Steven Salaita spoke publicly about the revocation of his tenure at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the first time today. Here is the full text of his remarks:ccrjustice.org/files/Salaita%20Statement_Press%20Conf_09%2008%2014.pdf He explains: Tenure – a concept that is well over a hundred years old – is supposed to be an ironclad guarantee that University officials respect these ideals and do not succumb to financial pressure or political expediency by silencing controversial or unpopular views. I have devoted my entire life to challenging prevailing orthodoxies, critiquing architectures of power and violence in the US and abroad and surfacing narratives of people – including Palestinians and Native Americans – who are subject to occupation, marginalization, and violence. Stevens case is not just about him but about the state of the academy more broadly i.e., its insistence on respectability politics/civility (for some) and the impact of private donors on the composition of the faculty and the curriculum. The Center for Constitutional Rights , which is representing him along with cooperating attorneys, filed an Illinois Freedom of Information Act that revealed a series of emails indicating significant donor pressure ...including one who referred to himself as “a multiple 6 figure donor – on Chancellor Phyllis Wise to terminate Salaita’s appointment after the tweets. ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/professor-salaita-speaks-first-time-about-losing-university-of-illinois-tenured-position-over-gaza-t Thus far, 5,000 faculty members have pledged to boycott UIUC for its shortsighted and politicized decision: coreyrobin/2014/09/09/over-5000-scholars-boycotting-the-uiuc/ Another 18,000 have signed a petition supporting Stevens reinstatement. The Board of Trustees will be meeting again on Thursday to revisit their decision- as Steven says, lets hope this is a learning moment for everyone.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 19:23:20 +0000
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