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University of Illinois Salaita Controversy |
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The ''University of Illinois Salaita Controversy'' resulted when Steven Salaita was offered a position by the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] but his offer was withdrawn by then Chancellor [[Phyllis M. Wise]]. Wise was cited for withdrawing the offer after reviewing tweets as controversial. This began a national debate about academic freedom. This decision by Wise was then supported by the board of trustee. <ref>http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/whether_you_fire_him_or_not_condemn_salaitas_words</ref><ref>http://ukmediawatch.org/2014/09/10/guardian-forgets-to-mention-steven-salaitas-most-hateful-tweets/</ref><ref>http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183813/steven-salaita-academic-work</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-02/salaita-prompted-donors-fury.html |title=Salaita prompted donors' fury |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |location=Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |date=September 2, 2014 |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Salaita declared this was an infringement on his [[academic freedom]] and insisted the university reinstate its offer rather than search for a financial settlement. This began a long process of litigation. In August 2015 Chancellor Phyllis Wise resigned her role after she was implicated in hiding emails that involved the rescinding of Salaita's job offer. Shortly thereafter, 41 department heads, chairs and directors, predominantly from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, published an open letter calling "Acting Chancellor Barbara Wilson and President Timothy Killeen should call for the reinstatement of Steven Salaita at the September 2015 board meeting."<ref>[http://academeblog.org/2015/08/23/41-executive-officers-at-uiuc-call-for-the-reinstatement-of-steven-salaita/] The Academe Blog, August 23, 2015</ref> |
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In October 2013, the University of Illinois offered a professorial position to Salaita, but withdrew the offer in 2014, apparently after reviewing tweets of his the university viewed as controversial. On October 3, 2013, Salaita was offered a position originally scheduled to begin in January 2014 at the rank of Associate Professor with indefinite tenure as part of the American Indian Studies Program. Salaita accepted, but with a projected start date of August 16, 2014. However, on August 1, 2014, Vice President for Academic Affairs Christophe Pierre and Chancellor [[Phyllis M. Wise]] wrote to Salaita saying that that they had chosen not to present his potential appointment to the Board, effectively cancelling the job offer at a point after Salaita had resigned his position at Virginia Tech.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |location=Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/pdf/2014/08/13/14-529.Documents.pdf |title=Correspondence between Dr. Salaita and University of Illinois}}</ref> Published e-mails between the university staff and current and former faculty, students, and community members showed the university was overwhelmed with letters from those who objected to Salaita's controversial Twitter comments, which were characterized as vulgar and considered by many to be anti-Semitic.<ref>http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/whether_you_fire_him_or_not_condemn_salaitas_words</ref><ref>http://ukmediawatch.org/2014/09/10/guardian-forgets-to-mention-steven-salaitas-most-hateful-tweets/</ref><ref>http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183813/steven-salaita-academic-work</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-02/salaita-prompted-donors-fury.html |title=Salaita prompted donors' fury |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |location=Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |date=September 2, 2014 |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Salaita declared this was an infringement on his [[academic freedom]] and insisted the university reinstate its offer rather than search for a financial settlement. |
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On September 10, 2014, the trustees voted down a proposal to reconsider his offer of employment. An outcry ensued, both at the university itself and in other academic institutions. Five departments voted "no confidence" in Chancellor Wise, several academic organizations condemned the university's actions, and some scholars have cancelled lectures scheduled at the university.<ref>{{cite news |last=Guttman |first=Nathan |title=De-hired Professor Steven Salaita Is a University's Worst Nightmare: Did Wealthy Donors Impact School's Decision? |date=September 14, 2014 |newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward |url=http://forward.com/articles/205543/de-hired-professor-steven-salaita-is-a-universitys/?p=all}}</ref> On its website the American Indian studies program shared its statement of no-confidence "With this vote of no confidence, the faculty of UIUC's American Indian studies program also joins the thousands of scholars and organizations in the United States and across the world in seeing the chancellor's action as a violation of academic freedom and freedom of speech."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/education/illinois-university-prompts-outcry-for-revoking-job-offer-to-professor-in-wake-of-twitter-posts-on-israel.html |last=Dunn | |
