Fast Update- Day Four

When we first met to discuss the possibility of fasting, we decided to invite Kathy Kelly [a well known activist who has fasted many times herself] to come and give us pointers and tips. The thing that stood out the most is that she said that the first three days were going to be the toughest. Being on the fourth day, I can totally see what she was talking about. Yesterday was rough for all of us, but today has been a lot better. It helps knowing that there are hundreds of people around the world are fasting with us today. Thank you for all the support. We have had the support of quite of few faculty members, and not just from DePaul, professors from University of Illinois-Chicago stopped by to show there support.

One of our main goals with the fast is to keep pressure on the administration and another great opportunity will arise on Monday. Freshman Orientation starts at DePaul on Monday and not only will future students be there, but there parents will be as well. We will hopefully have media/press here at the Student Center.

As always, if anyone is around and wants to participate/support in the fast, please feel to come by Monday at noon to the DePaul Student Center located at 2250 N. Sheffield, a block south of the Fullerton El stop.

Thank you once again for all the support from everyone. Please let me know if you have any questions.
-Evan
elorendo@gmail.com
404-512-0821

The 'F-Word'- How DePaul Is Terrified Of Anything Finkelstein

From- chicago.indymedia.org

We came to DePaul's graduation to hold banners saying, "Tenure for Finkelstein and Larudee" and we came to support the twenty five or so graduating seniors that were to hand the president, Fr. Denis Holtschneider, a letter of disapproval instead of shaking his hand. Our plan was to hold the signs up for as long as we could, but to do it silently so we would not be disruptive; and this was actually my biggest fear-not getting the message across with tact. My fears quickly went away as I noticed that the graduation was only fractionally as formal as I expected. There were signs, banners, and airhorns- it seemed more like a party than a graduation and the administration accepted this because the moment was about the students, not DePaul.

We were there as each name was read, A-Z, holding our signs and cheering after each graduate handed the president a letter. The process worked like clockwork- the announcer would read a card, the student would walk across stage, shake the president's hand/ give him a letter, wave to the camera, and then the next person was up. One by one each graduating senior was allowed to express themselves any way they wanted to, be it having their middle name announced, wearing sunglasses, dancing in front of the camera, hugging the president, or slapping him on the behind. Everything was fair game because this was the student's graduation. But halfway through the letter 'S', there was a long pause. As a bystander, there was an obvious problem and you could see it on the announcer's face. The student had handed the announcer a card that read 'Norman Finkelstein' and she did not know if she should read it or not. Finally you could read her lips on the two jumbotrons- "I can't read this". So the student leaned over into the microphone and screamed the words- 'Norman Finkelstein'. At that moment you could see the demeanor of every administrator on stage change. The student made her point.

But what is so wrong with reading the words 'Norman Finkelstein'? They are words and they can not hurt. An argument can be made that words do hurt, but neither the words 'Norman' nor 'Finkelstein' have a negative connotation. In fact, it has been my experience that those words are positive around DePaul, especially in regards to students. So why could they not be read? After all, students were walking across the stage and accosting the president of a university for the sake of a show. They were trying to create a spectacle and did so with no repercussions. And that is the way it is supposed to be, its about the graduates. So why not read the name, the name of someone who was so valueless to the university that they let him go a week before?

It's because those words inspire. Those words inspire students to learn, they inspire students to understand the world they live in, they inspire students to dissent. And those words inspire fear among the administration.

DePaul's administration wants this entire situation to go away. Fr. Holtschneider can talk all he wants about civil disobedience, like he did on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but in actuality he just wants to maintain the status quo. He wants an apathetic core of students that buy into the rah-rahness of 'Vincentian values' so they donate as an alumni. The idea of 'Vincentian values' is so vague and ambiguous that they themselves morph into whatever is most beneficial at that moment. It is a level of control.

Maybe I am being paranoid about DePaul wanting to rid the campus of this F-word. But when I called the school's bookstore (actually both of them) to see if they had any copies of Professor Finkelstein's books, the nice older lady from the bookstore downtown said that up until about a week ago they always carried at least one of his books or had them coming in, but that have since removed them from the store. Maybe there is something to it and maybe there isn't. But at this point of desperation for DePaul, I would not put it past them. What better way to get rid of the thought of a professor than to take away his texts? Without his voice on campus and without his books in the store, the professor disappears and his ideas go away; life at DePaul continues to be comfortable.

But that is not the case of Norman Finkelstein. DePaul can't kill off his ideas, no matter how hard they try. Maybe its because his classes were transformative experiences-after taking one, you are never the same person. Maybe its because you can see his sacrifice for social justice in his face and hear it in his voice. Or maybe its because his heart has the same ambition and aim that 'Vincentian Values' once had, before DePaul got a hold of them and bastardized their worth for the sake of a marketing ploy. Regardless, Professor Finkelstein, unintentionally, is bigger than not just the Political Science department, but DePaul as a whole, and that scares people.

