Media Contact: Kathryn Weber
(312) 218-0626
finkelgate@gmail.com
Media Advisory
For Press Event: 14 June 2007, ongoing
Place: DePaul University Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago, IL 60614
TOLD TO "STAY AS LONG AS YOU WANT," THEN DRIVEN OUT BY SECURITY FACULTY AND ALUMNI THREATENED WITH ARREST AND CHICAGO PD
The fight for academic freedom continued at DePaul University in Chicago on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 as the fight to overturn the denial of tenure for Professors Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee intensified. DePaul students responded immediately to DePaul University President Fr. Holtschneider's decision to deny their professors tenure, occupying a meeting room across from the Presidents office at 8:30 a.m., Monday, June 11. The President met with the students that afternoon and informed them that he was unwilling to change his mind or his decision, but that they could stay as long as they wanted. He also informed the students that he did not recognize the faculty's right to appeal and declared that the faculty had no "structural authority" to change the president's decisions on tenure.
There was a meeting of the University's Faculty Council on Wednesday, June 13, at the Loop Campus where a 27-3 vote called for an appeal to be made on behalf of both professors citing "violations of academic freedom" and procedural problems in the tenure process.
After three days and two nights of sitting-in, the students were driven from the room at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday. They were instructed by DePaul University's Dean of Students, Greg MacVarish, to vacate the room. The students refused and asked for a written statement indicating 1) What the students were required to do, 2) Why the students had to do this, and 3) What the consequences would be if the students did not obey. After officials refused to provide a statement the Dean of Students, who was accompanied by Public Safety officers, instructed the students and faculty to leave the building. When the students asked what the consequences would be for remaining they were told "to consult the student handbook for rights and responsibilities," which includes a provision for expulsion. Faculty and alumni present were threatened with arrest by the Chicago Police Department.
Current status and upcoming plans:
Students are now occupying the Lincoln Park Campus Student Center in support of academic freedom and tenure for both Professors Finkelstein and Larudee. There is a hearing for the Faculty Governance Council Thursday from 3-5pm in which more appeal hearings will be heard and other decisive actions will be taken as to what can be done next from the faculty perspective. Students plan on showing their support during this hearing.
Further background information:
The tenure process takes place in four stages: the candidate's Department, then College, then to the University Board on Tenure and Promotion, and finally to the President of the University. At the College level, the Dean may issue a report with his own recommendation on the candidate alongside the department and College Personnel Committee reports. At the University level, the Provost is responsible for passing the previous recommendations along to the President.
Dr. Larudee received unanimous support from both the International Studies Department and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Dr. Finkelstein received a 9-3 vote department vote and a unanimous vote in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dean Suchar of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recommended Dr. Larudee, who will serve as the Chair of International Studies next year, and issued a report against recommending Dr. Finkelstein for tenure. The University Board on Tenure and Promotion (UBTP) voted to deny both professors tenure, which the University President, Fr. Dennis Holtschneider upheld. When tenure is denied, in essence the candidates are fired, effective one year from the tenure decision.
The President is given the authority to change a tenure decision in rare circumstances, which the students feel clearly applies in a case in which there was heavy support for the candidates from the faculty that knows them best. Further, the Faculty Handbook of DePaul University states that dismissal, which occurs as a result of tenure denial, may be appealed in case of abuse of academic freedom or when there has been a violation of procedure.
The students maintain that both of these requirements for appeal have been met. The decision to deny Professor Mehrene Larudee tenure seems based wholly on her support of Prof. Finkelstein. She was not given a copy of the UBTP vote or an opportunity to respond before the President's review, which is a violation of the tenure procedure. Professor Finkelstein has been maligned for scholarship which has been evaluated and praised by two outside reviewers, nine (out of twelve) of his tenured fellow Political Science Department colleagues, leading experts in the field in which he works, and the peer reviewers of the university presses through which his books have been published. He was also not given a copy of the UBTP vote. In addition, a document was submitted at the departmental level , which the Dean, the Provost, and the President all refused to include in their deliberations or distribute to the College or University levels.
