University of Illinois community comes together to #SupportSalaita
Professor Steven Salaita makes first public statement since his August termination due to tweets on Israel.
Members of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) came together on Tuesday to support Steven Salaita as he spoke publicly for the first time since the revocation of his position in August. The professor was appointed to a tenured professorship in the American Indian studies program, but the offer was rescinded due to his tweets on Israel, which the university reportedly deemed “uncivil”.
In his statement, Salaita expressed concern that a university would silence his views due to political and financial pressure, and spoke out against what he called the “Palestinian exception to the First Amendment and to academic freedom”. He also spoke of the difficult position in which the university had placed him, as he had left his tenured position at Virginia Tech to go to UIUC. Other members of the university community, including the director of the American Indian Studies department, spoke alongside him. Video of the event was shared online: