In a systemwide email sent July 15, University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham appointed Provost Rachel Croson to create a faculty-led committee to review hiring and academic freedom policies and how they intersect.
Cunningham reiterated her decision in an interview with the Minnesota Daily on Aug. 29, where she said she hopes creating a shared understanding will build faculty trust in her administration.
This decision follows the “no-confidence” vote Chief Academic Officer Croson and former Interim President Jeff Ettinger received on June 26 from faculty governance for the rescinding of Raz Segal’s offer to be the director of the Center of Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS).
Croson received 80% of the “no-confidence” vote from the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Assembly and 53% from the Faculty Senate, CLA Assembly Chair Michael Gallope said.
In more than 10 letters to Ettinger, Croson and Cunningham, faculty said the decision to revoke Segal’s directorship offer was a clear violation of hiring and academic freedom policies.
A “no-confidence” vote means a change in leadership, Gallope said.
Gallope said Ettinger consulted with very few people before publicly announcing the CHGS director search pause at the Board of Regents meeting on June 12. Gallope added Ettinger did not consult with the Faculty Consultative Committee, CLA Dean Ann Waltner or the directorship search committee.
“The decision was made by the President in conversation with Provost Croson,” Gallope said.
Gallope said Croson had a special responsibility to ensure Ettinger’s decisions were compliant with academic policies.
“There is no academic freedom at Hormel Foods,” Gallope said about Ettinger’s former position as CEO of Hormel Foods.
The CLA constitution outlines the dean is the sole hiring authority for center directorships.
According to the Board of Regents Academic Freedom and Responsibility policy, academic freedom applies to everyone and protects them from institutional discipline or interference from discussing issues of public concern in an academic setting.
By rescinding Segal’s job offer based on his expert opinion calling Gaza a “textbook case of genocide,” Croson violated the University’s hiring and academic freedom policies, Gallope said.
Twin Cities Chapter President for the American Association of University Professors William Jones said academic freedom is not simply free speech, but the right to study, to conduct research and to teach and publish based on one’s expertise without interference from authorities.
To not hire Segal based on his statements about the Israel-Hamas war means that the question is off the table for scholarly debate, which has serious implications for CHGS and other centers.
“How can an academic center fulfill its mission without the freedom to discuss issues related to its mission openly?” Jones said.
Jones said Cunningham’s systemwide email completely overlooks the concerns faculty raised about academic freedom violations.
The University has an Academic Freedom and Tenure committee nominated by the Faculty Senate leadership and charged with protecting academic freedom on campus, Jones said.
“It doesn’t make sense to have someone at the center of the conflict appointed to solve the conflict,” Jones said.
The legitimacy of the decision to remove Segal’s job offer should not be questioned by a committee hand-picked by Croson, Gallope said.
Gallope said this is “as flagrant as it gets for conflicts of interest.”
Croson did not respond in time to comment.
In an email to the Minnesota Daily, University Director of Public Relations Andria Waclawski wrote, “If you’re hearing from sources there’s a conflict of interest in that, it was the President’s decision, not the Provost, who is taking on those tasks after being directed to do so by her boss.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Andria Waclawski’s position and misspelled her name.
smh
Sep 20, 2024 at 11:17 pm
Ettinger was a disaster for the U of Mn. Cronson and Cunningham appear to lack the capacity to clean up, our Public Relations officer chooses to infantilize the Provost, saying Cronson is simply doing the bidding of the former interim President. So Cronson is a Provost with no agency of her own? What scholar wants to work at a place where Admin will interfere, ineptly and clumsily, at the smallest bit of pressure from the outside? That neutrality vote the Regents affirmed pretty much neutered our reputation. We are basically casserole with no salt now.
