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FIRE publishes report on Hindley
by Noah Bein
Associate Editor
News | 1/29/08
Posted online at 12:13 AM EST on 1/29/08
A report from a prominent watchdog group last week sharply criticized the administration's handling of the discrimination case against Prof. Donald Hindley (POL) and ignited a firestorm on the Internet and in national media.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit organization that examines issues of free speech in higher education, published the report on its Web site last Wednesday, admonishing Provost Marty Krauss and University President Jehuda Reinharz for their role in the investigation of student complaints about Hindley's alleged use of the word wetbacks in a Latin American studies course last September.
"Brandeis has yet to explain how administrators could have so grossly misinterpreted normal classroom speech as 'harassment,'" Adam Kissel, director of FIRE's Individual Rights Defense Program, said in the report. "FIRE will pursue this matter until Brandeis finally applies basic standards of academic freedom and fair procedures to Donald Hindley's case."
As word of the case spread online last week, a barrage of articles, columns and blog posts about the case emerged, including coverage in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and the Chronicle for Higher Education. Last Friday, the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release voicing concerns with the suppression of academic freedom on the part of the University.
On its Web site, FIRE bills itself as a supervisory organization which aims "to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities." The organization was founded in 1999 by University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, a Boston attorney and legal columnist for the Boston Phoenix.
Many commentators took issue with a perceived lack of due process for Hindley, a tenured professor who is completing his 47th year teaching at the University. "It's like being in some Woody Allen film," Wendy Kaminer, a FIRE board member and columnist for the Boston Phoenix, told the Boston Herald. "It's a self-parody of political correctness."
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit organization that examines issues of free speech in higher education, published the report on its Web site last Wednesday, admonishing Provost Marty Krauss and University President Jehuda Reinharz for their role in the investigation of student complaints about Hindley's alleged use of the word wetbacks in a Latin American studies course last September.
"Brandeis has yet to explain how administrators could have so grossly misinterpreted normal classroom speech as 'harassment,'" Adam Kissel, director of FIRE's Individual Rights Defense Program, said in the report. "FIRE will pursue this matter until Brandeis finally applies basic standards of academic freedom and fair procedures to Donald Hindley's case."
As word of the case spread online last week, a barrage of articles, columns and blog posts about the case emerged, including coverage in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and the Chronicle for Higher Education. Last Friday, the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release voicing concerns with the suppression of academic freedom on the part of the University.
On its Web site, FIRE bills itself as a supervisory organization which aims "to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities." The organization was founded in 1999 by University of Pennsylvania professor Alan Charles Kors and Harvey Silverglate, a Boston attorney and legal columnist for the Boston Phoenix.
Many commentators took issue with a perceived lack of due process for Hindley, a tenured professor who is completing his 47th year teaching at the University. "It's like being in some Woody Allen film," Wendy Kaminer, a FIRE board member and columnist for the Boston Phoenix, told the Boston Herald. "It's a self-parody of political correctness."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
David Zukerman '62
posted 2/01/08 @ 12:40 AM EST
Now this alum is wondering if the January 7 declaration that the Hindley matter is now closed was influenced by the last line of UNLV President Carol Harter's letter ending the Prof. (Continued…)
David Zukerman '62
posted 2/01/08 @ 12:48 AM EST
The complete date of the Harter letter is February 18, 2005. (My apologies.)
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