[WCUSP] Finkelstein resigns - read statement

[Tura Campanella Cook]

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>
> September? 05,? 2007
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>
>
> Joint statement of Norman Finkelstein and DePaul University on their 
> tenure controversy and its resolution
>
>
> Norman Finkelstein and DePaul University issued the following 
> statement today in connection with the resolution of their dispute 
> over the University's denial of tenure to Professor Finkelstein. 
> Except for this statement there will be no public comment regarding 
> the resolution of our controversy or the terms of our agreement.
>
> From Professor Finkelstein: I came to DePaul University in 2001 and 
> was put on a tenure-track position in 2003. To get tenure I had to 
> demonstrate a credible record as a teacher, scholar, and citizen of 
> the university. During my six year stint at DePaul I consistently 
> received among the highest student evaluations in my department. I 
> have published five books to critical acclaim from leading scholars, 
> and they have been translated into 46 foreign editions. I have been 
> recognized as a public intellectual at many of the leading 
> universities in the United States and Europe and have become an 
> internationally recognized scholar in my academic specialties. Based 
> on this record, I should have received tenure. Indeed, after extensive 
> scrutiny of my academic credentials, my department voted 
> overwhelmingly to tenure me as did the college-level tenure committee, 
> which voted unanimously in my favor. The only inference that I can 
> draw is that I was denied tenure due to external pressures climaxing 
> in a national hysteria that tainted the tenure process. The outpouring 
> of support for me after the tenure denial from among the most 
> respected scholars in the world buttresses this conclusion.
>
> Although DePaul's decision to deny me tenure was a bitter blow, I 
> would be remiss in my responsibilities if I did not also acknowledge 
> DePaul's honorable role of providing a scholarly haven for me the past 
> six years. It is a fact, and I would want to acknowledge it, that the 
> DePaul administration kept me on its faculty despite overwhelming 
> external pressures. It is also a fact that my professional colleagues 
> displayed rare rectitude in steadfastly supporting me. It is also a 
> fact that DePaul students rose to dazzling spiritual heights in my 
> defense that should be the envy of and an example for every university 
> in the United States. I will miss them.
>
> It is now time for me to move on and hopefully find new ways to 
> fulfill my own mission in life of making this world a slightly better 
> place on leaving it than when I entered it.
>
> From DePaul: Today we have reached a resolution of our dispute with 
> Professor Norman Finkelstein. As a part of that resolution he has 
> agreed to resign effective immediately. With this issue behind us, we 
> can once again turn our full attention and energy to discharging our 
> most important duty: the education of DePaul students, who have placed 
> in us their trust and faith.
>
> Granting tenure is a guarantee of lifetime employment. DePaul's 
> standards for tenure are demonstrated and sustainable excellence in 
> teaching and scholarship as well as meaningful service to the 
> University. Every DePaul faculty member seeking tenure is evaluated by 
> the same standards: it is an evaluation of faculty conducted by 
> faculty.
>
> Throughout the tenure process, our faculty ensured that the 
> established standards for tenure were their only consideration. Upon 
> receiving the recommendations from the lower level faculty committees, 
> the University Board on Promotion and Tenure - DePaul's highest 
> academic committee - voted to deny Professor Finkelstein tenure, and 
> the President of DePaul accepted that vote. We understand that 
> Professor Finkelstein and his supporters disagree with the University 
> Board on Promotion and Tenure's conclusion that he did not meet the 
> requirements for tenure. The system is designed to give every 
> applicant the same opportunity to achieve tenure, and has proven to be 
> fair and effective. In every tenure case, the final decision is one of 
> balancing the various arguments for and against tenure.
>
> Professor Finkelstein has expressed the view that he should have been 
> granted tenure and that third parties external to the University 
> influenced DePaul in denying tenure. That is not so. Over the past 
> several months, there has been considerable outside interest about the 
> tenure decision. This attention was unwelcome and inappropriate. In 
> the end, however, it had absolutely no impact on either the process or 
> the final outcome.
>
> Professor Finkelstein is a prolific scholar and an outstanding 
> teacher. The University thanks him for his contributions and service.
>
> Both parties are satisfied with the resolution of their dispute and 
> wish each other well in their future endeavors.
>
> Media Contact: Denise? Mattson,? (312)362-6225
> ,_._,___ 
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