Professor Steven Plaut of Israel has been extremely supportive Thomas Klocek and his free speech battle with DePaul. He's gone the extra mile, or should I say, kilometer, in exposing other serious problems at DePaul. Primary among them is the employment of Norman Finkelstein as a political science professor at DePaul. Finkelstein has been called a holocaust denier by the Anti-Defamation League, yet DePaul's president defends his free speech rights. (But not Klocek's).
From Professor Plaut's Moonbat Central post this morning:
DePaul has some bizarre notions of free speech. While its President Dennis H. Holtschneider publicly defends the employment of Finkelstein as a professor, defends the operation on campus of a Bash-Israel propaganda show dressed up as an art exhibit and the performance on the Catholic University campus of the "Vagina Monologues", he has repeatedly denounced Klocek and defended the firing of Klocek because Klocek expressed politically incorrect views.
For the entire post, click here.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
AP covers Thomas Klocek defamation suit against DePaul
Yesterday, as noted in the previous post, Thomas Klocek filed a defamation lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago against DePaul University. Associated Press quickly picked up the story, 42 publicatios have run the article, including the Washington Post and the Guardian in the UK.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Marathon Pundit exclusive: Thomas Klocek files slander lawsuit against DePaul
This suit was just filed this afternoon in Chicago and is a Marathon Pundit exclusive story. Professor Thomas Klocek, who was suspended for defending Israel against the charges of some Palestinian students, has filed a slander lawsuit against DePaul University. More details to follow.
Here is the press release announcing Klocek's lawsuit against DePaul
Page 2- DePaul University Sued for Slander Against Professor
After meeting with Klocek, but not giving him a required hearing as is mandatory by DePaul’s faculty handbook, Dumbleton suspended Klocek with pay. Dumbleton then wrote a letter to The DePaulia that was published on October 8, 2004. In it she publicly criticized the content of Klocek’s comments to the students when she wrote, “No student anywhere should ever have to be concerned that they will be verbally attacked for their religious belief or ethnicity. No one should ever use the role of teacher to demean the ideas of others or insist on the absoluteness of an opinion, much less press erroneous assesertions.”
DePaul’s President Goes National With Libelous Statements Against Klocek
Rev. Dennis Holtschneider contacted media outlets across the country to publish his letter with statements about Klocek’s conduct and even publicly addressed Klocek’s health. In one instance, his letter was published in April 9, 2005 edition of The Rocky Mountain News, where Holtschneider wrote, “Last September, Klocek acted in a belligerent and menacing manner toward students who were passing out literature at a table in the cafeteria. He raised his voice, threw pamphlets at students, pointed his finger near their faces and displayed a gesture interpreted as obscene…. DePaul offered to give Klocek a spring quarter class assignment if he met with the students to apologize for his behavior and if the program director could drop by his class to ensure that the health issues that affected his teaching were resolved. He refused.”
According to David French, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which wrote to DePaul on Klocek’s behalf, “DePaul has unquestionably violated Professor Klocek’s due process rights, and the university did so because his statements were offensive to the students. While DePaul may now argue that the issue is one of professionalism, its public statements at the time of Klocek’s punishment make it clear that Klocek’s real crime was offending students during an out-of-class discussion of a controversial and emotional topic. Academic freedom cannot survive when professors who engage in debate on controversial topics are subject to administrative punishment without even the most cursory due process.”
- more -
Page 3 - DePaul University Sued for Slander Against Professor
Klocek’s attorney John Mauck said, “When Dean Dumbleton wrote in The DePaulia and characterized that Professor Klocek attacked students’ ‘religious beliefs and ethnicity,’ DePaul hung a Scarlet ‘R’ of racism on a loyal and much loved professor who has served DePaul University for 14 years without complaint. DePaul worked to ruin Klocek’s reputation because of the content of his comments, not his conduct.”
DePaul Case is Part of National Trend of Professors Who Express Views Outside the Mainstream
In recent years a number of cases across the country have surfaced where professors and students, who express views outside the mainstream or have challenged their universities’ speech and ideological policies, are becoming more vocal, including:
Albright College, PA: Assault of Academic Freedom to Criticize Administration
Bennington College, VT: Termination of Professor Without a Hearing
City University of New York, NY: Administration Attempts to Suppress Faculty Speech
Lakeland Community College, OH: Disciplining of Professor for Religion Speech
Rhode Island College, RI: Punishment of Professor for Refusal to Censor Speech
University of Colorado at Boulder, CO: Investigation of Professor for Controversial Essay
Washington University, MO: Mandatory University Viewpoint
According to a statement (complete version follows) released by Professor Thomas Klocek, “The draconian penalties to which I have been subjected are deeply distressing in light of the central issue here: free speech.”
