Klocek of course is the former DePaul University professor who was fired by the Chicago Catholic school after engaging some Muslim students there in a heated conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict two years ago.
Despite the enormous embarrassment the Klocek case brought upon DePaul--actually DePaul brought it upon itself--DePaul's image in Chicago has not taken much of a hit. Most of DePaul's students come from the Chicago area, and most of its alumni live in the metropolitan region.
The Klocek story, with some encoragement by the DePaul media relations department, has not been reported on much by the local media. At the March 1, 2005 Klocek press conference to draw attention to the longtime professor's plight, DePaul staffers were creeping around the event--according to several accounts--dropping broad hints that the real problem was that Klocek "wasn't well."
I sent some of my Klocek posts to a big name Chicago newspaper columnist--whose identity I promised not to reveal--and told me something along the lines that I'd completely misjudged the story because Klocek wasn't well.
(And no, the reporter wasn't Eric Zorn.)
Writing in FrontPage Magazine on March 11, 2005, Joel Mowbray, who probably was not at the press conference ten days earlier, tells of being fed the "health spin" by Denise Mattson, Assistant Vice President for Public Relations at DePaul.
The school adamantly maintains that it's about the behavior--even Klocek admits he raised his voice, though not to the point of yelling--and claims that it indicates his health problems are hindering his performance, particularly his judgment. When asked to name any other questionable behavior by Klocek, though, Mattson hid behind medical privacy--which has nothing to do with disclosing his classroom actions that also supposedly contributed to the decision to suspend him.
The first time I spoke with Klocek, I asked him if he had any health problems. He firmly answered back, "No."
Right before Christmas last year, the Chicago Tribune's Ron Grossman wrote a feature piece about Klocek and DePaul, but besides ABC 7 Chicago's coverage, that's about all there has been in the local news about this story.
It appears the Klocek case is heading to trial in Chicago. That'll be news, and the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, The Daily Southtown, The Daily Herald, and all the TV stations will be following the proceedings.
Which will give DePaul an unhealthy feeling.
UPDATE June 4: I don't know how I missed it, but the Chicago Tribune, free registration required, had a small article about the Klocek case in its Friday edition.
Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul Academic freedom Free Speech Thomas Klocek Media MSM
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