Media Contact: Victor Lang FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(312) 576-1888
Media Advisory
For Press Event: 12 June 2007
Place: 22nd Floor, 55 East Jackson, Executive Offices of DePaul University
DePaul Students Protest for Academic Freedom
Continuing an uphill battle with the DePaul University administration, student and community groups will gather at 55 E. Jackson (Jackson and Wabash) tomorrow 13 June 2007 at 11 a.m. for a rally, in a plan to escalate pressure on the nation’s largest Catholic university. The protest is in support of academic freedom, as well as tenure for Professors Norman Finkelstein and Mehrene Larudee. Students have been sitting in the executive offices of DePaul President Fr. Dennis Holtschneider since Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.
Upset over DePaul’s denial of tenure to Professors Finkelstein and Larudee, and after a meeting between 30 student leaders and Fr. Holtschneider, students have taken action to defend academic freedom, under attack by the university administration. While the students presented Fr. Holtschneider with a petition of over 700 signatures calling for the reversal of the decision and questioned the legitimacy of the university’s process, the DePaul President flatly rejected their demands and insisted that he would not reevaluate his position. Up until this point, the university has accommodated the sit-in, though informed the students that they must abandon by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. The students are determined to hold their ground.
The faculty and students will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the appeals process and future steps. The organizations that have called for this protest include DePaul student organizations Students for Justice in Palestine, DePaul Students Against the War, Society for International Affairs, Model United Nations, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, as well as outside groups Palestine Solidarity Committee, Council on American Islamic Relations, and International Socialist Organization.
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More information can be found at http://www.finkelgate.com
Media Contact: Victor Lang (312) 576-1888
Media Advisory
For Press Event: 11, 12 June 2007
Place: 22nd Floor, 55 East Jackson, Executive Offices of DePaul University
DePaul Students Sit-In for Academic Freedom
Upset over DePaul University's denial of tenure to Professors Norman Finkelstein, and Mehrene Larudee, and after a meeting between 30 student leaders and DePaul President Fr. Dennis Holtschneider at his office, students have taken action to defend academic freedom which is under attack at the nation's largest Catholic institution. After an unsuccessful meeting where their demands were ignored by the administration, DePaul students are continuing their sit-in overnight and through this week at the President's office and plan to escalate action among the student body.
Student leaders called for Fr. Holtschneider to grant the professors tenure. They presented him with a petition of over 700 signatures calling for a reversal of the decision, and engaged in a heated discussion on the legitimacy of the university's decision. The decision made at the secretive University-level overturned the tenure decisions made at the Departmental and College-levels, which approved Finkelstein's position by votes of 9-3 and 5-0, respectively. Students were surprised by Larudee's rejection as she was unanimously approved by both the Departmental and University level tenure committees. The student leaders cite Finkelstein and Larudee's positive peer reviewed scholarship and flaws in the tenure process as reasons why they should receive tenure. Denial of tenure to the professors means their employment at DePaul will be terminated.
Finkelstein, son of holocaust survivors and outspoken critic of oppressive Israeli policy in Palestine, has come under attack from detractors like Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who seeks to silence critics of Israel and has successfully interfered in internal DePaul tenure processes. Despite being in the midst of their hectic finals-week and upcoming graduation, student leaders are currently sacrificing their time by occupying the Executive Offices of DePaul University indefinitely until their demands for the tenure of Professors Finkelstein and Larudee are met.
I feel sympathy that his tenure got denied, but Finkelstein buys into the myth that anti-semitism is a bad thing, and so I can't help feeling that he's contributing to his own problems.
Plus he denies being a Holocaust-denier and has bought hook line and sinker into Hillberg's account of the Holocaust which has been exposed as a bunch of hokey in this brilliant Holocaust-denial movie One Third of the Holocaust.
Finkelstein starts losing credibility when he supports the fraudulent research of Hillberg which depends on the testimony of carefully selected individual 'witnesses' such as Bomba the Hairdresser, and bogus scientific concepts such as "bodyfat can fuel the burning of bodies", and "producer gas is an efficient method of killing large numbers of people" and so on.