NOTE: Complete suit is available upon request.
# # #
Statement from Professor Klocek
I should like to clarify some points regarding an incident on Sept. 15, 2004, between me and the Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP), at a Student Activities Fair on the Loop campus.
1. There was no shouting, throwing of papers nor threats by anyone.
2. I did not identify myself as a faculty member until one of the SJP students asked me as I was leaving.
3. I did not make an obscene gesture at any time.
4. The University has denied me due process as outlined in the Faculty Handbook by allowing Dean Susanne Dumbleton to suspend me without any hearing or written charges. She also insisted I not meet with the students, despite my offer to conciliate with them following the incident, stating that I was "too passionate" about the
subject(content?)
5. The University has insisted my case concerns conduct, not content. Yet Dean Dumbleton's letter to the De Paulia (Oct. 8, 2005) cites "erroneous assertions" as being sufficient reason to take action against me.
To which of these assertions, then, does she take exception:
a) my disagreement with a SJP student's statement comparing treatment of Palestinians by Israel
with Hitler's treatment of the Jews
b) my assertion that Christians in the Middle East have a right to live there in peace
c) the term Palestinian, prior to 1948, referred to anyone living in those territories, whether Muslim,
Christian or Jew, and that only later did that term become associated with Arabs alone
6. The President of the University has stated that I have hired a publicist because I am seeking a great deal of money from the University. The truth is that I have retained an attorney, John Mauck, to represent my interests. The amount of restitution sought is modest in light of my being called a racist and a religious bigot in print, with attendant adverse consequences for my academic career.
7. SJP was first to bring this matter beyond the University through an email sent by its President, Salma Nassar, on Oct. 5, 2004, to various university and student groups throughout the country.
8. The University now demands (but has not always done so)an apology as a pre-condition to further employment. My question: For what specifically? To date, I have received no written charges. An apology for the content of my speech? For what I said? It would be wrong indeed to censure the students for their ideas and beliefs. However, the University administration, realizing that apologizing for my opinions would amount to an unwarranted censorship of ideas, now asks me to apologize for conduct in which I have not engaged.
9. The draconian penalties to which I have been subjected are deeply distressing in light of the central issue here: free speech.
Thomas E. Klocek
Former Adjunct Professor, School For New Learning, DePaul University
To schedule an interview with Professor Klocek please contact:
Tom Ciesielka at
Thomas Ciesielka
TC Public Relations
333 N. Michigan Ave.
Suite 1020
Chicago, IL 60601
312-422-1333
Here is the press release announcing Klocek's lawsuit against DePaul
FREE SPEECH BATTLE AT DePAUL LEADS TO SLANDER LAW SUIT:
UNIVERSITY’S PRESIDENT NAMED AS DEFENDANT
Case part of national trend of campus battles regarding censorship and
“politically incorrect” speech
Chicago…What started out as a disagreement regarding the Middle East at a Student Activities Fair has led to a free speech battle that generated public interest from Israel to London, and now a slander law suit. Today a defamation suit was filed in Illinois’ Cook County Chancery charging that DePaul University and its leadership defamed Professor Thomas Klocek when DePaul publicly characterized arguments he presented to members of Palestinian and Muslim student groups as racist and bigoted. The suit seeks damages against DePaul for maligning Klocek’s integrity and professional competence. The defendants named include: DePaul University; Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, President of DePaul; and Susan Dumbleton, Dean of DePaul’s School for New Learning. The case was assigned to Judge David Donnersberger.
DePaul Sought to Silence Professor
On September 15, 2004 a Student Activities Fair was held at the DePaul Loop Campus. Among the student groups at the fair was the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). When Professor Klocek came to the SJP table, he took a handout that showed an Israeli bulldozer destroying a Palestinian house. A discussion began and Professor Klocek sought to inform the students that a third paradigm, neither Muslim nor Jewish, but Christian, should be considered. Later, one of the students likened the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to Hitler’s treatment of the Jewish people. Professor Klocek took strong offense at that allegation and challenged it. He quoted an Arab source that concluded that although most Muslims are not terrorists, most of today’s terrorists are Muslims. After the incident, the SJP and United Muslims Moving Ahead complained to Klocek’s Dean, Dr. Susanne Dumbleton, Dean, School for New Learning.
- more -
UNIVERSITY’S PRESIDENT NAMED AS DEFENDANT
Case part of national trend of campus battles regarding censorship and
“politically incorrect” speech
Chicago…What started out as a disagreement regarding the Middle East at a Student Activities Fair has led to a free speech battle that generated public interest from Israel to London, and now a slander law suit. Today a defamation suit was filed in Illinois’ Cook County Chancery charging that DePaul University and its leadership defamed Professor Thomas Klocek when DePaul publicly characterized arguments he presented to members of Palestinian and Muslim student groups as racist and bigoted. The suit seeks damages against DePaul for maligning Klocek’s integrity and professional competence. The defendants named include: DePaul University; Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, President of DePaul; and Susan Dumbleton, Dean of DePaul’s School for New Learning. The case was assigned to Judge David Donnersberger.
DePaul Sought to Silence Professor
On September 15, 2004 a Student Activities Fair was held at the DePaul Loop Campus. Among the student groups at the fair was the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). When Professor Klocek came to the SJP table, he took a handout that showed an Israeli bulldozer destroying a Palestinian house. A discussion began and Professor Klocek sought to inform the students that a third paradigm, neither Muslim nor Jewish, but Christian, should be considered. Later, one of the students likened the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to Hitler’s treatment of the Jewish people. Professor Klocek took strong offense at that allegation and challenged it. He quoted an Arab source that concluded that although most Muslims are not terrorists, most of today’s terrorists are Muslims. After the incident, the SJP and United Muslims Moving Ahead complained to Klocek’s Dean, Dr. Susanne Dumbleton, Dean, School for New Learning.
- more -
Page 2- DePaul University Sued for Slander Against Professor
After meeting with Klocek, but not giving him a required hearing as is mandatory by DePaul’s faculty handbook, Dumbleton suspended Klocek with pay. Dumbleton then wrote a letter to The DePaulia that was published on October 8, 2004. In it she publicly criticized the content of Klocek’s comments to the students when she wrote, “No student anywhere should ever have to be concerned that they will be verbally attacked for their religious belief or ethnicity. No one should ever use the role of teacher to demean the ideas of others or insist on the absoluteness of an opinion, much less press erroneous assesertions.”
DePaul’s President Goes National With Libelous Statements Against Klocek
Rev. Dennis Holtschneider contacted media outlets across the country to publish his letter with statements about Klocek’s conduct and even publicly addressed Klocek’s health. In one instance, his letter was published in April 9, 2005 edition of The Rocky Mountain News, where Holtschneider wrote, “Last September, Klocek acted in a belligerent and menacing manner toward students who were passing out literature at a table in the cafeteria. He raised his voice, threw pamphlets at students, pointed his finger near their faces and displayed a gesture interpreted as obscene…. DePaul offered to give Klocek a spring quarter class assignment if he met with the students to apologize for his behavior and if the program director could drop by his class to ensure that the health issues that affected his teaching were resolved. He refused.”
According to David French, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which wrote to DePaul on Klocek’s behalf, “DePaul has unquestionably violated Professor Klocek’s due process rights, and the university did so because his statements were offensive to the students. While DePaul may now argue that the issue is one of professionalism, its public statements at the time of Klocek’s punishment make it clear that Klocek’s real crime was offending students during an out-of-class discussion of a controversial and emotional topic. Academic freedom cannot survive when professors who engage in debate on controversial topics are subject to administrative punishment without even the most cursory due process.”
- more -
Page 3 - DePaul University Sued for Slander Against Professor
Klocek’s attorney John Mauck said, “When Dean Dumbleton wrote in The DePaulia and characterized that Professor Klocek attacked students’ ‘religious beliefs and ethnicity,’ DePaul hung a Scarlet ‘R’ of racism on a loyal and much loved professor who has served DePaul University for 14 years without complaint. DePaul worked to ruin Klocek’s reputation because of the content of his comments, not his conduct.”
DePaul Case is Part of National Trend of Professors Who Express Views Outside the Mainstream
In recent years a number of cases across the country have surfaced where professors and students, who express views outside the mainstream or have challenged their universities’ speech and ideological policies, are becoming more vocal, including:
Albright College, PA: Assault of Academic Freedom to Criticize Administration
Bennington College, VT: Termination of Professor Without a Hearing
City University of New York, NY: Administration Attempts to Suppress Faculty Speech
Lakeland Community College, OH: Disciplining of Professor for Religion Speech
Rhode Island College, RI: Punishment of Professor for Refusal to Censor Speech
University of Colorado at Boulder, CO: Investigation of Professor for Controversial Essay
Washington University, MO: Mandatory University Viewpoint
According to a statement (complete version follows) released by Professor Thomas Klocek, “The draconian penalties to which I have been subjected are deeply distressing in light of the central issue here: free speech.”