So DePaul not reading the words 'Norman Finkelstein' does not surprise me. It shouldn't. This is a university that puts dollars as its top priority, just ahead of finding professors who follow the norms and don't ask questions. I guess I should be thankful that there is quality faculty that has tenure. But having to be thankful for professors sliding in under the radar was not what I expected the last time I wrote my tuition check.

The Finkelstein Tenure Case and the Meaning of "Ad Hominem"

From the Leiter Repots: A Group Blog

by Brian Leiter

On his web site, Professor Finkelstein has posted a very fine letter by a philosopher in the U.K. sent to the President of DePaul University, Dennis Holtschneider (you may e-mail President Holtschneider here regarding the tenure case). The letter writer notes a point we have touched on in the past, namely, the misuse of the term "ad hominem" to describe certain kinds of criticism. Our U.K. philosopher wrote, in pertinent part, as follows:

I write to you as a retired teacher of Philosophy, formerly a lecturer in the University of Wales, and a founding member of the Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards, to express my dismay at your decision to refuse tenure to Norman Finkelstein and to dismiss him.

In defending your position, you refer more than once in your letter to him to ‘ad hominem attacks’ he has made upon other scholars, thus endorsing the complaint made publicly against him by Alan Dershowitz.

As I’m sure I don’t need to point out to you, ‘ad hominem’ refers to the fallacy of inferring the falsity of a statement from the bad character of the individual making it. But I’m not sure if you and Dershowitz understand the term in its technical sense. The implication of your use of the logician’s term of art is that Finkelstein is guilty of a scholarly offence: but I doubt that you could point to an instance of it in his writings. To the contrary, Finkelstein draws adverse conclusions about an individual’s character from the falsity of what he or she says, a perfectly reasonable procedure (where the falsity can’t be put down to innocent error). In drawing such conclusions Finkelstein is hardly guilty, as you suggest, of not being ‘objective’ in his ‘professional judgement of colleagues’, unless you think that objectivity is the same as neutrality. Nor can you think that he fails to show ‘due respect for the opinions of others’ unless you hold the absurd view that all opinions are worthy of respect.

No one, of course, actually holds "the absurd view that all opinions are worthy of respect." But many people, unsurprisingly, hold the view that their absurd "opinions are worthy of respect," which is almost always what is at issue when careless accusations of "ad hominem" attacks are bandied about.

UPDATE: It might be worth noting that the Illinois Chapter of the AAUP has now entered the fray, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education:

On Friday the Illinois Conference of the American Association of University Professors sent a letter to the university’s president, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider....In the two-page letter, Leo Welch, the chapter’s president, says the decision to deny tenure to the two assistant professors violated both the association’s standards and those of DePaul’s own Faculty Handbook.

Mr. Finkelstein’s alleged lack of “collegiality” appears to have been the “sole basis” for denying him tenure, Mr. Welch writes. “It is entirely illegitimate for a university to deny tenure to a professor out of fear that his published research … might hurt a college’s reputation,” he says. The association has explicitly rejected collegiality as an appropriate criterion for evaluating faculty members, and has criticized it as “ensuring homogeneity” and undermining the leadership role of colleges and universities, according to the letter.

Status of the DePaul Student Fast

Evan asked me to write on the blog in a more personal nature. I am at a bit of a loss for words and in a bit of a rush to get back to the office, so here is a short bit. Since yesterday morning, a couple of students, including myself, began to fast to express our solidarity with professors Dr. Norman Finkelstein and Dr. Mehrene Larudee, and to display to the university administration our determination and self-control. The last thing I ate was left over Chinese BBQ pork and Chinese sausage with some rice, and a mix of light and dark soy sauce. It was really delicious except that when I got home yesterday evening my brother was finishing the rest. Of course, it would have gone bad in a week or so, anyways.

There aren't many opportunities for me to fast, though Buddhists monks have always told me that fasting is a personal display of self-restraint, as a path to understanding. That is the approach I take to this protest. I have spent time meditating on the events of the past few weeks and on self-reflection, and I have only been emboldened in my protest. I feel hunger, of course, though I do not feel any desire to eat. This fast have given me greater clarity in this quest.

Thank you for your interest in our cause... I apologize if this is kindof a weird post. Take it easy...

-Vic

Finkelstein's Hurtful Facts

by Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff.

