EXCERPT FROM THE LOS

ANGELES TIMES
The Salaita case and the Big Money
takeover of state universities
Michael Hiltzik

Foi any univeisiiy, bui especially a public insiiiuiion sucl
as Illinois, ile encioaclmeni of donoi piessuie on ile
adminisiiaiion is a laibingei of ile desiiuciion of
academic fieedom. Wealily donois aie able io siep in and
exeii siiong inuence because public funding souices,
sucl as ile siaie legislaiuie, lave sysiemaiically wiildiawn
suppoii foi public univeisiiies.

Wealily donois ioday seldom lave an inieiesi in
independeni, objeciive academic siudy; iley'ie inieiesied
in advancing ileii own noiions of low ile woild woils oi
slould woil--in ideology, noi ideas.

As we iepoiied eailiei ilis summei, examples of ilis iiend
lave been piolifeiaiing in ieceni yeais. In :ooy, ile Clailes
Kocl Foundaiion oeied Floiida Siaie Univeisiiy millions
of dollais io sei up a libeiiaiian live in iis economics
depaiimeni, accoiding io documenis iecenily disclosed by
ile Ceniei foi Public Iniegiiiy.

Tle univeisiiy's iesponse was weal: As we all lnow, ileie
aie no fiee luncles, ilen-economics claiiman Biuce
Benson iold lis colleagues . Tle iealiiy is ilai we all live
and woil in an enviionmeni ilai is subjeci io all soiis of
poliiical manipulaiions.... We aie noi going io be able io
liie anyone (foi ile funded piogiam) if we do noi woil oui
an accepiable aiiangemeni wiil Kocl and iis funding
paiineis."
.
Ii ceiiainly appeais ilai ile boaid of iiusiees of ile
Univeisiiy of Illinois is maicling io ile donois' diums,
iliowing piinciples of academic independence io ile side.
Tle only iiusiee io suppoii Salaiia in lasi weel's voie was
}ames D. Monigomeiy, an Afiican Ameiican aiioiney wlo
iecalled pioiesiing iacial disciiminaiion on ile Illinois
campus yeais ago: "I guess I was almosi as vocal as
piofessoi Salaiia wlen I caiiied my piclei signs aiound ilis
campus, le said.

As a fnal iiony, considei ilai ile claiiman of ile iiusiees,
Cliisioplei Kennedy, is ile son of ile laie Sen. Robeii F.
Kennedy. His appioacl io ile Salaiia coniioveisy is io see ii
as a maiiei ilai can be papeied ovei wiil a fnancial
seiilemeni: We wani io be faii, bui we don'i wani io be
pusloveis, Kennedy iold ile Clicago Tiibune. Eiilei
iley will sue oi we will seiile.

Tlai's wlai lappens wlen quesiions of academic piinciple
gei ieduced io dollais and cenis--ile univeisiiy comes io
believe ii can iiample any piinciple, as long as ileie's
money io male ii go away.
Imagine if a potential biology professor hire
had tweeted about creationists affecting the
science curriculum. Imagine that she used
strong language, had called their actions in
altering textbooks anti-scientific and
moronic. Imagine then that she had further
gone on to state that she wished those
people who were changing the scientific
curriculum would disappear. Imagine, as
well, that she had an exemplary teaching
record, with no complaints from students in
her classes regarding her tone. Now imagine
that a number of wealthy donors had written
in, concerned about that professors tone
towards students who believed in
Creationism. Imagine that they had
threatened to pull their money. Then
imagine that the university had decided to
stop that professors hiring, ostensibly on the
basis that the professor would not be able to
maintain a civil tone towards students in
class. That would be ridiculous to the point
of absurdity. It is, however, essentially what
happened here.

Admittedly, these opinions do not deal with
the same questions of oppression, war, and
violence that the Palestine/Israel conflict
raises. It is unfortunate that I feel as though I
have to strip the question of these contexts
in order to make the question of academic
freedom more poignant to my intended
audience. However, stripped of this context,
taking a position on net neutrality or
creationist thought has one inherent
similarity with taking a position on the
Palestine/Israel conflict: all three of those
issues are associated with strong, vocal
lobbies and, in some cases, an influx of
money.

EXCERPT FROM SALAITA
NORTH OF GREEN STREET
(https://antinormative.wordpress.com/
2014/09/12/salaita-north-of-green-street/)