As a hereditary Jew if not a practising one, he needs to stop feeling solidarity with other hereditary Jews out there or else he is guilty of the famous cabalism of the Jews (the conspiratorial behavior that they show and which they deny). He needs to stop identifying himself as a Jew and get out of that whole rut. Other hereditary Jews like Bobby Fischer have done so successfully and some are the Jews' biggest critics.
Saying that Jews are semites is wrong. And it shows how racist Judaism is. Using the term 'anti-semitism' is the same as saying black Ethiopians can't be Jews or they're not real Jews, or they're second-class Jews because they're not of the Ashkenazim or Sephardic 'race'. Which is probably what most Jews believe - that these people, blacks etc aren't real Jews - hence their favorite charge of 'anti-semitism'.
The key is not to fall for their 'trick' and deny one is an anti-semite. I've been asking people who have called me that, "What is wrong with being an anti-semite?" and not a single person has been able to reply.
There should be no support for the fallacy that Judaism above all other cults should be exempt from criticism, and NOT denying anti-semitism and NOT getting all hot and bothered when it's stated you're an anti-semite is the best way of removing that support.
Every single time a person becomes defensive about being an anti-semite or being a Holocaust-denier is one point scored for the Jews. Each time someone does that reinforces yet again the myth that Jews are special and should receive exceptional treatment that is denied to other similar groups: Muslims, Christians, Scientologists, Moonies etc.
If Finkelstein came onboard as being a Holocaust denier, and also stopped identifying himself as a Jew and ceased using his mother's experiences during wartime to 'prove' that the Holocaust happened, I would be more supportive of him. His mother I'm sure suffered a lot like he says but so did a lot of Gentiles yet they don't go on and on about it, and give it a special name. Besides some Jews had it good, they didn't have to risk harm on a battlefield and spent the duration of the war in a work camp and when the war ended left in good condition - see photos of plump and healthy looking Jews being liberated from camps: Powerpoint presentation - truth about concentration camps
So Finkelstein needs to shape up. There is Butz, an academic, who is a Holocaust denier and is thoroughly reviled by the Jews. So Finkelstein isn't the only (hereditary) Jew under fire from other Jews.
Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:55 pm
madthumbs
Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 8599 Location: Fingerlakes - NY usa
Washington, Aug 28 (Prensa Latina) The University of DePaul, in the US city of Chicago, fired a professor of political theory for accusing Israel of using the Jewish holocaust to hide its current crimes, the TV channel Fox News reported on Tuesday.
The administration of the university told Prof. Norman Finkelstein that it would let him go, although he will continue to be on the school's payroll for another year, in compliance with his work contract.
However, the administration cancelled Finkelstein's classes and sent emails to the students informing them of its decision. It also instructed to seize all books written by the professor from DePaul's library.
Some critics of the measure accused the university dean of yielding to pressure from external groups, because Prof. Finkelstein's course was very popular and his colleagues backed him up.
The professor said he planned to go to his office on the first day of classes and if he is arrested for civil disobedience, he will go on a hunger strike to be released, and will repeat his actions until his rights are respected.
Finkelstein, who was born to survivors of the holocaust, said in his latest book that the Israeli government is playing with the people's sentiments to justify violence against Palestinians. He also accused the media of hiding the truth.
The professor said he planned to go to his office on the first day of classes and if he is arrested for civil disobedience, he will go on a hunger strike to be released, and will repeat his actions until his rights are respected.
What rights is he thinking of? The right to work in a university? I would say that he is about to lose alot of weight.
Tue Sep 04, 2007 5:09 am
madthumbs
Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 8599 Location: Fingerlakes - NY usa
Finkelstein - Bruce Lee
Part 1
Quote:
one viewer's take on the Finkelstein - Dershowitz debate
Can you tell me when the support group will be for April. I am trying to purchase tickets to an event and want to make sure I don't schedule it on the same night.
I would say that he is about to lose alot of weight.