U. Illinois Board of Trustees votes down Steven Salaita
September 11, 2014
27 Comments
on
The University of Illinois Board of Trustees just voted on the recommendation of a tenured position for Steven Salaita.
The issue became highly controversial when UI at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Phyllis Wise first declined to forward the recommendation to the Board.
Salaita's tweets about Jews, Israel and Gaza caused a wide-ranging debate on social media and among academics.
Our prior posts are under the Steven Salaita Tag.
After weeks of protest and threats of a lawsuit, the recommendation was forwarded for vote today.
There were several editorials from major Illinois publications in the past week supporting Wise and arguing that Salaita's tweets crossed a line, including the Urbana News-Gazette, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Sun Times. The Tribune Editorial Board wrote:
Salaita was dumped because his tweets crossed the line from caustic commentary to hate speech. Some of his remarks come uncomfortably and irresponsibly close to endorsing violence against individuals or groups of people. Some are racist. At the very least, they would create a hostile environment in which others must work or study.