Why would DePaul university let go of an outstanding professor??

Question

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901583.html

Finkelstein said in the statement that he believes the tenure decision was tainted by external pressures, but praised the university's "honorable role of providing a scholarly haven for me the past six years."

The school denied that outside parties influenced the decision to deny Finkelstein tenure. The school's portion of the statement called Finkelstein a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher.

Finkelstein argues that Israel uses perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism.

Answer 1

Tenure is a highly political process in the first place. Apparently, he rankled the nerves of powerful folks...

Now, had he been able to secure very large grant awards, then I would say the money would outweigh the criticism and he would get tenure.

Tenure is generally about: 1) Money*; 2) good PR for the institution and very little about teaching

* most institutions take ~ 35 - 40 % of the grant as "overhead". Thus, professors are expected to be, in effect, a money source for the university/college

Answer 2

This was purely the result of a personal vendetta on the part of Alan Dershowitz. He's a highly regarded scholar who happens to be a very staunch supporter for Israel. He would use his clout and influence in the academic circles to stifle any perceived criticism of his views.

There is nothing anti-Semetic about Finkelstein's writings. In fact, he was right about Jews born after WW2 abusing the tragedy of the Holocaust for political leverage and to stifle criticism of the Israeli government's heavy-handed foreign policy. This is very much similar to black Americans constantly invoking slavery to smear opponents of reparitions and anti-affirmative action activisits.

Answer 3

Rove: After working in a university for a period of my life and having friends as professors there are a variety of things that go into tenure but from what I have seen is that the liberal elements of a department are more likely to get tenure than any conservative. I would have to read his works to see why this professor LEFT ON HIS OWN. But the concept of the book to me is flawed don't African Americans today still talk about the impacts of slavery (when some are not even descendants of slaves) and Native Americans use the impact of the US governments failing treaty rights and massacres of tribes. So I think Jews for a much more recent event that was designed to get rid of them world wide have a right to still talk about the Holocaust in light of new anti-semitism in the Middle East, in Europe, the UN, the Left wing bloggers, and on this site everyday.

Answer 4

I once saw that man in The Doha Debates on BBC news. He is a really smart man.

My university also has an exchange program with DePaul.

Answer 5

Well, its like, if you criticize israel politically, here on yahoo answers, you run the risk of being catagorized as a neo natsi, and its really bogus

Answer 6

Funny! 100!

Answer 7

It happens at every university there is. Political pressure gets to the powers-that-be and somebody gets screwed out of a job.

Answer 8

In the USA, it is a major faux pas to criticize israel. Their american agents will swoop in on you like sharks on raw meat, and make an example of you.

Answer 9

It would seem that the consequences of criticizing Israel and criticizing the U.S. government may have similar consequences, smacks of totalitarianism to me.

Answer 10

I'm not sure. I disagree with him on his opinion of Israel but it is not an outrageous argument. If there were other issues going on that I'm not aware of they may have played a role.......