[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [Discuss] Victory (!)

Fri Nov 14 00:28:53 EST 2014

>From Stuart:
THIS IS SUCH GREAT NEWS!   CONGRATULATIONS to James Kilgore and to all
friends/supporters.

That "clear statutory responsibility to act on tenure/tenure-track" bit
must be doubling down on Salaita.  But if they managed to use a procedural
"has not traditionally been involved in" wriggle as an excuse to get out of
the way and let the right thing happen, then cheers for procedural wriggles.

    Stuart

On 11/13/14 6:25 PM, Barbara kessel  wrote:

 Updated: Kilgore free to teach again at UI after trustees' 'robust debate'
 Thu, 11/13/2014 - 6:17pm | Christine Des Garennes
<http://www.news-gazette.com/author/christine-des-garennes> and Julie Wurth
<http://www.news-gazette.com/author/julie-wurth>
   [image: 20141113-095710-pic-802455899.jpg]
<http://static.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/imagecache/lightbox_800_600_scale/images/2014/11/13/20141113-095710-pic-802455899.jpg>
Photo by: The News-Gazette
Robert Easter, president of the University of Illinois, speaks at a
ceremony to launch the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications in Urbana, on Thursday March 28, 2013.

   - [image: Governor Quinn addresses UI trustees]
   <http://www.news-gazette.com/audio/2014-11-13/governor-quinn-addresses-ui-trustees.html>

<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-11-13/updated-kilgore-free-teach-again-ui-after-trustees-robust-debate.html>
<https://twitter.com/share?url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-11-13/updated-kilgore-free-teach-again-ui-after-trustees-robust-debate.html&text=Updated:%20Kilgore%20free%20to%20teach%20again%20at%20UI%20after%20trustees%27%20%27robust%20debate%27>
<http://www.news-gazette.com/printmail/1313726>

*Weigh in with a Letter to the Editor here
<http://www.news-gazette.com/section/services/reader-services/letters-editor.html>*

James Kilgore, an African studies scholar and former member of the
1970s-era Symbionese Liberation Army group,could soon teach again at the
University of Illinois.

UI trustees on Thursday were unable to reach a consensus on Kilgore’s case,
and Chancellor Phyllis Wise said the campus would follow the
recommendations of a campus committee that urged the UI not to bar him from
employment. Academic units will be free to rehire him, possibly by January
“if they are interested,” Wise said.

After a four-hour executive session, the board issued a statement saying it
had engaged in a “robust debate that represented a wide range of divergent
viewpoints” on Kilgore, a part-time adjunct employee at the UI until last
spring.

“While the board has clear statutory responsibility to act on
tenure/tenure-track faculty and permanent staff hiring decisions, the Board
traditionally has not been involved in part-time and adjunct employee
hiring decisions,” the statement said.

Instead, the board asked President Bob Easter to develop a “clear policy”
to guide future hiring decisions for part-time and adjunct staff and report
back by January.

Board Chairman Chris Kennedy and other trustees left without commenting,
and Trustee Timothy Koritz said later they would have no comment beyond the
statement.

UI spokesman Tom Hardy said trustees debated the case but could not reach a
consensus “other than to direct the president to work with the campus
provosts and chancellors on a policy that would cover hiring practices for
part-time, adjunct, nontenured employees.”

Wise said Provost Ilesanmi Adesida would communicate the directive to
academic units.

“We’re basically going to follow the recommendations of the report, and the
report basically says that he be allowed to continue to work if units want
his services,” Wise said.

One of Kilgore's biggest backers applauded the news out of Chicago.

“I couldn’t be more delighted in the board’s decision,” said UI landscape
architecture professor William Sullivan, who has organized support for
Kilgore in recent months. “It’s an appropriate decision for this individual
because he has renounced violence. He served his time and paid his debt to
society.”.

The board, Sullivan said, has been on the edge of micromanaging the
institution. But by not taking any formal action on Kilgore, who had been a
nontenure-track instructor and academic hourly, it is delegating authority
to deans and department heads, which is appropriate, Sullivan said.

Sullivan also said the decision was “in the right direction” because people
often treat those who have been to prison like “lepers,” instead of finding
ways to engage their talents.
“We lose out as a society when we don’t find ways to include people like
James Kilgore,” who has worked for peace and justice in recent decades,
Sullivan said.

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-- 
-- karen medina
"The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark
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