Michael Gallope
Sep 19, 2024 at 8:08 pm
KG, you and I share a concern about the future vitality and integrity of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at UMN. But consider how important academic freedom is to that future. There is an excellent NY Times article entitled “The Bitter Fight Over the Meaning of Genocide” from August 20, 2024 that describes how research on genocide is routinely met with intense public disagreement and dissent. These challenges are inherent to the field of genocide studies. In the shadow of Interim President Ettinger’s decision, a future center director could fear termination or punishment because someone in the community disagreed with their views. How could the center continue if its director were afraid to do their job and address the public as an expert on the topic? This is why faculty expect University administrators to firmly uphold the Board of Regents policy on academic freedom. Without it, we as faculty can’t fulfill our mission to the state of Minnesota to provide a space for public analysis and debate on some of the most vexing and complex social issues of our time.
KG
Sep 19, 2024 at 10:48 am
Escalating the near-hiring of Raz Segal as CHGS director into an academic freedom issue is misleading. The CHGS director represents the University of Minnesota’s Holocaust and genocide studies to both the university community and the broader public. Recall that on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the border into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others, taking them to Gaza. Entire Israeli villages were destroyed in what can only be described as a genocidal attack. Yet, Raz Segal astonishingly claimed that Israel was the one committing genocide, a blatant distortion of reality. His candidacy should have been rejected immediately due to his insensitivity and poor judgment. This false accusation of genocide against Israel is not only incorrect but also deeply offensive. How can Raz Segal hold any credibility with the Jewish community, whose identity with Israel is profoundly rooted and whose memories of the Holocaust remain vivid? Moreover, how can he be taken seriously by anyone interested in genuine Holocaust scholarship? The University of Minnesota’s reputation would have suffered significantly if he had been appointed. However, for Gallope and his allies, the university’s reputation appears to be a secondary concern. For them, the priority is to appoint someone vehemently anti-Israel, in this case, Segal, as CHGS director.
The “no confidence” votes against Croson and Ettinger are not a defense of academic freedom but rather reflect a tactic used by extremist Palestinian faculty at other universities. This also reveals the growing anti-Israel bias at the University of Minnesota, particularly within the College of Liberal Arts. Both the university and the college are in urgent need of reform. Strong leadership is essential to guide them forward.
Angry Prof
Sep 17, 2024 at 5:14 pm
“There is no academic freedom at Hormel Foods,”“ but there should be at the University of Minnesota.
Georgiana May
Sep 17, 2024 at 1:46 pm
It is simply hard to fathom why Pres Cunningly would think that appointing Provost Croson to set up an academic freedom panel would generate confidence in our President or Provost.
Let’s just agree that academic freedom and faculty governance at University of Mn are dead.
Gopalan Nadathur
Sep 17, 2024 at 12:14 pm
The statement of the University Public Relations Officer is quite shocking in its content. The President may have made a decision that violates the notion of academic freedom at its core, but it is the job of the Provost to protect the faculty and the educational mission from such decisions! If they cannot, then they are being prevented from doing their job and the right decision is to resign and call out the action. What was heard in the Faculty Senate instead was an equivocation on this responsibility—that they would have resigned if they were not permitted to “explore” the possibility of hiring Professor Raz Segal as a professor even while giving up on the center directorship!
A Public Relations Officer can be excused for their misguided views on the grounds that they are not expected to be an authority on Academic Freedom and its implications for a university. However, it behooves them to recognize their limitations and to refrain from expressing opinions that are based on such a lack of understanding.
Jerry Cohen
Sep 17, 2024 at 10:52 am
“Public Relations Officer Andria Walcawski wrote, “If you’re hearing from sources there’s a conflict of interest in that, it was the President’s decision, not the Provost, who is taking on those tasks after being directed to do so by her boss.””
As Clarence Thomas never says, “I need to recuse myself” would have been a proper answer if there was a scintilla of ethics in this leadership decision.
William Messing
Sep 17, 2024 at 10:41 am
Croson, an overpaid hack, disgraced the University of Minnesota, by rescinding the offer to Raz Segal. He accurately and honestly described the situation in Gaza. Netanyahu is a war criminal and Croson is a crony. Another disgrace, not quite as bad as that of the needless death of Dan Markingson, but under the Cunningham/Croson team, please allow time. They will catch up.
William Messing
(emeritus) Professor
School of Mathematics
University of Minnesota