The University of Illinois Firing

Ken Howell


The below story, being reported by Fox News caught my attention because it concerns the firing of an adjunct teacher, Ken Howell, from the University of Illinois for expressing "anti-gay beliefs" to his class.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/09/university-illinois-instructor-fired-catholic-beliefs/


So whose side do I take here? It is an issue that can also affect yours truly since I am an adjunct teacher at UC-Irvine. I have always been aware that my contract only extends to each quarter. There is never any guarantee that I will be invited back the next quarter. (I have been teaching at UCI for 12 years.)

First of all, I don't express my personal beliefs in the classroom (I teach English as a Second Language). Any exchange of e-mails I have with my students involves their being absent from class or wanting to know what homework they missed. It never involves issues. Therefore, I am pretty comfortable with my own situation as it applies in the classroom. My outspokenness occurs at campus rallies, speeches and my own blog writing. That never enters my class, however.

I am also reminded of the controversy concerning UC Santa Barbara professor William Robinson, who got into a mess over e-mails he sent to his students comparing Israel to Nazis. To me, I regarded that as indoctrination.(I am not talking behind his back here; I told him that to his face in May when he came to UCI to speak.)

Yet, Robinson prevailed because the university decided that he was exercising his free speech.

I also note that the university official stated that Howell was fired because he violated the schools rules of "inclusivity" (against gays).

"The e-mails sent by Dr. Howell violate university standards of inclusivity, which would then entitle us to have him discontinue his teaching arrangement with us," Mester wrote."


Of course, I shudder when I hear that term ("inclusivity"), which in reality, has been used like a hatchet to silence conservatives on a range of issues. I suppose one could argue that Robinson did the same when he sent his e-mails to students, some of whom being Jews, were offended.

Ar any rate, it looks like there is a fine line for a professor relating the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church-especially when it comes to this issue. It would seem to me that it would be appropriate for the professor to simply state what the Catholic Church teaches and leave it at that. I think that is what I would have done.

Yet, it is a fact that in universities all over the country, professors are shoving their personal views down students' throats. That reference by the UI official about "inclusivity" is a dangerous slope. The fact is that people and students with conservative or Republican leanings are being "excluded" all day long on university campuses. Students who support Israel are being excluded all day long. The trick in judging this University of Illinois issue revolves around what specifically the professor said to his students and whether he is being held to a different standard than all the liberal professors who exercize their own form of exclusion.

Update:

David, a reader at Alexandria, has furnished the actual e-mail (from the News-Gazette). It is linked below. The readers can make up their own minds if Professor Howell's message violated university norms and merited firing.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/religion/2010-07-09/e-mail-prompted-complaint-over-ui-religion-class-instructor.html