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Univ. of Illinois protected white supremacist, but not Steven Salaita, report finds
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has issued a damning report on the University of Illinois’ firing of Steven Salaita that sets the stage for the institution to be censured.
Censure, which must voted on by the AAUP’s annual meeting, is a rare and grave sanction aimed at “informing association members, the profession at large, and the public that unsatisfactory conditions of academic freedom and tenure have been found to prevail.”
It is a damaging stain that most institutions would go to great lengths to avoid. Even before a possible censure, the AAUP report is certain to reinforce the boycott of the university which has seen prominent academics including Cornel West, UCLA Jewish studies director Todd Presner and Brandeis law professor Anita Hill cancel campus appearances.
Salaita was fired last August as he was about to take up a tenured faculty position in the American Indian Studies program at the Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus because of tweets criticizing Israel’s attack on Gaza that administrators deemed lacked “civility.”
By doing so, the university violated the AAUP’s long-standing and highly influential principles on academic freedom and tenure, the report concludes
Source: electronicintifada.net