Juan Cole has the entire sad story of the process by which the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana has been trying to fire Prof. Salaita for some ugly and stupid tweets.
http://www.juancole.com/...
This page is also relevant and is linked to by Cole:
http://www.news-gazette.com/...
One takeaway is that the decline in public funding of public institutions has made them more reliant on private funds from rich donors, and that these donors frankly expect their money to buy compliance with their politics.
Examples:
"Having been a multiple 6 figure donor to Illinois over the years, I know our support is ending as we vehemently disagree with the approach this individual espouses," wrote one UI business school graduate . . . ."
* * *
"I have consistently believed that our flagship state university is a treasure that deserves our continued support and contributions. No more. We will now cease our annual contributions to the university and will let our fellow alumni know why we are doing so . . . .":
http://www.news-gazette.com/...
Another takeaway is that academic politics is riddled with cowards, connivers, and agenda-promoters living well on the public dole.
Last week, in a massive defeat for the university administration, a a Federal judge refused to throw out Salaita’s lawsuit. The judge seems to me actively to have made fun of the university’s two central claims, a) that it hadn’t actually hired Salaita and so could cancel his appointment and b) that his “incivility” on Twitter amounted to obscenity. The judge pointed out that the Supreme Court had found in 1971 that a book cover with the title “fuck the draft” was not obscene or illegal. The judge was implicitly saying that if you can say ‘fuck the draft’ then you can wonder when Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu would show up with a necklace of children’s teeth, as Salaita tweeted. (His vicious assault on Gaza did kill 400 children). Pro-Israel Jewish nationalists, cocooning in a hothouse atmosphere, have decided that no trenchant criticism of Israel or its leaders will be allowed, and they have sought to enforce the prohibition with all the tools of a cult. The judge slapped them down.
As apparently had been agreed beforehand, Wise offered her resignation to the Board of Trustees once the Federal court allowed the suit to go forward. The judgment, in fact, boded very badly for the university if the case goes to trial.
But in a twist, the university administration rejected the resignation and fired her instead. She maintains that she was owed $400,000 as a retention incentive, but she won’t receive it if she is fired. She has resubmitted her resignation and insists on getting it. This is yet another lawsuit.
The Board appears to believe that the evidence that emerged that Wise may not have been in compliance with court orders about turning over emails and preserving further ones is a firing offence. The issue has also become political, with the governor of Illinois characterizing the $400,000 as a “bonus” which she does not deserve.
http://www.juancole.com/...
citing an article on the court case:
http://www.thenation.com/...
Ahh, those pesky emails!!!