News » May 14, 2010 » Web Only

An Assault on Academic Freedom? (cont’d)

Due to the recession’s impact on the university’s endowment and a September 2008 flood that forced costly repairs to several campus buildings, North Park had to make cuts. Ho-Youn Kwon, director or the Korean studies center, was also fired in May 2009 as the school’s vision for the “collaboratory” came together.

But Dahlstrom, who met with Parkyn throughout his four years as a North Park student, challenges the idea that financial problems caused Wagner’s firing. “I don’t see how the process of firing someone, finding [a replacement] and then keeping the program [as part of the “collaboratory”] is a good use of resources,” Dahlstrom says. “The ‘financial’ reason just doesn’t make any sense.”

In recent years, other Chicago-area universities have also sparked controversies about intellectual freedom and academics’ political views.

In 2007, political scientist Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at Chicago’s DePaul University after a very public battle with university officials and Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and fervent supporter of Israel. Finkelstein, whose parents survived a Nazi death camp, has accused Jews of using the Holocaust as a tool to gain power and money. Although many DePaul faculty members supported Finkelstein and his department recommended him for tenure, he did not receive it, effectively ending his career at DePaul. Finkelstein said the decision was based on “transparently political grounds” and was an “egregious violation” of intellectual freedom.

In 2005, Northwestern University declined to fire Arthur Butz, a Holocaust denier and tenured electrical engineering professor. Butz was criticized for speaking in support of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmajinedad, saying ” I congratulate him on becoming the first head of state to speak out clearly on these issues [the alleged fabrication of the Holocaust], and regret only that it was not a Western head of state.” Former Northwestern President Henry Bienen called Butz “an embarrassment to Northwestern,” but Butz continued to teach at Northwestern despite faculty protests.

Parkyn denies that Wagner’s views on Palestine had anything to do with his termination. “Dr. Wagner wasn’t “fired”–which would imply a decision based on performance review … rather, a year ago we decided to terminate the position which he held … all based on our need to keep the University’s budget balanced and to appropriate available resources as judiciously as possible,” he wrote to In These Times.

Cavello describes Parkyn as “a politician,” and Dahlstrom criticizes the president for his top-down vision of the school and being “completely out of touch with … students.” Dahlstrom worries that consolidating multicultural programs into the “collaboratory” will harm the school by decreasing its diversity. Parkyn maintains that its creation would not affect availability of Middle Eastern studies classes.

On April 29, students organized a forum to discuss the “collaboratory,” which Parkyn and other administrators attended. Students were angry and many spoke out of turn, asking why Wagner had been fired, according to Dahlstrom. (Cavallo says one forum audience member offered to pay Wagner’s salary to avoid a firing; administrators didn’t respond to the proposal.)

Rebecca Ewing, a former student of Wagner’s who helped organize the forum, says he has invaluable connections to Palestine and scholars of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “He has a lot of Muslim and Jewish friends who he doesn’t reject, and there aren’t many evangelical academics who walk that path, Ewing says. “He’s a lot more liberal regarding interfaith relations. … He asks a lot of questions.”

In the summer of 2009, Cavallo met with Parkyn, who, she says, was angry with her for mobilizing so many students and concerned about upset donors who had contacted him. Cavallo pled her case, saying, “If you shut down Don Wagner, you shut down the Middle East studies program. Then you shut down the center, which is such an asset to North Park.”

Wagner’s 15-year North Park career is now officially over. For many students, alumni and faculty members, a question mark remains.

This article was updated on May 20 to acknowledge the outcome of faculty-administration negotiations.