Finkelstein's Bitchin'

College Freedom
by John K. Wilson
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Available at: http://collegefreedom.blogspot.com/2007/06/finkelsteins-bitchin-as-one-of-few.html

As one of the few people in America who has never referred to someone as a "bitch" and dislikes the term intensely, I am quite amused by Alan Dershowitz's recent article for David Horowitz's online zine. Dershowitz cites a Chicago Sun-Times report on the minority report of three members of DePaul's department of political science objecting to Norman Finkelstein.
As Peter Kirstein observes, the story further confirms that DePaul used inappropriate collegiality criteria as the reason to oppose to Finkelstein. However, Dershowitz focuses on one element of this report: that Finkelstein allegedly called a female staff member a "bitch." Needless to say, if every professor who ever called someone a "bitch" was fired, we'd pretty much clear out every university. To use an unproven claim like this, which is entirely unrelated to Finkelstein's qualifications, should outrage everyone on the left or the right. How long will it take to find someone who ever heard Dershowitz use the word "bitch" or some other offensive term?

It is ironic that the DePaul professors who were so unprofessional in denying Finkelstein tenure because he was unkind to them use the term "unprofessional" in describing Finkelstein's rudeness, as if politeness rather than the search for truth embodied the work of a professor.

Open Letter to the DePaul Administration regarding the denial of tenure of professor Norman Finkelstein

by Mark A. LeVine, University of California at Irvine

Posted on History News Network - George Mason University

This email is to inform your administration of my utter disgust at the denial of tenure of Norman Finkelstein. I have known professor Finkelstein for almost fifteen years and--unlike your President--am actually familiar with his work, and as a scholar of the history of the middle east, qualified to judge it. As someone who is also the product of a Catholic education, I am especially offended at this immoral and utterly politically motivated action, which goes against the principles of intellectual honesty, courage and integrity that I was taught were the foundations of a proper Catholic education. It is certainly a shameful stain, and a mark of cowardice, particularly compared with the brave stand of the administration of Notre Dame in its invitation to Tariq Ramadan to fill a prestigious professorship despite the similarly risible attacks on his scholarship and character by many of the same academic hacks who've gone after Finkelstein.

Your President and Dean have committed a grave breach of their professional and ethical duties, and in so doing have threatened the foundations of academic freedom across the United States, enabling other right wing demagogues who would like to silence any form of dissent, however based in fact it might be, because it challenges their power and prestige. That they have done so even as American servicemen and women continue to die in Iraq and Afghanistan based on wholesale lies perpetrated by the same people behind the attacks on prof. Finkelstein's integrity as a scholar is especially disgraceful, and a violation of most every principle of Christian ethics I have come across.

Please know that this action will not go unanswered, at least by me, and I know many colleagues across the country and around the world who feel the same way. In good conscience I can no longer recommend another student apply to a graduate program at DePaul; for what university to which a newly minted Ph.D. might apply for a job would take seriously a Ph.D. from an institution that fires scholars in the manner Finkelstein was denied tenure? How can they assume that she or he will have obtained the most advanced and critical theoretical and methodological foundation for both research and pegagogy possible, when it is clear from the actions of most senior personnel at DePaul that these are considered a hindrance to, rather than a facilitator of, advancement at your university?

Nor will I accept any invitation to attend any sort of academic gathering at your university. I will also strongly oppose any invitation to Rev. Holtschneider or Chuck Suchar, and any other member of the DePaul administration involved in this travesty, to speak at my university, or to any event sponsored by any professional association of which I am a member. This should in no way be construed as a call to censor; I would never oppose their invitation to speak based on their scholarly views or research. It is their unethical and dangerous actions as university administrators that demands their censure by colleagues and the academic profession at large.

If anyone should be removed from his position, it is Holtschneider and Suchar. For the sake of DePual's reputation, I urge the administration to overturn this action before the consequences do irreparable harm not just to prof. Finkelstein and academic freedom in the US, but to the standing of your university among the scholarly community in the United States and abroad.

Finkelstein case: Academic freedom loses to Israeli lobby

by Matthew Abraham, The Electronic Intifada, 25 June 2007
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7055.shtml

DePaul University's Promotion and Tenure Board's 8 June 2007 decision to deny tenure to professors Norman G. Finkelstein and Mehrene Laurdee has placed DePaul University on the brink of a legitimacy crisis that threatens to irrevocably harm the very fabric of a university that has placed social justice and activism at the heart of its Vincentian mission since 1898. What does it mean that this Vincentian University has denied tenure to two passionate advocates of social justice who not only met the tenure requirements of their departments and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences but clearly surpassed them? What would St. Vincent de Paul have made of this year's tenure and promotion decisions? Would he have agreed with them? From what I know of St. Vincent de Paul's life and work, I'm almost certain he would be distressed by what has transpired under the name of "Vincentian tenure standards," which are transparent code words for "proving one's ideological serviceability to the interests of the powerful," in this case DePaul's would-be patrons. Finkelstein and Larudee apparently failed that test.

Norman Finkelstein has written passionately about the plight of the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, indicting powerful elites who capitalize upon the moral capital of the Holocaust for financial gain while demonstrating indifference toward the suffering of those on the receiving end of US high-tech weaponry in the Palestinian occupied territories and south Lebanon. Larudee, the sister of International Solidarity Movement leader Paul Larudee who was jailed in Israel for a brief time, is a specialist on international organizations and developing countries. During their time at DePaul, Finkelstein and Larudee have inspired numerous students to create a better world, sparked vigorous debate on the issues of our age, and dared to speak truth to power, which is an era of clichés and political correctness is the minimum intellectual responsibility requires.

As an untenured assistant professor on this campus, who thought serious scholarship would find a site of articulation within the university named after St. Vincent de Paul, I have questioned not only my DePaul colleagues' commitment to academic freedom, but the motivations and rationalizations of many of my colleagues who remain silent in the wake of the grave injustice that took place on 8 June 2007, when Finkelstein and Larudee received their denial letters from President Dennis Holtschneider.

Outside the student center at the Lincoln Park, Chicago campus stands a giant statue of the famous 20th century priest, Monsieur John Egan, who asks, "What are you doing for justice?" At DePaul these days, it seems the students are doing more by way of affirmatively answering Egan's question than the faculty. Students have staged protests of some sort every day since the tenure denials were made official. At this moment, a handful of these students are staging a hunger protest outside the Lincoln Park student center. DePaul's students are standing on principle, and as one protester's rally sign declared, "You can silence our professors, but you can't silence their ideas."

Professional decorum dictates that administrative decisions, whatever they may be and regardless of whether or not they make sense, should be accepted with grace and without undue skepticism, and certainly without resistance, by the faculty. This situation, however, demands fierce resistance. I am calling on all of my DePaul colleagues to launch an intellectual revolt against the suppression of academic freedom on our campus. Although President Holtschneider maintains that academic freedom is alive and well at DePaul, and Provost Epps insists that the denial of tenure to Larudee and Finelstein were "faculty decisions," it is high time to call out these PR strategies for what they are: convenient smokescreens designed to appease, obfuscate and confuse.

Over the last three months, I have provoked, teased, begged, and cajoled tenured faculty at DePaul to be vigilant about the Finkelstein case, stating quite clearly that it was a test case that would have wide ranging implications for the future of academic freedom and academic freedom protections in the United States. Regrettably, only about four faculty members at DePaul took this warning seriously, with most believing the tenure processes at DePaul have essentially been fair and would, over time, weed out any early expressions of bias and unfairness. Indeed, some faculty members stated unequivocally that they would lead the charge if the University Board denied Finkelstein tenure. As one senior faculty member proudly proclaimed, "The faculty will revolt if Finkelstein is denied."

Now that the results are final and Finkelstein and Larudee have been the victims of egregious violations of academic freedom and due process per the faculty handbook, faculty members at DePaul must stand up, speak out, and not settle for a summer of fun, relaxation, and a convenient amnesia. It is high time for the faculty to identify and mobilize against the forces within DePaul university that conspired to deny Finkelstein and Larudee what they rightfully earned; organize in support of academic freedom by creating a solid lobbying effort against illegitimate external influences in DePaul's tenure and promotion processes; and perhaps most importantly, insist upon a thorough investigation of what happened at the University Promotion and Tenure Board (UPTB) hearings in May that led to majority votes against Finkelstein and Larudee's tenure and promotion to associate professor.

If a task force were formed to interrogate the faculty members who served on this year's committee, there is the possibility that someone would emerge to tell the truth about what influence, if any, was placed on the faculty members who served to vote in a particular way. This needs to happen not just to answer the questions that have emerged over the last two weeks about how the UPTB arrived at its decisions, but to prove that DePaul's administration has absolutely nothing to hide. If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason why those who served on the UPTB would object to being interviewed by the task force. The administration's insistence that there is no appeals process only contributes to an already tense situation filled with suspicion about the UPTB's deliberations from last April and May.

That Finkelstein and Larudee received overwhelming support from their respective departments and unanimous support from the Liberal Arts & Sciences College personnel committee that heard their cases, only to have the UPTB reach entirely different conclusions about their scholarship than the lower levels in what essentially amounts to a retrying each case, suggests that the seven voting members of the UPTB either learned a great deal about the U.S.-Israel-Palestine conflict and international studies in a month's time, were denied crucial pieces of information, or were coerced to vote a certain way to produce a desired outcome. In any event, all three scenarios are extremely troubling.

One thing is clear: US supporters of Israel, who have not hesitated in the past to use psych-op smear tactics against individuals committed to upholding international law and the international consensus on the Israel-Palestine conflict, may very well have successfully corrupted DePaul University's tenure and promotion processes through DePaul's Board of Trustees in a blatant attempt to remove political opponents from the largest Catholic university in the United States.

Matthew Abraham is an assistant professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. He is guest editor of a forthcoming issue of Cultural Critique on the life and legacy of Edward Said. He was the 2005 winner of the Rachel Corrie Courage in the Teaching of Writing Award.

Letter to DePaul President Holtschneider about Student Fast

Fr. Dennis Holtschneider
Office of the President
DePaul University
55 E. Jackson, 22nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60602

Dear Fr. Holtschneider,

This letter is to inform you of the actions students are currently taking in response to the violation of academic freedom and the tenure process at DePaul University. Recently, the decision was made to deny tenure to professors Dr. Norman Finkelstein and Dr. Mehrene Larudee despite being approved at both the departmental and college-level. We believe that their denials were politically motivated and that you should reverse them. As President of DePaul University we feel that it is your responsibility to uphold justice in academia and the honor attached to our degree, both of which has eroded in the past month.

After our last meeting in your Executive Offices, when you retracted your offer to provide us a location for our sit-in after only three days, we realize that you do not understand how seriously we see this matter. We have begun a liquid fast to express how seriously we regard the infringement of academic freedom at DePaul, as well as to demonstrate our level of determination, control, and self-restraint. We will be meditating and reflecting upon recent events and on our own understanding of what has taken place. Over the past few weeks, we have been inspired by the overwhelming support of our fellow students and alumni; our motivation for this action has not and will not diminish one thousandth of one inch.

Our program will continue to escalate as weeks and months pass, and will only build greater support once the Fall quarter begins. While this fast is only the first, we assure you that our fasts for this purpose will become regular and that they will only increase in length and numbers with each occasion. We invite you to join us in our fast for academic freedom. After careful thought and meditation perhaps you will realize the damage DePaul has performed upon its students as well as the university’s credibility.

Your intention not to alter your decision regarding the two tenure cases has been clear, but we hope that our fast demonstrates our steadfast commitment and determination. We continue to demand the following:

• Issue a public apology to Dr. Finkelstein and Dr. Larudee,
• Recognize the appeals process espoused in resolutions passed by the Faculty Council and the Faculty Governance Council,
• Discard the Dept. of Political Science minority report from Dr. Finkelstein’s tenure file,
• Include the Dept. of Political Science faculty response (dated 12 April 2007) to Dean Charles Suchar’s report on Dr. Finkelstein,
• Investigate the University Board for Tenure and Promotion (UBTP) decisions on tenure and promotion made in this past year, and
• To reverse the decision of the UBTP regarding Dr. Larudee and Dr. Finkelstein’s tenure, and to grant them their deserved tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

Please feel free to visit our website at www.finkelgate.com, you can reply to us at finkelgate@gmail.com, or visit us at the Student Center as we continue our fast in public.

Sincerely,
Academic Freedom Committee – DePaul Students

Students Will Begin Hunger Strike in Support of DePaul Professors Denied Tenure

From the Chronicle of Higher Education

June 25th, 2007

Students who staged a sit-in this month at DePaul University on behalf of two professors denied tenure said today they would begin a fast this afternoon to bring renewed attention to their cause. During two weeks of protest, the students have demanded that the university grant tenure to Norman G. Finkelstein, an assistant professor of political science, and Mehrene A. Larudee, an assistant professor of international studies.

On Friday the Illinois Conference of the American Association of University Professors sent a letter to the university’s president, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, echoing the students’ demands. In the two-page letter, Leo Welch, the chapter’s president, says the decision to deny tenure to the two assistant professors violated both the association’s standards and those of DePaul’s own Faculty Handbook.

