I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good news. Steven Salaita is suing the University of Illinois. Or rather, his attorneys are suing the university, not because his job offer was withdrawn, but because officials at Illinois are refusing to reply to an FOI request that specifically targets emails sent from outside the university. The evidence trail thus far suggests (but does not prove) an orchestrated letter-writing campaign aimed at Illinois administrators. Connecting the dots between right-wing activists and university officials would shed new light on the Salaita case. It would also illuminate a disturbing (and growing) trend.
Which leads to the bad news. A Philosophy TA at Marquette University has become another casualty in the right's culture war. In a nutshell, here's what happened: Philosophy grad student Cheryl Abbate leads a class on a discussion of ethical theory. The issue of gay marriage arises. Professor Abbate addresses the topic briefly and then moves on. A student then comes to her after class and complains, saying that he was offended they didn’t spend more time talking about gay marriage so that he might fully register his disapproval. As Professor Abbate elaborates on her pedagogical decision to keep the discussion moving in a different direction, she notices that the student is recording her responses. The recorded discussion as well as a (one-sided) account of the incident then goes to another faculty member at MU -- John McAdams, in the Political Science Department -- who posts it on his blog. In McAdams’ account, what was originally a pedagogical decision about the direction of a discussion becomes an egregious example of political correctness and the chilling effect that happens when liberal professors take over to promote the interests of (what he calls) the “gay lobby.”
Whatever. My main point here is to open up discussion, but I want to make three points before I do. First, both the Salaita and the Abbate cases indicate the extent to which right-wing groups have come to scrutinize what happens in the classroom (and in Salaita’s case, what happens on social media!). Which leads to the second point: students and others who engage in these kind of “gotcha” tactics aren’t advancing any sort of interesting or provocative agenda on free speech, but are merely shouting into an already distorted and cacophonous echo chamber. In the Marquette case in particular, McAdams openly speculates about what happened in Abbate’s class, creating a scenario in which “leftist professors” chill speech, and where “it is a free fire zone where straight white males are concerned.” Finally, and perhaps most basically, it is the professor who decides where the classroom discussion goes, not any student with a grudge and a microphone, and certainly not John McAdams or the Newman Society or any other outside group.
As always, I welcome your comments.
*Updated 11.23: A number of Marquette department chairs have now expressed support for Professor Abbate. A statement from the MU President can be found here.