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first=Sydni |title=University's Rescinding of Job Offer Prompts an Outcry |date=September 1, 2014 |newspaper=The International New York Times |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> [[Cary Nelson]] defended the decision on the basis that Salaita had not yet become a faculty member at the time that his offer was withdrawn,<ref name="NelsonAppt"/> but the [[American Association of University Professors]] (AAUP) Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana stated that "Professor Salaita's appointment should have entitled him to the due process rights of a tenured faculty member" and that the University "violated the AAUP/AAC&U 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure".<ref>{{cite techreport |first=Henry |last=Reichman| first2=Joan |last2=Wallach Scott| first3=Hans-Joerg| last3=Tiede| location=Hayward, Calif. |url=http://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/UIUC%20Report.pdf |title=Academic Freedom and Tenure: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |institution=American Association of University Professors |date=2015-04-28 |accessdate=2015-04-28}}</ref> The Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure at UIUC stated that "The process by which Dr. Salaita’s proposed appointment was withdrawn and eventually rejected did not follow existing policies and procedures in several substantial respects...The |
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reasons given — the civility of tweets made by Dr. Salaita in the summer of 2014 — is |
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not consistent with the University’s guarantee of freedom of political speech...however, ... the Chancellor has raised legitimate |
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questions about Dr. Salaita’s professional fitness that must be addressed." It recommended that Salaita's candidacy "be remanded to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for |
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reconsideration by a committee of qualified academic experts."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|title=Report on the Investigation into the Matter of Steven Salaita|url=http://www.ais.illinois.edu/documents/CAFTReport.pdf|publisher=UIUC|accessdate=20 November 2015|page=2}}</ref> |
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Communications released subsequently show that the withdrawal of Salaita's employment offer came after contentions by faculty, students and donors that Salaita's tweets regarding Israel's military actions in Gaza were "[[anti-Semitic]]". The Chancellor of the University stated that the decision was not influenced by these communications.<ref name="Mackey">{{cite news|last1=Mackey|first1=Robert|title=Professor's Angry Tweets on Gaza Cost Him a Job|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/professors-angry-tweets-on-gaza-cost-him-a-job.html|accessdate=February 9, 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Des Garennes|first1=Christine|title=Salaita prompted donors' fury|url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-02/salaita-prompted-donors-fury.html|accessdate=2 October 2015|work=News Gazette|date=2 Sep 2014}}</ref> Salaita rejected the accusations of antisemitism in an interview with ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', saying he is "deeply opposed to all forms of bigotry and racism including anti-Semitism".<ref name="Mackey" /> He countered that the situation is part of a campaign by "wealthy and well organized groups to attack pro-Palestinian students and faculty". The case received wide attention on many college campuses because it raises the issue of suppression of academic freedom regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<ref>{{cite news |last=Belkin |first=Douglas |title=University of Illinois Stands Firm on Not Hiring Professor Over Anti-Israel Tweets: Rescinded Job Offer Raises Questions About Academic Freedom Around Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |date=September 11, 2014 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=http://online.wsj.com/articles/university-of-illinois-stands-firm-on-not-hiring-professor-over-anti-israel-tweets-1410472156}}</ref> The [[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|newspaper serving Champaign-Urbana]] pointed out that the situation was unique because, so few "prospective employees ... would engage in the kind of self-destructive behavior that Salaita did between job offer and contract approval".<ref name=EditorialBoard>{{cite news|last1=Editorial|first1=Board|title=UI hiring not broken|url=http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2015-02-10/ui-hiring-not-broken.html|accessdate=February 10, 2015 |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |location=Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |date=February 10, 2015}}</ref> In response the university's actions, a group of over 40 Jewish faculty and students at the university signed a letter to Chancellor Wise and the board, protesting what they consider an unjustified conflation of "criticism of the Israeli state with anti-Semitism."