Mr. Finkelstein’s alleged lack of “collegiality” appears to have been the “sole basis” for denying him tenure, Mr. Welch writes. “It is entirely illegitimate for a university to deny tenure to a professor out of fear that his published research … might hurt a college’s reputation,” he says. The association has explicitly rejected collegiality as an appropriate criterion for evaluating faculty members, and has criticized it as “ensuring homogeneity” and undermining the leadership role of colleges and universities, according to the letter. —Sierra Millman

The Academic Freedom Committee Appealing to a Larger Support Base

The Academic Freedom Committee raised awareness and appealed to a larger support base at Dr. Mona al-Farra's presentation/fundraiser "Crisis in the Gaza Strip: Working Under Fire". The event was sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, the Arab-American Action Network, and NIMN/Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, all of whom were wholly supportive of our cause. (6.23.2007)

Fasting for Freedom - Monday, June 25th International Solidarity Fast - Thursday

[Click picture to enlarge]

Dissent At Graduation

IL-AAUP Letter To DePaul

June 22, 2007

The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., Ed.D.
President DePaul University
1 E. JacksonChicago, Illinois 60604

The Illinois Conference of the American Association of University Professors is deeply concerned about the implications of the denial of tenure and promotion in the cases of Norman G. Finkelstein (Political Science) and Mehrene Larudee (International Studies). Dr. Finkelstein, an internationally known scholar on the Middle East and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, was recommended by his department and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Personnel Committee. Dr. Larudee received recommendations for tenure and promotion from her department, college-wide personnel committee and Dean Chuck Suchar.

We assert that your reasons for denial of tenure to Dr. Finkelstein violate the standards of the A.A.U.P., and those of DePaul’s own Faculty Handbook. Your letter of denial of tenure to Dr. Finkelstein, which sustained the 4-3 vote of denial of tenure from the University Board on Promotion and Tenure, focused on the topic of tone and collegiality as evidenced in his writings.
There are also issues related to due process that appear not to have been adhered to in either Dr. Finkelstein’s or Dr. Larudee’s case. DePaul’s rules require allowing a candidate to be not only informed of each decision during the tenure-review process, but also to respond to any negative vote. These likely due process violations of your own regulations are significant if they denied these candidates all due transparency and the right of response.

In particular, we object to the reasoning of the University Board on Promotion and Tenure (U.B.P.T.) which you quote in your June 8, 2007 letter to Dr. Finkelstein. The U.B.P.T. acknowledges Dr. Finkelstein’s abilities as a teacher and a scholar, which would normally be more than sufficient to justify tenure. The sole basis of denying tenure, it appears, is the “collegiality” criterion that is invoked, calling Dr. Finkelstein’s work “deliberately hurtful” and denouncing him for his “inflammatory style” and “personal attacks” in his writings. The U.B.P.T. declares that these issues are “relevant” because “an academic’s reputation is intrinsically tied to the institution of which he or she is affiliated.” It is entirely illegitimate for a university to deny tenure to a professor out of fear that his published research, including those that appear under the University of California Press, might hurt a college’s reputation. Please recall the seminal A.A.U.P. 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure affirms “teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and the publication of its results.”

All of these reasons are unsustainable in considering tenure, and threaten academic freedom. Neither A.A.U.P. standards nor DePaul’s guidelines allow for “collegiality” to justify a tenure denial. Nor is there any prohibition on alleged “personal attacks” in the writings of scholars. These kind of criteria fall under the category of “collegiality,” that the A.A.U.P. explicitly rejected in its 1999 statement “On Collegiality as a Criterion for Faculty Evaluation.” As that statement observed, “Historically, “collegiality” has not infrequently been associated with ensuring homogeneity, and hence with practices that exclude persons on the basis of their differences from a perceived norm…Certainly a college or university replete with genial Babbitts is not the place to which society is likely to look for leadership.”

The June 2006 report of DePaul University’s Promotion and Tenure Policy Committee affirms the above assertion in Section W, “The Role of Collegiality:” “The Faculty Handbook does not incorporate collegiality as a criterion in promotion and tenure reviews.” Its “Recommendation:” “Collegiality should not be a factor in a candidate’s promotion and tenure review or report.”

You wrote to Professor Finkelstein: “as the American Association of University Professors has recognized, all professors have basic obligations, as colleagues in the community of scholars: (1) to ‘not discriminate against or harass colleagues,’ (2) to ‘respect and defend the free inquiry of associates,’ (3) to ‘show due respect for the opinions of others,’ and (4) to ‘acknowledge academic debt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues.’”

You misconstrue the A.A.U.P.’s Statement on Professional Ethics. These are statements of professional ideals that ideally all scholars would adhere to. These are not enforceable rules to be imposed, in the form of sanctions, on faculty in the tenure process particularly when they are gratuitously applied to monographs and other forms of published research. It is disturbing that you charge Dr. Finkelstein with “unprofessional” misconduct in his writings without even acknowledging the explicit rejection of this charge in the comprehensive report of the Department of Political Science Personnel Committee of November 1, 2006.

While we appreciate your claim that it would be “mistaken” to assume that external parties that “lobbied” DePaul impacted the decision, it appears likely that Professor Finkelstein was denied tenure, at least in part, due to the controversy generated by his publications and the extraordinary public-media blitz campaign that was waged by Professor Alan M. Dershowitz, Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard. Interpretive Comment #2, which is part of the 1940 statement as revised in 1970 affirms: “Controversy is at the heart of the free academic inquiry which the entire [1940] statement is designed to foster.”

