Middle East studies in the News

Columbia Teachers College Upholds Firing of Constantine [incl. Joseph Massad]

by Graham Rayman
The Village Voice
June 8, 2009

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/06/a_columbia_teac.php

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/7497

A Columbia Teachers College faculty panel has upheld the firing of Professor Madonna Constantine on plagiarism charges. (You remember Constantine -- she's the professor who became the center of controversy when a noose was found tied to her office door back in 2007.) The New York Post's editorial page weighed in on the decision today, saying, "She's the professor that not even Columbia could stomach."

The editorial goes on to point out that the university failed to do much after students rushed the stage during a speech by an anti-immigration activist, allowed Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak, and gave tenure to Professor Joseph Massad, "who equates the state of Israel with white supremacism." Wow, the Post doesn't like Columbia that much, we guess.

The faculty panel's decision means that now the courts of our state will decide matters once and for all. Eventually. Constantine's lawyer Paul Giacomo issued a lengthy press release, insisting that his client is innocent and vowing to pursue their $200 million defamation lawsuit to the ends of the earth. "The panel's actions are tantamount to a kangaroo court," Giacomo says, adding that the decision was "arbitrary and baseless."

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

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