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-05/letters-oppose-support-wise-salaita-issue.html |title=Letters Oppose, Support Wise on Salaita Issue |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |location=Champaign-Urbana, Illinois |date=September 5, 2014}}</ref> In November 2015 settlement involved the university paying Salaita $600,000, and a further $275,000 to cover his legal expenses. The university did not admit wrongdoing, and justified the settlement by noting that it had already spent $1.3 million on the case, and that the cost of proceeding to trial would likely have exceeded the settlement amount.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/how-a-single-social-media-blunder-cost-a-university-$2-million.html |work=Inc. | title=How a Single Social Media Blunder Cost a University $2 Million | date=November 13, 2015 | accessdate=November 13, 2015 |author=Joseph Steinberg |authorlink=Joseph Steinberg}}</ref> As part of the settlement it was agreed that Salaita would not join the university faculty.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Svoboda |first= Abigale |date= November 12, 2015 |title= Salaita, University reach settlement |url= http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2015/11/salaita-ui-settle |website= dailyillini.com |accessdate= November 12, 2015 }}</ref> |
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==Timeline== |
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In November 2014, he filed a lawsuit against the university, insisting it make public the meeting minutes and email correspondence of university staff who were involved in withdrawing his employment offer.<ref name="Haaretz">{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Netta |title='I am no anti-Semite' says Steven Salaita, lecturer-cum celeb who was fired for tweeting |date=December 5, 2014 |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/.premium-1.630098 |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Salaita has received support for his cause from the [[Modern Language Association]], the AAUP and the [[Middle East Studies Association]]. However, [[Cary Nelson]], the President of the AAUP from 2006 to 2012, lamented that it has become difficult to find an academic arena "grounded in an empathy for both Palestinians and Israelis".<ref>{{cite news |last=Elman |first=Miriam Fendius |title=After Salaita: How professors can better protect their Jewish students |date=December 14, 2014 |publisher=The Times of Israel |url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/after-salaita-how-professors-can-better-protect-their-jewish-students/ |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> In an article criticizing a narrative that has become common in the West post-[[Charlie Hebdo shooting]], according to which civil rights in the West are under threat from radical Islam, journalist and constitutional lawyer [[Glenn Greenwald]] stated, instead, that it's Muslims and pro-Palestinian activists who bear the brunt of free speech violations in the West; he cited as one of his proofs the Salaita case.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://theintercept.com/2015/01/09/solidarity-charlie-hebdo-cartoons/|title=In Solidarity With a Free Press: Some More Blasphemous Cartoons|date=9 January 2015|publisher=[[The Intercept]]}}</ref> In another article he described Salaita's firing as "likely illegal".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://theintercept.com/2015/01/28/petulant-entitlement-syndrome-journalists/?comments=1|title=The Petulant Entitlement Syndrome of Journalists|date=28 January 2015|publisher=[[The Intercept]]}}</ref> |
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In March 2015, Todd Samuel Presner, the director of the Jewish studies center at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]], followed similar action by [[Cornel West]] and [[Anita Hill]] in cancelling a lecture he was scheduled to give at the University of Illinois over its withdrawal of a job offer to Salaita. Todd Presner notified Phyllis Wise that he would not visit the campus for its Rosenthal Lecture because of how she and the university board handled the Salaita case. The lecture, "A Message in a Bottle: Holocaust Testimony and the Jewish Future", was scheduled for April 27. Presner wrote in his letter to Wise: "I condemn anti-Semitic speech and also recognize his right to express his views. At the same time, I also believe that we need to thoughtfully and honestly confront the complex and violent reality that spawned these speech acts (and many others, on both sides). That's a tall order when the silencing of dissent at all levels of public and private discourse is evermore prevalent and particularly when that silencing comes from the very places that are meant to protect it."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/ucla-jewish-studies-director-drops-u-of-illinois-lecture-over-salaita-affair/ |title=UCLA Jewish studies director drops U. of Illinois lecture over Salaita affair |publisher=The Times of Israel |date=April 17, 2015 |agency=JTA |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Celebrated civil rights activist and academic Cornel West also canceled a speech scheduled in April at the University of Illinois because of the university's treatment of Salaita. He described the university's decision to cancel Salaita's employment offer "a moral scandal".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-cornel-west-steven-salaita-university-of-illinois-20150305-story.html |title=Cornel West cancels speech at U. of I. over Salaita dispute |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=March 5, 2015 |agency=Associated Press |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> |