We respectfully ask you to reverse your decision of June 8, 2007 and grant tenure and promotion to Dr. Finkelstein. We are also deeply concerned about the denying of tenure to Dr. Larudee, who openly supported the academic freedom of Dr. Finkelstein. Such a decision would strengthen academic freedom, restore the reputation of DePaul University as a defender of this precious right, and send a resounding message across academia, that due process, the internal sovereignty of a university’s review process and academic freedom shall be preserved and safeguarded.

Sincerely,
Leo Welch
President,
AAUP-Illinios Conference

DePaul University students have more BALLS than the US Congress

by Seth O'Neil
http://runnyguts.blogspot.com/2007/06/depaul-university-students-have-more.html
At DePaul University, this year's graduation ceremony assumed some elements of a protest regarding the utterly moronic University decision to deny tenure to Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee.

Kathryn Weber, a junior at DePaul, is one of the leaders of a group of students protesting the decisions. "We're willing to do whatever it takes, by whatever means necessary, to make sure these two professors get tenure. It is not negotiable," Weber said.

If you're one of the vast majority of Americans who gets news from the MSM, you probably don't know anything about the issue of Norman Finkelstein's tenure fight and the reprehensible little egomaniacal putz and pompous AIPAC butt-smoocher Alan Dershowitz's waaaaayyyy over-the-top efforts to prevent Finkelstein's tenure.

Now let's do a brief comparison, eh?

The US Congress has had 6 years to stop this horrific Bush Administration march toward totalitarianism and global armageddon. What have they done? Nothing. The cost? Dead and injured US troops, dead and injured Iraqis, dead and injured New Orleans citizens, massive increases to the contributions toward global climate change, huge American treasury deficit and an abhorrent percentage of US debt with the creditors being arguably the most advanced and, even on our own terms, competitive, industrialized nations with whom we share the planet -- China, Japan. We have a whole planet of other nations who fear us because of Mr Bush's reckless disregard for human lives, for cultural monuments and other important historic locations and buildlings, for the inevitable societal destruction wrought by 6 years of illegal war. We have a gutted Constitution and eviscerated civil rights. Our President can declare any one of us an "enemy combatant" and in that simple two-word declaration, we can be deprived of every one of our native rights -- including life itself.

And yet the US Congress does nothing.

Then, at DePaul University, we have a group of students who have studied under, taken classes from, got to know Norman Finkelstein and out of those interactions, determined that from their view as students at the University, the University should give Dr Finkelstein tenure on the faculty. They supported his faculty tenure bid. And yet, the University chancellor denied the tenure bid, and publicly determined that Dr Finkelstein's research and writing are too politically "touchy" -- translated, the Chancellor is a moral and intellectual coward, and doesn't want to have to explain or justify the tenure of the "insensitive" Dr Finkelstein, and surely doesn't want to be seen as supporting Dr Finkelstein.

So some students protested during the graduation ceremony.

College students are willing to stand up for a professor, when it's not even their JOB to do so. They are supporting Dr Finkelstein because they think it is the right thing to do for Dr Finkelstein, for the University, and for the University's students.

Yet a group of "representatives" in the Congress who make a big fat salary and get huge $$$ from their wealthy supporters can't even muster a single tiny obstacle in the path of the runaway Bush Administration juggernaut.

The errors of Vietnam are repeating themselves, a hundredfold. And it's happening because the US Congress don't even collectively muster the simple courage to do what's right -- and so, the example of proper courageous conduct must be shown by a group of college students.

I'm way more optimistic about Dr Finkelstein's chances in light of the students advocating his tenure, than I am for our Nation's chances in light of the apathy, complacency and "loyal Bushies" complicity of the US Congress.

Prof. Finkelstein Interview

DePaul Students Starting Fast To Show Support Of Prof. Finkelstein and Larudee

Starting this upcoming Monday, we will be back protesting in the Student Center, but this time we will turning up the pressure on DePaul. As of Monday at noon, a dedicated group of students will begin an open ended fast to show our support for Professors Finkelstein and Larudee. Also, we will be fasting to raise awareness and to educate on the crisis in Israel and Palestine. We feel that carrying on the teachings of these professors when their issue is so timely since DePaul felt compelled that their teachings did not matter is our responsibility.

If you are able, please join us starting Monday at noon in the Student Center in Lincoln Park and continuing on through out the week(s).

