(These are updates which were on our front page. For more current information, go to Finkelstein's site.)
09/06 Day of Shame for DePaul Administration; Resistance Emerges.
On the resignation of Norman Finkelstein
(The following statement was passed out at DePaul by activists and supporters of the National Project to Defend Critical Thinking and Dissent in Academia.)
The first day of classes this year was a sad one for DePaul University. After a year and more of extraordinary pressure, as well as a concerted smear campaign (which got extremely dirty with the recent release of “internal memos”) - the Administration got what they wanted: Norman Finkelstein will no longer be a part of the life of DePaul. They have forced the resignation of a remarkable thinker and teacher who was well-respected by scholars and students alike, they have violated the basic norms and practices of the tenure process, and they have re-enforced a terrible precedent setting in across the country.
On the same day, there was a very significant outpouring of support and protest from students and faculty at DePaul and elsewhere. An atmosphere of debate and discussion erupted, where very quickly much of the campus was discussing urgent matters of academic freedom, and the future of critical thinking and dissent on campus. People, including many freshmen, boldly stepped forward
and held
a protest and march which reverberated across the
school.
It is unfortunate that things ended up with the settlement and resignation of Professor Finkelstein. This is not what many who stepped forward hoped for.
Finkelstein has said that he’s moving on. But we cannot accept what the University has done, and we cannot move on with business-as-usual. There is a foul stench on campus. The DePaul Administration must be held responsible for this deplorable and unconscionable sequence of events. We cannot let stand the completely unjust grounds upon which, nor the process through which this was done; we must demand a repudiation and apology from the Administration. This goes against everything that the intellectual life of a university is supposed to stand for.
This battle has both been very much about Norman Finkelstein, but it’s also been about something much bigger- the overall assault on critical thinking and dissent on campuses. With the recent firing of tenured-professor Ward Churchill at the University of Colorado, the attacks on Middle East and Ethnic Studies, and with the actions of David Horowitz, who was brought to DePaul just this spring and who has just announced plans for “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” on campuses across the country in October- these attacks are growing by leaps and bounds. And if the whole process and grounds on which Norman Finkelstein was forced to resign are not repudiated and apologized for- then this opens the door for other attacks on professors, and it further sets a chill onto campuses everywhere. Now is the time for the resistance to both spread much more broadly, and come forward even more boldly. There’s not a minute to lose.
--Penny Brown and Samantha Hamlin, Supporters of the National Project to Defend Critical Thinking and Dissent in Academia, www.defendcriticalthinking.org
Read Dr. Matthew Abraham's open letter from 09/04 here. His courage provoked a response from a Horowitz toady.
For more analysis and thoughts on developments at DePaul check out the blogs by John K. Wilson and Peter Kirstein.
Update 09/01
Read our Open Letter to DePaul faculty: A Battle for the Soul of DePaul, and for the Future of Academia.
If you would like to sign the letter, contact us. Tell us you want to sign and how you want to be identified.
The campaign by students at DePaul has gotten off to a great start. At DePaul's convocation on August 31, they made t-shirts for professors to wear, saying "We are all Norman Finkelstein." For more see the reports at Chicago IndyMedia and the Chicago Sun-Times. They have a press release announcing their actions on September 5.
Peter Kirstein has written a number of pieces on the Finkelstein case on his blog.
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DePaul Philosophy professor Bill Martin wrote an important article on the Norman Finkelstein case for Dissident Voice on August 9. We are encouraging everyone to read it and pass it on their colleagues. You can access the original here, and download a pdf file here. Another DePaul Philosophy professor, Peg Birmingham, has written a critique of the "minority report" opposing Finkelstein's tenure.
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The Intensifying Situation at DePaul
DePaul is shaping up to be a central battleground in the struggle to defend dissent and critical thinking in academia. Not only has Dr. Norman Finkelstein unjustly been denied tenure (along with Dr.
Mehrene
Larudee), the university has cancelled his classes,
locked him out his office, placed him on academic
leave and is even threatening to arrest him if he
comes on campus.
Finkelstein has said that regardless, he will come on campus and teach his classes. In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, he said, “If the university attempts to impede my movements I intend to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and go to jail. If incarcerated I intend to go on a protracted hunger strike until DePaul comes to its senses. It is regrettable that I have been driven to such drastic actions to defend basic principles of academic freedom and my contractual rights, upon which DePaul has been riding roughshod for so long.” You can read a lot more on the situation at Finkelstein's website.
Students at DePaul have formed the DePaul Academic Freedom Committee. They are planning a protest and press conference for the first day of class - Wednesday September 5th. This is the day that the students that would be in Professor Finkelstein's class would have gone to his classes (which start at 8:30am). They have also organized an exciting conference on October 12. Called "In Defense of Academic Freedom," It will feature Akeel Bilgrami, Noam Chomsky, Tony Judt, John Mearsheimer, Neve Gordon, with host Tariq Ali. It will take place at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. You can read more about the conference and their activities at their website
The DePaul AFC is asking that people send an email letting the DePaul administration know what you think of their actions. Here are some of their emails:
- DePaul University President, Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. - president@depaul.edu
- DePaul Provost, Dr. Helmut Epp - hepp@depaul.edu
- DePaul Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Charles Suchar - csuchar@depaul.edu
Please cc emails to DAFC, Dr. Finkelstein and the National Project: info@academicfreedomchicago.org, normangf@hotmail.com, criticalxthinking@yahoo.com
Norman Finkelstein Denied Tenure
- Finkelstein on the future
- "As it happens, I was just this past week teaching about Paul Robeson in my political science class. When Robeson was crucified for his beliefs, he said, 'I will not retreat one-thousandth part of one inch.' That's what I say to the thugs and hoodlums who are trying to silence me . . . They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe." – Finkelstein to the Chicago Tribune.
In the latest outrage against academic freedom, the President of Depaul has upheld the denial of tenure to political scientist Norman Finkelstein. This has been met with massive outrage and protest. Check out Finkelstein's site for full coverage. In particular, read the hundreds of letters of support to Finkelstein here.
Selected articles and analysis:
• Read the American Association of University Professor's statement here. (Note that in Rev. Holtscheider's response he changes course, saying nothing about "collegiality" and claiming that the denial of tenure was all about "scholarship, service, and teaching.")
• Read "The Poisoning of Academic Freedom: Strange Calculus at DePaul" by Bill Williams (Counterpunch), here.
• Read "A Battle for Academic Freedom at DePaul," by Matthew Abraham, Dissident Voice, June 18th, 2007, here.
• Read "Escalation in the Attacks on Dissent and Critical Thinking: DePaul University Denies Tenure to Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee," Revolution #93, June 24, 2007, here.
• Read "Thoughts on a Very Special Professor Under Attack," by Penny Brown, Revolution #93, June 24, 2007, here.
• Read "Denial of Tenure for Norman Finkelstein: Rising Outrage, and Raising Big Questions," Revolution #95, July 15, 2007, here.
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