NOTE: Complete suit is available upon request.
# # #
Statement from Professor Klocek
I should like to clarify some points regarding an incident on Sept. 15, 2004, between me and the Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP), at a Student Activities Fair on the Loop campus.
1. There was no shouting, throwing of papers nor threats by anyone.
2. I did not identify myself as a faculty member until one of the SJP students asked me as I was leaving.
3. I did not make an obscene gesture at any time.
4. The University has denied me due process as outlined in the Faculty Handbook by allowing Dean Susanne Dumbleton to suspend me without any hearing or written charges. She also insisted I not meet with the students, despite my offer to conciliate with them following the incident, stating that I was "too passionate" about the
subject(content?)
5. The University has insisted my case concerns conduct, not content. Yet Dean Dumbleton's letter to the De Paulia (Oct. 8, 2005) cites "erroneous assertions" as being sufficient reason to take action against me.
To which of these assertions, then, does she take exception:
a) my disagreement with a SJP student's statement comparing treatment of Palestinians by Israel
with Hitler's treatment of the Jews
b) my assertion that Christians in the Middle East have a right to live there in peace
c) the term Palestinian, prior to 1948, referred to anyone living in those territories, whether Muslim,
Christian or Jew, and that only later did that term become associated with Arabs alone
6. The President of the University has stated that I have hired a publicist because I am seeking a great deal of money from the University. The truth is that I have retained an attorney, John Mauck, to represent my interests. The amount of restitution sought is modest in light of my being called a racist and a religious bigot in print, with attendant adverse consequences for my academic career.
7. SJP was first to bring this matter beyond the University through an email sent by its President, Salma Nassar, on Oct. 5, 2004, to various university and student groups throughout the country.
8. The University now demands (but has not always done so)an apology as a pre-condition to further employment. My question: For what specifically? To date, I have received no written charges. An apology for the content of my speech? For what I said? It would be wrong indeed to censure the students for their ideas and beliefs. However, the University administration, realizing that apologizing for my opinions would amount to an unwarranted censorship of ideas, now asks me to apologize for conduct in which I have not engaged.
9. The draconian penalties to which I have been subjected are deeply distressing in light of the central issue here: free speech.
Thomas E. Klocek
Former Adjunct Professor, School For New Learning, DePaul University
To schedule an interview with Professor Klocek please contact:
Tom Ciesielka at
Thomas Ciesielka
TC Public Relations
333 N. Michigan Ave.
Suite 1020
Chicago, IL 60601
312-422-1333
More details on the accused fire books author/arsonist
The Chicago Sun-Times has more details on David Cowan, co-author (I had him as author in the previous post) of To Sleep with the Angels : The Story of a Fire and author in his own right of
Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City.
Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City.
Monday, June 13, 2005
"Backdraft" revisited in Chicago. Again. Author of fire books arrested for arson
Remember "Backdraft" the early 1990s Ron Howard film about firefighters? An arsonist firefighter was one of the villains. The movie was filmed and set in Chicago.
Well, sadly, a couple of people in Chicago were, shall I say, inspired by this film. Inspired to become arsonists.
This early Marathon Pundit post touches on the story of Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Jeffrey Boyle, who alleged set a whole bunch of fires in suburban Park Ridge and on the Northwest Side of Chicago.
AP is reporting tonight that last week, former suburban Bellwood firefighter and author of two books on fires, David Cowan, was arrested for allegedly torching a storage shed adjacent to St. Benedict's Church on Chicago's North Side.
Cowan's two books are To Sleep with the Angels : The Story of a Fire (about a 1958 Chicago school fire that killed 92 students and three nuns) and Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City. As of this posting, both are available for purchase from Amazon.com.
David Cowan might have a third book in his future, as he may soon have a lot of free time on his hands.
Well, sadly, a couple of people in Chicago were, shall I say, inspired by this film. Inspired to become arsonists.
This early Marathon Pundit post touches on the story of Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Jeffrey Boyle, who alleged set a whole bunch of fires in suburban Park Ridge and on the Northwest Side of Chicago.
AP is reporting tonight that last week, former suburban Bellwood firefighter and author of two books on fires, David Cowan, was arrested for allegedly torching a storage shed adjacent to St. Benedict's Church on Chicago's North Side.
Cowan's two books are To Sleep with the Angels : The Story of a Fire (about a 1958 Chicago school fire that killed 92 students and three nuns) and Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City. As of this posting, both are available for purchase from Amazon.com.
