of the case is also a big development. Back in the summer, it seemed as if we were hovering at about 15 or so departments. Clearly, far from diminishing, the controversy on campus has only expanded.
> 
> What's even more amazing is where it has expanded: three of the signatories are chairs of the departments of chemistry, math, and statistics. The opposition has spilled beyond the walls of the humanities and social sciences. During the summer, lots of folks dismissed this story because the natural sciences weren't involved. Well, some of them are now. (Cue the naysayers to say that chemistry is really just a branch of the English department.)
> 
> 3. A major newspaper has finally run a lengthy, in-depth profile of Salaita. The profile not only gives him a chance to speak about his case and his opinions in his own words—and to speak at length—but it also gives him space to talk about his academic work. Long before he was a case or a cause, Steven Salaita was an academic, and it's to this newspaper's credit that it allows him to talk about that. Oh, the name of that newspaper? Haaretz <http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/.premium-1.630098>. As with so many things in the Israel/Palestine debate, you find broader, more open discussion of the issues in Haaretz than you do in an American newspaper.
> 
> 4. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we hosted Salaita for a great panel discussion with Katherine Franke at Brooklyn College. I moderated. We've got a video of the panel.
> 
>  <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNf4TN9qMAg>
>  
> The video doesn't show the Q and A. If you want to hear that, you can watch it here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHXCq8thQJ0>. I recommend that you do.
> 
> Our audience was diverse in every way—ideology, age, religion, ethnicity, class—and there were a fair number of difficult and contentious questions from pro-Israel members of the audience. Which was all to the good. Critics of the panel, like Michael Rubin at <http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/12/02/mesa-resolution-shows-whats-wrong-with-academe/> Commentary, can't seem to fathom that there might be debate at such things (unlike the raucous agora he's used to from his days at the Pentagon or at the American Enterprise Institute, where he hangs his hat now). But it's pretty clear that that there is. Despite my agreements with Salaita and Franke, I pressed him on his tweets, and her on the question of civility, for example. And some in the audience were even harder on them. The whole thing is a great advertisement for Brooklyn College, if you ask me.
> 
> 5. And, last, this story from Salaita himself <https://www.facebook.com/notes/steven-salaita/a-beautiful-unusual-moment-in-ann-arbor/10205491094665257>:
> 
> After the event at the University of Michigan ended yesterday evening--a million thanks to the organizers--an older gentleman approached me.  He handed me a check with a business card attached by paperclip.  I was confused.  I instinctively told him to please keep his check.  I don't have anything to do with donations to our legal/living fund (though I promise the fund is legit).  I'm far too uncomfortable accepting money, even in the best of faith.
> 
> He cut me off and introduced himself, pointing to the card as further verification of his seriousness.  Its bold header read:  "Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East."  Beneath the header:  "Larry A. Cooper, President--Board of Directors."
> 
> The check was for a small sum, but its value is infinite.  Mr. Cooper explained to me that he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and every year since he's offered a donation to his alma mater.  This year, however, he told the school he wouldn't be able to contribute anymore and explained why.  His sense was that they've heard the same thing from numerous donors.  They put on a full-court press, as fundraising offices do, but he told them that this year he would be giving his annual donation to Steven Salaita.
> 
> The notes section at the lower left of the check says:  "'73 UI grad."
> 
> Mr. Cooper, should you happen to read this:  I hope you won't be angry or disappointed that I can't bring myself to cash the check.  I'd much rather keep it as a memento of kindness and generosity to provide a smile when less principled humans occupy our ground.
> 
> Corey Robin <http://coreyrobin.com/author/coreyrobin/> | December 5, 2014 at 3:08 pm | Tags: Haaretz <http://coreyrobin.com/?tag=haaretz>, Michael Rubin <http://coreyrobin.com/?tag=michael-rubin>, Steven Salaita <http://coreyrobin.com/?tag=steven-salaita>, University of Illinois <http://coreyrobin.com/?tag=university-of-illinois> | Categories: Education <http://coreyrobin.com/?cat=1342>, Middle East <http://coreyrobin.com/?cat=3250> | URL: http://wp.me/p1FPJG-1J8 <http://wp.me/p1FPJG-1J8>
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