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In August 2015 Chancellor Phyllis Wise resigned her role after she was implicated in hiding emails that involved the rescinding of Salaita's job offer. Shortly thereafter, 41 department heads, chairs and directors, predominantly from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, published an open letter calling "Acting Chancellor Barbara Wilson and President Timothy Killeen should call for the reinstatement of Steven Salaita at the September 2015 board meeting."<ref>[http://academeblog.org/2015/08/23/41-executive-officers-at-uiuc-call-for-the-reinstatement-of-steven-salaita/] The Academe Blog, August 23, 2015</ref> |
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====Litigation==== |
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In November 2014 Salaita sued the University of Illinois to force them to release all records relating to the hiring process, as required by the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. In June 2015, a federal judge ruled that the University must release any e-mails relevant to the Salaita firing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judge Orders Release of University Donor Emails in Salaita Freedom of Information Act Case|url=https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/judge-orders-release-university-donor-emails-salaita-freedom|website=Center for Constitutional Rights|publisher=Judge Orders Release of University Donor Emails in Salaita Freedom of Information Act Case|accessdate=18 August 2015}}</ref> The University complied with the court order in August, and made hundreds of e-mails available to the public.<ref>{{cite web|title=Supplemental Release|url=https://www.uillinois.edu/our/news_releases/supplemental_release/|website=University of Illinois|publisher=University of Illinois|accessdate=18 August 2015}}</ref> |
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In January 2015, Salaita sued to have his job offer reinstated.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://forward.com/articles/213812/steven-salaita-sues-university-of-illinois-over-lo/ |title=Steven Salaita Sues University of Illinois Over Loss of Tenured Post |newspaper=The Jewish Daily Forward |date=January 30, 2015 |agency=Reuters |accessdate=August 16, 2015}}</ref> In August 2015, a federal judge rejected the University's motion to dismiss the case.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judge Permits Free Speech Case Against University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to Proceed|url=https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/judge-permits-free-speech-case-against-university-illinois-urbana|website=Center for Constitutional Rights|publisher=Center for Constitutional Rights|accessdate=18 August 2015}}</ref> In so doing, the federal judge allowed a spoliation of evidence claim to proceed against the University of Illinois.<ref>http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-08-27/judge-reinstates-motion-evidence-salaita-suit.html</ref> Rather than litigating the claims, the University of Illinois settled the action at cost of more than $2 million.<ref>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-steven-salaita-settlement-met-20151112-story.html</ref> |
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The November 2015 settlement involved the university paying Salaita $600,000, and a further $275,000 to cover his legal expenses. The university did not admit wrongdoing, and justified the settlement by noting that it had already spent $1.3 million on the case, and that the cost of proceeding to trial would likely have exceeded the settlement amount.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/how-a-single-social-media-blunder-cost-a-university-$2-million.html |work=Inc. | title=How a Single Social Media Blunder Cost a University $2 Million | date=November 13, 2015 | accessdate=November 13, 2015 |author=Joseph Steinberg |authorlink=Joseph Steinberg}}</ref> As part of the settlement it was agreed that Salaita would not join the university faculty.<ref>{{Cite web |last= Svoboda |first= Abigale |date= November 12, 2015 |title= Salaita, University reach settlement |url= http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2015/11/salaita-ui-settle |website= dailyillini.com |accessdate= November 12, 2015 }}</ref> |
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====Political activism==== |
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Salaita's case was viewed by ''[[The Nation]]'' as relevant for the political right to criticize Israel "frankly and without threat of punishment". In supporting Salaita, the UIUC Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure concluded, |
