Urbana senate staying out of Ayers controversy
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2010-10-21/urbana-senate-staying-out-ayers-controversy.html
10/21/2010
Paul Wood
URBANA It's not the right time for the Urbana campus senate to
debate on the decision by the University of Illinois Board of
Trustees not to grant emeritus status to a Chicago campus professor,
the Senate Executive Committee voted Thursday morning.
Last month, led by Chairman Christopher Kennedy, the trustees voted
without debate and without dissent to deny emeritus status to William
Ayers, who in 1974 co-authored a book dedicated in part to Sirhan
Sirhan, the assassin of Kennedy's father.
On Thursday, Nicholas Burbules forcefully argued that the issue
should be discussed first at the Chicago campus, not in Urbana.
He said this was not the right time to vote, and a resolution was
perhaps "not the right mode" to address the issue
"We have a lot of other things on our plate,"' he said after the meeting.
He called any resolution on the matter before the UI-Chicago Senate
acts "a really bad idea."
"UIC should be taking the lead on this," said Burbules, who as
University Senate Conference representative works closely with the
senates at other campuses.
He noted that the Chicago campus has not offered a resolution on Ayers.
The matter came up because on Wednesday, Urbana's student senate did
pass a resolution in support of the board of trustees action.
That resolution centered on Ayers' career before education, saying
that Ayers helped plant a bomb in Chicago in 1969 and was a
co-founder of the anti-war Weather Underground, and that while a
professor at UI Chicago, he wrote about his experiences fighting the
government.
"Whereas the acting of awarding the professor emeritus status could
be construed as a de facto approval of his actions by the general
public," the student senate praised the trustees' vote.
Burbules said there were "many, many more important issues to deal
with"right now in Urbana and called any proposed resolution "a distraction."
Senator Mary Mallory suggested writing a letter on the issues,
addressing academic freedom issues.
"This isn't the right time," Burbules said.
.
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