If you would like any information, please contact us through by leaving a comment or by email at elorendo@gmail.com

Video To Go Along With NBC piece

Here is a link to the video that goes with the local NBC affiliate her in Chicago. Here.

DePaul Students Turn Graduation Into Protest

Students Support 2 Professors Denied Tenure

by Katherine Schrup, NBC5 Next

CHICAGO -- DePaul University's recent decision to deny tenure to two professors prompted some students to take a stand in their defense at Sunday's graduation.

During the ceremony, some students held up signs in favor of the professors, Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee. Some students also refused to shake DePaul's president the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider's hand and turned their backs to him while he gave the closing remarks.

Finkelstein, who has taught in the political science department at DePaul since 2001, became a controversial figure for his criticism of Israel and for accusing some Jews of exploiting the Holocaust for monetary gain. He has published many books, including "The Holocaust Industry" and Beyond Chutzpah".

Finkelstein also engaged in a public feud with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, best known as one of the defense lawyers in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Dershowitz wrote faculty members at DePaul urging them to vote against Finkelstein's tenure.

Finkelstein released a statement to the protesting students, saying: "This University must acknowledge and reverse the terrible mistake it has made. For an institution of higher learning to act so blatantly against academic freedom is a sad commentary on the state of our nation."

Holtschneider released a statement, saying: "Over the past several months, there has been considerable outside interest and public debate concerning this decision. This attention was unwelcome and inappropriate and had no impact on either the process or the outcome of this case."

Holtschneider also said in the statement that he could "find no compelling reasons" to overturn the decision.

Larudee, an international studies professor, was denied tenure even though she passed the first two stages of the process unanimously.

"It makes DePaul look very stupid nationwide," Larudee said. "There are a lot of people who understand that you can't do this. The university has made a very bad mistake in terms of its reputation nationwide, and it really should remedy that."

Kathryn Weber, a junior at DePaul, is one of the leaders of a group of students protesting the decisions.

"We're willing to do whatever it takes, by whatever means necessary, to make sure these two professors get tenure. It is not negotiable," Weber said.

The students also held a three-day sit-in at the president's office last week.

Finkelstein told the New York Times that he plans to move to New York City and that "as a result of this 'blacklisting, I will be barred from ever entering a college classroom again.'"

Larudee said she will return to DePaul next semester, but she will have to leave after a year as a result of not receiving tenure.

June 19th Press Release on Graduation

DePaul Students Protest for Academic Freedom

DePaul students protested peacefully at the graduation ceremony of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LA&S) on Sunday 17 June 2007, which was held at Allstate Arena. The protest included banners on the sides of the auditorium as well as graduates holding signs and handing letters of protest to DePaul University President Fr. Dennis Holtschneider upon receipt of their diploma.

Students have been protesting for academic freedom since Monday 11 June after tenure was denied to Professors Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee. After a meeting between 30 student leaders and the DePaul President, the students sat-in the executive offices of Fr. Holtschneider. The students were evicted under the threat of expulsion. The denial of tenure to Professors Finkelstein and Larudee symbolizes a harsh suppression of academic freedom. In several meetings across campus, DePaul faculty has expressed concern over their ability to perform scholarship without the threat of internal repression. Some have already decided to self-censor some scholarly submissions.

Students are planning a series of summer events, including a hunger strike and academic forum where the students will teach research of DePaul professors Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee.

Movie of us getting kicked of the the Presidents Office

DePaul students being threated with expulsion while they are protesting the decesion to deny tenure to Prof. Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee. The Dean of Students keeps referencing the Student Handbook- which says the penalty for our actions was suspension and/or expulsion. Faculty and Staff were threated with arrest and the police did show up.

DEPAUL CAN FIRE OUR PROFESSORS BUT THEY CAN NOT SILENCE THEIR IDEAS.

Pictures From Our Occupation And Being Kick Out

Students throwing up the 'peace sign' after 56 hours of occupying the President's office. This picture was taken about fifteen minutes before DePaul backed out of their promise to allow the students to stay "as long as they needed to make their point". I guess DePaul figures that 56 hours is more than enough time to make a point and they legitimized this point by threatening suspension and/or expulsion.

The tapped together sign from the conference room window. You could see this clearly from the street and DePaul administrators worried and forced the students to take down the sign.

The dean of students telling the students to leave.

The Chicago Police officer that DePaul called to kick us out and to intimidate not only the students but also the faculty and alumni. During conversations about leaving the President's office, the concern of police force was on par with the concern of expulsion. DePaul accomplished their goal of scaring the students away. DePaul students move the protest outside after being refused reentry to the building.

Welcome

For the time being, I think we are going to continue the finkelgate.com as the main source of information and use this as a chance to post pictures, movies, and articles written about what is going on.