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{{Quote | The process by which Dr. Salaita's proposed appointment was withdrawn and eventually rejected did not follow existing policies and procedures in several substantial respects, raising questions about the institution's commitment to shared governance. The reasons given—the civility of tweets made by Dr. Salaita in the summer of 2014—is not consistent with the University's guarantee of freedom of political speech. Statements made by the Chancellor, President, and Trustees asserting that the incivility of a candidate's utterances may constitute sufficient grounds for rejecting his appointment should be renounced. We conclude, however, that the Chancellor has raised legitimate questions about Dr. Salaita's professional fitness that must be addressed. In light of the irregular circumstances leading up to the Board of Trustees' disapproval of an appointment for Dr. Salaita, the Committee recommends that Dr. Salaita's candidacy be remanded to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for reconsideration by a committee of qualified academic experts.<ref name=Palumbo>{{cite news|last1=Palumbo-Liu|first1=David|title=Breaking Taboos, BDS Gains Ground Among Academics|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/194233/breaking-taboos-bds-gains-ground-among-academics|accessdate=February 6, 2015|newspaper=The Nation|date=January 7, 2015}}</ref> }} |
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=== Steven Salaita === |
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{{main|Steven Salaita#Controversies}} |
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In October 2013, Stephen Salaita, an English professor at Virginia Tech, and author on topics regarding indigenous peoples, received an offer to become a tenured Associate Professor in the American Indian Studies program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. |
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In July 2014, about one month before he was to begin his new teaching duties, but before the Board was scheduled to meet to approve new hires, Salaita posted a series of remarks on his Twitter account regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, which included, |
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<blockquote> |
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* "If you're defending #Israel right now you're an awful human being." |
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* "If Netanyahu appeared on TV with a necklace made from the teeth of Palestinian children, would anybody be surprised?" |
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* "Zionists: transforming ‘anti-semitism’ from something horrible into something honorable since 1948." |
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* “I wish all the fucking West Bank settlers would go missing.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/professors-angry-tweets-on-gaza-cost-him-a-job.html?_r=0 |title=Professor’s Angry Tweets on Gaza Cost Him a Job |date=2014-09-12 |accessdate=2016-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183274/salaita-tweets|title=Tweets Cost a Professor His Tenure, and That’s a Good Thing |date=2014-08-29 |accessdate=2016-05-16}}</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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[[Phyllis M. Wise]], then-Chancellor of the Urbana-Champaign campus, received hundreds of complaints about Salaita's Twitter remarks from university donors and others connected to the University who objected to Salaita's behavior, some characterizing the remarks as vulgar, and others seeing them as anti-Semitic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/pdf/2014/09/03/document.pdf |title=Emails to Chancellor Wise |publisher=News-Gazette |date=2014-09-03 |accessdate=2015-11-14}}</ref><ref>[http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-02/salaita-prompted-donors-fury.html Salaita prompted donors' fury] The News Gazette, 2 September 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/25/u-illinois-officials-defend-decision-deny-job-scholar-documents-show-lobbying |title=U. of Illinois officials defend decision to deny job to scholar; documents show lobbying against him - InsideHigherEd|publisher=|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>http://coreyrobin.com/2014/09/02/reading-the-salaita-papers/></ref><ref>[http://www.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/pdf/2014/09/01/UI_FOIA.pdf ] {{wayback|url=http://www.news-gazette.com/sites/all/files/pdf/2014/09/01/UI_FOIA.pdf |date=20140903191400 }}</ref> |
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In a statement released on August 22, 2014, Wise wrote: |
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{{Quote|text=A pre-eminent university must always be a home for difficult discussions and for the teaching of diverse ideas. One of our core missions is to welcome and encourage differing perspectives. Robust – and even intense and provocative – debate and disagreement are deeply valued and critical to the success of our university....What we cannot and will not tolerate at the University of Illinois are personal and disrespectful words or actions that demean and abuse either viewpoints themselves or those who express them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://illinois.edu/blog/view/1109/115906 |title=Chancellor's Blog|publisher=|accessdate=May 16, 2016}}</ref>}} |
