Posted on 01/12/2002 9:12:35 AM PST by summer
Statement By Governor Jeb Bush
Regarding University of South Florida Professor Al-Arian
For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 20, 2001
Contact:
Elizabeth Hirst
(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE -- "I strongly support the decision of the University of South Florida regarding Professor Sami Al-Arian. We all recognize the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom in our universities. Professors have the right to say things that are unpopular. But they do not have the right to disrupt the life of a university.
"Professor Al-Arian chose to create a situation in which his presence on campus would seriously threaten the safety of the students he was hired to teach. Because of his persistent conduct, it is clear that it is not safe for Professor Al-Arian to return to the USF campus to carry out his teaching duties. Professor Al-Arian is failing to meet his fundamental obligation to USF and its students. President Genshaft and the USF trustees have rightly concluded that the taxpayers have no obligation to continue paying a teacher whose own actions have made it impossible for him to teach.
"I appreciate the thoughtful manner in which President Genshaft and the university trustees, under the leadership of chairman Dick Beard, have dealt with this issue."
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USF Professor Sami Al-Arian relaxes in his Tampa home.
Faculty leaders refuse to back Al-Arian firing
USF's Faculty Senate votes down a measure that would have supported president Judy Genshaft's decision to fire the tenured professor.
By BARRY KLEIN and BABITA PERSAUD
St. Petersburg Times
published January 10, 2002
TAMPA -- There were protestations, denunciations and arguments about the difference between free speech and hate speech.
One University of South Florida professor delivered a pointed lecture on the bad things that happen when universities fail to protect academic freedom. Others rose to say that academic freedom should offer no protection to Sami Al-Arian, the professor whose controversial statements had brought them here in the first place.
But after more than two hours of debate Wednesday, a sizable majority of USF faculty leaders voted against a motion that would have endorsed president Judy Genshaft's recent move to fire Al-Arian, a tenured professor at USF for 16 years.
Instead, the Faculty Senate approved a resolution calling for the creation of a committee of professors to help deal with faculty discipline.
Genshaft said afterward that she has no idea what she might do with such a committee. She shrugged off the other vote, which some of the professors characterized as a vote of no confidence in her decision.
"I didn't hear any slant against me as a president," she said.
Supporters of Al-Arian said the vote sent a clear message to Genshaft and the university trustees who urged her to terminate Al-Arian, whom federal authorities have several times linked to terrorists.
"I feel proud of USF faculty for doing what is right," said Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, who sat in the packed meeting room, straining to contain her irritation at many of the comments. "It's a good day for academic freedom."
So went the latest chapter in the angry battle over Al-Arian, a Palestinian-born computer engineer who has become the most divisive figure in USF's 46-year history.
He has been banned from USF's campus since late September, when he appeared on the Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor. The show's report on his ties to terrorists -- allegations he has vehemently denied -- elicited hundreds of angry phone calls to USF and at least a dozen death threats.
A private lawyer hired by the university said those threats, and subsequent disruption to university operations, were adequate grounds for dismissing Al-Arian.
Attorney Tom Gonzalez said the controversy was alienating alumni and hurting fundraising. Genshaft said federal officials were questioning USF's ability to conduct antibioterrorism research, which brings in millions of dollars in contracts and grants.
State lawmakers were complaining. So were students and parents.
But Genshaft told faculty leaders Wednesday that Al-Arian's dismissal had nothing to do with academic freedom. She said it was about his violations of the collective bargaining agreement that governs faculty employment.
The agreement allows disciplinary action to be taken if a professor's activities affect the legitimate interests of the university, Genshaft said.
That constitutes "misconduct," she said.
"With academic freedom comes academic duty: a set of obligations that professors owe to others," Genshaft said.
She had support among some of the 60 senators [faculty members], all of whom are elected by their colleagues. About 2,500 professors, instructors and lecturers work at USF's four campuses.
Some noted Al-Arian's ties to the World and Islam Studies Enterprises, an Islamic think tank that was based at USF until 1995, when it was raided by the FBI. A former head of the organization, Ramadan Shallah, later became the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group.
Some pointed to his vocal support for Palestinians who are fighting what they consider to be Israeli occupation.
"Victory to Islam. Death to Israel," Al-Arian said in a speech he gave more than a decade ago.
"This isn't about academic freedom. It's about racism and hate by some people who have an agenda," said Steven Brem, a professor in USF's medical school.
"As far as I know, hate is not protected by academic freedom," said Joseph Kools, who teaches Army ROTC. "If we condone this, what happens next? Who do we get to hate next?"
But many of the senators were at least as concerned about the way in which Al-Arian's firing was handled.
An emergency meeting of the board of trustees was called with less than 24 hours' notice. It happened during winter break, when most of the faculty members were on vacation.
Many senators see that as proof that the new governing board, which is made up largely of businesspeople, has little respect for faculty comment or academic freedom.
Some see even darker motives.
Nancy Jane Tyson, a former president of the Faculty Senate, told members she thinks the university has deliberately exaggerated the security concerns generated by Al-Arian's public statements.
As evidence, she offered a police report on a death threat against Al-Arian called into USF's computer science department one day after his appearance on The O'Reilly Factor.
She said the university never disclosed that the caller phoned again about a half-hour later to apologize for the threat.
University police Sgt. Michael Klingbeil confirmed the report, but said there were other, continuing security concerns related to Al-Arian.
Al-Arian has until Monday to respond to the letter Genshaft sent him announcing her intention to fire him. His attorney said he will put up a fight.
Meanwhile, USF's faculty union is scheduled to meet today to discuss whether to file a chapter grievance protesting the university's action.
USF's case against Sami Al-Arian
The university has received so many threats involving Al-Arian that it cannot guarantee his safety or that of students, faculty and staff.
He violated his employment contract by failing to make clear that remarks made in off-campus speeches reflected personal views and not those of the university.
He violated an agreement with USF administrators by returning to campus after being put on paid leave.
Fundraising, student recruitment and faculty grants have been hurt by the controversy surrounding his continued employment.
The ongoing security concerns make it impossible for him to fulfill his teaching obligations.
Doesn't this same principle apply to Cornell West at Harvard? (Is he taxpayer funded?)
If this were a private college, I would totally support having this jerk kicked off campus. I would take great pleasure in doing it personally. But, the administration at USF got it wrong and the faculty got it right.
This is a pretty typical statement on academic freedom :
Universities interpret, explore, and expand that knowledge by testing the old and proposing the new outside the classroom as much as in. Vews will be expressed that may seem to many wrong, distasteful, or offensive. Such is the nature of freedom to sift and winnow ideas. On a campus that is free and open, no idea can be banned or forbidden. No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful or disturbing that it may not be expressed. Rules that ban or punish speech based upon its content cannot be justified.
We have all read about conservatives getting booed off campus stages and called ugly names and we are resentful and angered when this happens because we agree with the ideas being expressed and abhor the censorship. Just because we think this terrorist supporter is expressing the wrong views doesn't mean we should now support incorrect action by the administration and support censorship.
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