INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION, a website has published the emails between the community at University of Illiinois and Phyllis Wise. These emails confirm that she received a deluge of emails from the Jewish community demanding that she fire Professor Salaita.
She has also been found guilty by the national AAUP of blocking Steven Salaita’s free speech and academic freedom. She had a similar record of administrative malfeasance, condemned by the UW faculty, when she was provost here. The only defense that makes any sense would be if she can claim that she based her decision on some valid academic concern over Salaita’s academic qualifications. Neither she nor the University has made such a claim nor do the emails ls offer any support for this hypothesis.
She should resign or be fired.
Ahhh … there’s no fight like an academic fight, except maybe a fight among Republicans, for sheer tooth-and-claw spectacle. Enjoy!