A committee investigating the University of Illinois’ handling of Steven Salaita, a professor whose job offer with the university was withdrawn due to his social media posts, issued a report Tuesday criticizing school officials.
The Chancellor of the University of Illinois’ main campus violated procedures when she failed to consult key academic officers before telling a controversial professor that he would not get the job he had been promised. That’s according to the report issued by the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.
The panel made up of professors was tasked with investigating the school’s unprecedented decision to not hire Salaita. He had already received a formal job offer. But the Board of Trustees refused to hire Salaita due to his Twitter posts during last summer’s Israeli-Gaza conflict. Phyllis Wise, the chancellor of the university’s main campus, called Salaita’s tweets “hate speech.”
While the new report is critical of university administration, it only makes recommendations and is non-binding. The report says the school should reconsider Salaita for the job.