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The university's code of conduct for faculty requires them to practice "...respect by treating others with civility and decency".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethics.uillinois.edu/compliance/code_of_conduct |title=University of Illinois Ethics and Compliance Office - Code of Conduct|publisher=|accessdate=May 16, 2016}}</ref> Wise announced that she was withdrawing the job offer previously made, before Salaita's appointment could be voted on by the University Board of Trustees to make the hiring official. On September 11, 2014, the University's Board of Trustees voted 8-1 to support Chancellor Wise's decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2014-09-11/updated-ui-trustees-reject-salaita.html |title=Updated: UI trustees reject Salaita|publisher=|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/12/u-illinois-board-votes-no-salaita-appointment|title=U. Illinois board votes 'No' on Salaita appointment - InsideHigherEd|publisher=|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref> |
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The decision to revoke the offer was criticized by some academic organizations as inconsistent with norms of [[academic freedom]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aaup.org/file/AAUPLetterChancellorWise.pdf |title=AAUP Letter to Chancellor Wise |publisher=American Association of Union Professors |date=2014-08-29 |accessdate=2015-11-14}}</ref><ref>http://www.apsanet.org/files/2014Letter_ChancellorWise.pdf</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mla.org/ec_univ_illinois |title=Letter to the Chancellor of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | Modern Language Association |publisher=Mla.org |date= |accessdate=2015-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historians.org/news-and-advocacy/statements-and-resolutions-of-support-and-protest/letter-of-concern-to-university-of-illinois-chancellor-regarding-salaita-case|title=Letter of Concern to University of Illinois Chancellor Regarding Salaita Case (2014) |accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref> and as disrespectful of the professor's First Amendment rights. Over 5,000 academics pledged to boycott the University <ref>http://coreyrobin.com/2014/09/09/over-5000-scholars-boycotting-the-uiuc</ref> until the decision is reversed.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/education/illinois-university-prompts-outcry-for-revoking-job-offer-to-professor-in-wake-of-twitter-posts-on-israel.html</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-leiter/university-of-illinois-re_1_b_5703038.html|title=University of Illinois Repeals the First Amendment for Its Faculty|work=The Huffington Post |accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/07/steven-salaita-university-of-illinois-fired_n_5658806.html|title=University Of Illinois Professor Apparently Loses Job Over Anti-Israel Tweets|work=The Huffington Post|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/2014/08/07/return_of_the_blacklist_cowardice_and_censorship_at_the_university_of_illinois/|title=Return of the blacklist? Cowardice and censorship at the University of Illinois|author=David Palumbo-Liu|publisher=|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/181406/why-unhiring-steven-salaita-threat-academic-freedom |title=Why the ‘Unhiring’ of Steven Salaita Is a Threat to Academic Freedom|publisher=|accessdate=May 29, 2015}}</ref> Salaita sued the University, and on June 12, 2015, the [[Champaign County, Illinois|Champaign County]] court ruled that the University must hand over thousands of documents related to the hiring decision. The University had declined previous requests to release the documents, on the grounds that doing so was not in the public interest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2015/06/court-sides-with-salaita-in-release-of-documents|title=Court sides with Salaita on release of documents - Daily Illini|publisher=|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref> |
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The case was settled in November 2015, with the university paying Salaita $600,000, plus $275,000 to cover his legal expenses. The university did not admit wrongdoing, and justified the settlement by noting that it had already spent $1,300,000 on the case, and that the cost of proceeding to trial would likely have exceeded the settlement amount.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/how-a-single-social-media-blunder-cost-a-university-$2-million.html |work=Inc. |title=How a Single Social Media Blunder Cost a University $2 Million | date=November 13, 2015 | accessdate=November 13, 2015 |author=Joseph Steinberg |authorlink=Joseph Steinberg}}</ref> As part of the settlement it was agreed that Salaita would not join the university faculty.<ref>{{cite web |last= Svoboda |first= Abigale |date= November 12, 2015 |title= Salaita, University reach settlement |url= http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2015/11/salaita-ui-settle |website= dailyillini.com |accessdate= November 12, 2015 }}</ref> |
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As a result of the university's action in denying Salaita tenure, the university was censured by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).<ref>http://www.aaup.org/our-programs/academic-freedom/censure-list</ref> The following year, it was noted that some departments had noted a significant drop in the number of applicants for some faculty positions.<ref>https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/after-salaita-firing-univ-illinois-struggling-hire-faculty</ref> |
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