Letter to Central Administration on Interference in CLA Hiring, June 12 2024
The following is an email sent to President Ettinger, Incoming President Cunningham, and Provost Croson from the executive committee on June 12, 2024 expressing concerns regarding the central administration's unilateral withdrawal of a tenure-stream job offer to esteemed historian Raz Segal to direct the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS).
June 12, 2024
Dear Interim President Ettinger, Incoming President Cunningham, and Provost Croson,
We are writing to express our alarm regarding the central administration's unilateral withdrawal of a tenure-stream job offer to esteemed historian Raz Segal to direct the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS). This intervention in a search process in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) egregiously violates principles of academic freedom, faculty governance, and institutional norms. To stave off extremely negative consequences for the University of Minnesota, we strongly urge a quick course correction. The offer, if it was rescinded, should be reinstated, and the normal hiring process should resume.
The facts of what happened, as we understand them, are deeply troubling. The search committee included prominent CLA scholars who identified qualified finalists; conducted public interviews; and consulted widely with faculty, students, and CHGS board members to compile a document outlining each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. Interim Dean Ann Waltner reviewed these materials and made the offer to Professor Segal. Two board members who are also tenured faculty in CLA objected and publicly resigned, stirring up controversy and a pressure campaign from outside lobbying groups. By overriding the College’s job offer to Professor Segal, the central administration has rewarded the brinkmanship of two faculty members acting outside the norms of acceptable faculty conduct, overruled a comprehensive faculty-led process of evaluating candidates for this position, and violated established policy and precedent regarding collegiate hiring practices.
In addition to these procedural issues, we are concerned that the rationale for “pausing” the search is based on Professor Segal’s interrelated scholarly and extramural speech. This is an appalling violation of academic freedom and a stain on the U's record. If it goes uncorrected it will have a chilling effect on academic freedom at this institution, not only for faculty but also students and staff, by showing that our central administration will side with outside groups when they demand actions that violate academic freedom.
We should also note that those involved most intimately in the search process and who could correct many of these misrepresentations—the search committee and Dean Waltner—are muzzled because they cannot speak about personnel matters publicly. This means that the two faculty who resigned from the CHGS board and the outside politically-motivated groups continue to attack Professor Segal’s scholarship and extramural speech without challenge. The central administration has a responsibility to consider the views of those involved in the search and to counter the unfair attacks on their integrity in the press.
The situation is highly reminiscent of what happened to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign when it “unhired” acclaimed scholar Steven Salaita for his extramural statements. That institution’s action resulted in the AAUP’s censure of the university, which remained in place for two years, 2015–2017, and in the loss of numerous esteemed faculty members. This is a terrible burden to place on all of us, but especially on an incoming university president just a few weeks before her term begins on July 1.
At this point, the only way for the central administration to mitigate the damage that has been done is to “unpause” the offer and to allow the hiring process to proceed. We urge you to take this action immediately.
Sincerely,
The Executive Committee of the AAUP-UMTC
Sumanth Gopinath, President
Heather Holcombe, Vice President
Teri Caraway, Treasurer
Gopalan Nadathur, Secretary
Nathaniel Mills, Member-at-Large
Ruth Shaw, Member-at-Large
Cc: Ann Waltner ([email protected])
Sarah Chambers ([email protected])
Evelyn Davidheiser ([email protected])
Mark Bee ([email protected])
Eric Van Wyk ([email protected])
AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom ([email protected])
Janie Mayeron ([email protected])
Douglas Huebsch ([email protected])
Mike Kenyanya ([email protected])
Mary Davenport ([email protected])
James Farnsworth ([email protected])
Robyn Gulley ([email protected])
Ruth E. Johnson ([email protected])
Tadd M. Johnson ([email protected])
Bo Thao-Urabe ([email protected])
Mary Turner ([email protected])
Kodi Verhalen ([email protected])
Penny Wheeler ([email protected])
June 12, 2024
Dear Interim President Ettinger, Incoming President Cunningham, and Provost Croson,
We are writing to express our alarm regarding the central administration's unilateral withdrawal of a tenure-stream job offer to esteemed historian Raz Segal to direct the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS). This intervention in a search process in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) egregiously violates principles of academic freedom, faculty governance, and institutional norms. To stave off extremely negative consequences for the University of Minnesota, we strongly urge a quick course correction. The offer, if it was rescinded, should be reinstated, and the normal hiring process should resume.
The facts of what happened, as we understand them, are deeply troubling. The search committee included prominent CLA scholars who identified qualified finalists; conducted public interviews; and consulted widely with faculty, students, and CHGS board members to compile a document outlining each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. Interim Dean Ann Waltner reviewed these materials and made the offer to Professor Segal. Two board members who are also tenured faculty in CLA objected and publicly resigned, stirring up controversy and a pressure campaign from outside lobbying groups. By overriding the College’s job offer to Professor Segal, the central administration has rewarded the brinkmanship of two faculty members acting outside the norms of acceptable faculty conduct, overruled a comprehensive faculty-led process of evaluating candidates for this position, and violated established policy and precedent regarding collegiate hiring practices.
In addition to these procedural issues, we are concerned that the rationale for “pausing” the search is based on Professor Segal’s interrelated scholarly and extramural speech. This is an appalling violation of academic freedom and a stain on the U's record. If it goes uncorrected it will have a chilling effect on academic freedom at this institution, not only for faculty but also students and staff, by showing that our central administration will side with outside groups when they demand actions that violate academic freedom.
We should also note that those involved most intimately in the search process and who could correct many of these misrepresentations—the search committee and Dean Waltner—are muzzled because they cannot speak about personnel matters publicly. This means that the two faculty who resigned from the CHGS board and the outside politically-motivated groups continue to attack Professor Segal’s scholarship and extramural speech without challenge. The central administration has a responsibility to consider the views of those involved in the search and to counter the unfair attacks on their integrity in the press.
The situation is highly reminiscent of what happened to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign when it “unhired” acclaimed scholar Steven Salaita for his extramural statements. That institution’s action resulted in the AAUP’s censure of the university, which remained in place for two years, 2015–2017, and in the loss of numerous esteemed faculty members. This is a terrible burden to place on all of us, but especially on an incoming university president just a few weeks before her term begins on July 1.
At this point, the only way for the central administration to mitigate the damage that has been done is to “unpause” the offer and to allow the hiring process to proceed. We urge you to take this action immediately.
Sincerely,
The Executive Committee of the AAUP-UMTC
Sumanth Gopinath, President
Heather Holcombe, Vice President
Teri Caraway, Treasurer
Gopalan Nadathur, Secretary
Nathaniel Mills, Member-at-Large
Ruth Shaw, Member-at-Large
Cc: Ann Waltner ([email protected])
Sarah Chambers ([email protected])
Evelyn Davidheiser ([email protected])
Mark Bee ([email protected])
Eric Van Wyk ([email protected])
AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom ([email protected])
Janie Mayeron ([email protected])
Douglas Huebsch ([email protected])
Mike Kenyanya ([email protected])
Mary Davenport ([email protected])
James Farnsworth ([email protected])
Robyn Gulley ([email protected])
Ruth E. Johnson ([email protected])
Tadd M. Johnson ([email protected])
Bo Thao-Urabe ([email protected])
Mary Turner ([email protected])
Kodi Verhalen ([email protected])
Penny Wheeler ([email protected])