When Sami Al-Arian addressed the Faculty Senate at the University of South Florida, he told those in attendance that he never asked to become "the poster child for academic freedom." Well, with or without his permission, he's become the poster child for academic freedom and a whole lot more. Both the Faculty Senate and the local chapter of the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) voted overwhelmingly against supporting the actions of university president Judy Genshaft and the Board of Trustees in their move to fire Al-Arian. The issue of academic freedom was cited often by both groups; however, the larger issue of whether political appointees were up to the task of running university campuses loomed large.
"What this shows is that these boards of trustees are highly political animals and the nature of the beast is just as we predicted," says Thomas Auxter, president of UFF, the statewide faculty union.
On Dec. 19, the Board of Trustees voted to recommend that Al-Arian be terminated from his tenured position as a computer engineering professor. Al-Arian's appearance on Fox Network's O'Reilly Factor had prompted hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from angry viewers threatening everything from university donations to Al-Arian's life.
At the meeting, Genshaft took Al-Arian to task for not stating that his views did not represent the views of the university — even though he stated to the media that he had done just that. Safety concerns were also discussed, with Genshaft expressing doubt that the university could ensure Al-Arian's safety on campus.
Al-Arian, who had been barred from campus, was not present at the meeting where his fate was decided, and he was unable to answer any of the university's charges against him at that time.
Genshaft has repeatedly asserted that academic freedom wasn't an issue and that she and the university stand behind the principle that many believe is the cornerstone of academia.
The Faculty Senate and the union aren't buying it.
Both the board and Genshaft are carrying out the will of the governor who appointed them, said Auxter, and that does not involve looking out for the academic reputation of the university.
According to Auxter, the board's preoccupation with funding is shortsighted. While the university may lose some funding because of the Al-Arian controversy, he says, it may lose more when foundations refuse to donate to a university with a sketchy commitment to its professors' right to speak out.
The proof that Bush-appointed business types are not up to the job is in their vote, says Auxter. "It's significant that there was one dissenting vote and that was from the president of Howard University," says Auxter.
Although H. Pat Swygert is not necessarily an academic, he is president of Howard University. He didn't respond to requests for a comment on his vote. However, in addition to being the only board member with experience in academia, he is also the board's only African-American and its only Democrat.
The Faculty Senate on the other hand, is all about academics. When they met on Jan. 9, some criticized the Board of Trustees for convening an "emergency" meeting while many professors were on winter break and the Faculty Senate president was out of the state. In addition to voting against supporting the administration's decision, the Senate voted to form a committee that would review matters of faculty discipline. The resolution criticized the administration for not including faculty in the decision to fire Al-Arian.
The UFF was already on record as supporting U.S. Sen. Bob Graham's ballot initiative to establish a new higher education board that would be constitutionally protected from the Legislature. In effect, this would prevent decisions about higher education from becoming decisions about political expediency.
The firing of Al-Arian is an illustration of why Graham's initiative is needed, says Roy Weatherford, president of the local UFF chapter. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times of academia, outlined State Education Commissioner Charlie Crist's attack on academic freedom and tenure and denunciation of Florida Atlantic University administrators for sponsoring a controversial play.
The article ran quotes from a letter Crist wrote to Florida newspapers, in which he stated that academic freedom "is the final refuge in which professors hide when confronted with the absurdity and arrogance of their decisions." He went on to say, "It is a wasteland entirely unmoored from standards, where any activity can be justified if it exceeds our "comfort level' by "challenging' our preconceptions."
The Chronicle also reported Crist's contention that it was time to replace tenure with increased pay for performance.
The union has voted to put all available legal and public relations resources into defending Al-Arian if he should choose to file a grievance rather than a lawsuit. The grievance process would take about six months to complete and would end in binding arbitration. The union would provide dozens of legal of advisers to make sure that the Al-Arian case is airtight, said Auxter. They also would use their communication muscle — the union's member organizations publish materials that reach millions across the country — to make sure the world keeps watching.
"We intend to let educators know that the values of higher education are being challenged at the University of South Florida," says Auxter.
Board chairman Dick Beard and Director of Media Relations Michael Reich could not be reached for comment. Trustee Steven Turner declined to comment.
Contact Staff Writer Rochelle Renford at 813-248-8888, ext. 163, or rochelle.renford@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2001.