David Cowan might have a third book in his future, as he may soon have a lot of free time on his hands.
More Gary Jacko reaction
In this article, a hastily gathered group of people who live in Gary and claim they knew Jacko (who, with the rest of the Jacksons, bailed on Gary in 1968 or so) talk about the gloved one. From NBC 5 Chicago.
Don't click through to the link if you've just eaten.
Don't click through to the link if you've just eaten.
Gary, Indiana reacts to the Jacko not-guilty verdict
From AP:
Doesn't Gary, Indiana have enough problems?
People in Michael Jackson's hometown of Gary say they hope the pop star's acquittal today will prompt him to reconsider a connection with the city.
More....
In 2003, Jackson pledged to raise money for for a Michael J. Jackson Performance Arts Center in Gary, but so far nothing has come of the deal.
A spokeswoman for Gary Mayor Scott King says the city will pursue the creation of the performing arts venue with or without Jackson's help.
Hey, Mayor King! If you build the performing arts center, name if after someone else, or calll it the Gary Performance Arts Center.
Or how about this for a compromise? The Jacko Performing Arts Center.
Doesn't Gary, Indiana have enough problems?
People in Michael Jackson's hometown of Gary say they hope the pop star's acquittal today will prompt him to reconsider a connection with the city.
More....
In 2003, Jackson pledged to raise money for for a Michael J. Jackson Performance Arts Center in Gary, but so far nothing has come of the deal.
A spokeswoman for Gary Mayor Scott King says the city will pursue the creation of the performing arts venue with or without Jackson's help.
Hey, Mayor King! If you build the performing arts center, name if after someone else, or calll it the Gary Performance Arts Center.
Or how about this for a compromise? The Jacko Performing Arts Center.
John Edwards speaks at Rainbow/Push convention; Kerry, Clinton cancel
The annual Rainbow/Push convention continues to make news--maybe not the way Jesse Jackson and his followers had hoped for, but make news it did. This post from Sunday explains the latest goofiness from Howard Dean, from Day Two of the Rainbow/Push convention.
Bill Clinton and John Kerry were supposed to speak today, but neither showed up--Clinton claiming an emergency, and Kerry said he had a scheduling conflict.
As for Clinton's absence, according the ABC 7 Chicago's Hosea Sanders, that "made for some very, very disappointed people."
John Edwards did show up, and the multi-millionaire trial lawyer spoke on poverty issues.
So three big names were invited to speak at the Rainbow/Push convention, only one showed up.
Bill Clinton and John Kerry were supposed to speak today, but neither showed up--Clinton claiming an emergency, and Kerry said he had a scheduling conflict.
As for Clinton's absence, according the ABC 7 Chicago's Hosea Sanders, that "made for some very, very disappointed people."
John Edwards did show up, and the multi-millionaire trial lawyer spoke on poverty issues.
So three big names were invited to speak at the Rainbow/Push convention, only one showed up.
Blagojevich hypocrisy on display at Field Museum Thursday
Illinois' maestro of phony reform, Governor Rod Blagojevich, is at it again. From the Chicago Sun-Times:
At the same time Gov. Blagojevich pressed the Legislature to cap individual campaign contributions at $1,000, his political organization was mailing out invitations to an upcoming fund-raiser seeking individual donations as high as $10,000.
More on the Chicago Democrat:
An invitation to the Field Museum gala shows Blagojevich established a sliding scale for contributors. For a $1,000 contribution, a donor is characterized as a "sponsor." For $2,500, the designation becomes a "patron." For $5,000, a donor can be a "benefactor." And a $10,000 check earns a contributor the title of "co-chair."
UPDATE: In the print edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, the invitation lists the direct line to Blago's polictical office, which is (773) 404-2006. If you'd like to attend, give them a call, if you want to tell them what hypocrites the Blago-ites are, feel free to tell them that!
At the same time Gov. Blagojevich pressed the Legislature to cap individual campaign contributions at $1,000, his political organization was mailing out invitations to an upcoming fund-raiser seeking individual donations as high as $10,000.
More on the Chicago Democrat:
An invitation to the Field Museum gala shows Blagojevich established a sliding scale for contributors. For a $1,000 contribution, a donor is characterized as a "sponsor." For $2,500, the designation becomes a "patron." For $5,000, a donor can be a "benefactor." And a $10,000 check earns a contributor the title of "co-chair."
UPDATE: In the print edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, the invitation lists the direct line to Blago's polictical office, which is (773) 404-2006. If you'd like to attend, give them a call, if you want to tell them what hypocrites the Blago-ites are, feel free to tell them that!
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