If you think the craziness at DePaul University is limited to the Norman G. Finkelstein controversy, it's time to hit the books and review some of the other bizarre happenings at America's largest Catholic University.
Below are some key posts on the Thomas Klocek incident at DePaul. But first a quick summary.
I've never met Finkelstein or corresponded with him, but I've gotten to know Klocek well over the last two-and-half years. In short, the DePaul University mantra, to quote AP this morning that it was Klocek's "belligerent and menacing" behavior, not his voicing of opinions in an out-of-classroom discussion that some Muslim DePaul students didn't like hearing, that led to Klocek's dismissal.
Here's what most likely happened: On September 15, 2004, Klocek picked up a brochure from one of two DePaul Muslim groups, either Students for Justice in Palestine or UMMA, expressed some skepticism to the students about what was written in the brochure, and the students--who've probably never been confronted in person on Palestinian issues that they view as facts--tried to explain there version of the truth. When Klocek didn't kowtow to their beliefs, they ran to Klocek's dean, Susanne Dumbleton, then to the Chicago chapter of CAIR, and began the process of firing Klocek from the school he'd worked as an adjunct professor for 15 years.
Klocek didn't yell, throw brochures, or act in a physically aggressive manner--Oh, he was about sixty years old at the time, so these twenty year-old kids aren't credible when they claim they felt threatened. Klocek did use a gesture, flicking his thumb under his bearded chin, an Italian expression meaning "I'm outta here," one that Supreme Court Justice Atonin Scalia used not too long ago.
Related Klocek posts:
Sept 15: Second anniversary of the beginning of the Thomas Klocek affair
CAIR-Chicago recommended that DePaul fire Klocek
Another Marathon Pundit exclusive: Eyewitness backs Klocek's charges against DePaul
The Foundation for Individual Right in Education has a file on the Thomas Klocek case.
In the midst of the career-quashing of Klocek, that fraudster and alleged free speech champion, Ward Churchill was invited to speak at DePaul and was paid an estimated $5,000 to spew his "wisdom" there in the fall of 2005. Some on the left who were supportive of Churchill's case were oddly silent on Klocek's rights. Others were hostile.
The DePaul Conservative Alliance's attempts to protest the Churchill appearance, that is, the DCA wanted to express their free speech rights, were stymied by the DePaul University administration. Which got FIRE involved again at the Chicago school.
As for myself, I appeared at the Ward Churchill protest. One female DePaul professor, who I'd love to know the name of, told me, "I would never allow you in my classroom" when I tried to explain her the Klocek case to her.
The next quarter, the DePaul Conservative Alliance drew the ire of university officials. They tried to put on a satirical "affirmative bake sale," which was stopped, and once again FIRE had to get involved.
All this time the Norman G. Finkelstein situation was festering. Finkelstein already had a reputation for trouble when he was hired at DePaul, first as a visiting professor.
Here's what the Chicago Jewish Star said about "Fink" two years ago:
When the university first hired Mr. Finkelstein in 2001, his reputation as an out-of-control, unbalanced analyst who mixes vile and vitriolic attacks on his critics with a gleeful exhibitionism was firmly established. With so many credible, intelligent, informed scholars of Middle Eastern studies available from which to select, why in the world did DePaul decide to bring this man on its staff?"
Now he's gone. There are some good professors at DePaul. And some others that aren't.
Friend of the blog Dr. Steven Plaut focuses on one, a Fink apologist named Matthew Abraham, in his latest FrontPage Magazine article.
But two years later, I still want to know who that professor was, the one would never allow me in her classroom.
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