Will Kent State say ‘enough'?

[vminfla]

Yet another tenured professor has abused his position to defame and attack Israel on campus without, it seems, any professional repercussions. Kent State University's Prof. Julio Pino's cry of "Death to Israel," hurled at a visiting Israeli diplomat during a university forum, has made national and international news. The professor's actions have been generally portrayed as beyond the realm of penalty and simply a matter of free speech.

Largely ignored in the focus on the First Amendment is the question of Kent State's institutional regulations and enforcement of its Employee Code of Conduct as it applies to Prof. Pino's disruptive actions and threatening statements. The code requires that every employee of the university must "demonstrate respect for all campus and external community members," refrain from "discourteous treatment of the public," and not "threaten, accost, demean" or use "abusive language." If an employee violates any of these principles, the university has formal disciplinary procedures that are to be enacted.

Pino's verbal assault on Khaldi obviously violates Kent State's Employee Code of Conduct. The question is whether the university will take action.

Free speech expert and attorney David Hudson of The First Amendment Center has commented on the general issue of employee conduct and free speech and notes that "it is acceptable for government employers to discipline employees for speech that undermines the integrity of the office."

Read more at http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/opinion/op-eds/article_5c436dc8-0bc8-11e1-ba41-001cc4c03286.html

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. Pino is clearly giving tenure and other profs a seriously bad name

His name as a bad actor is coming up here in CA during faculty meetings and discussions.

[aranthus]

2. There's something good about tenure?

Obviously it's good for the academics who have it. That it's good for academia in general or the students is a much more doubtful proposition.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. I turned it down twice so I am not one to ask

Then again I really don't need it either.

[vminfla]

4. It *can* be good

However, this is not a question of tenure here. This is a question of a professor acting outside the University code of conduct and committing fraud against the students and parents of students.

[LeftishBrit]

5. There is quite a lot good about it, IMO

It means that people are not in a constant state of anxiety and backbiting about one another, and can get on with what they need to do. Quite generally speaking, in my observations (in academia and elsewhere), constant job insecurity and an atmosphere of distrust do *not* improve people's performance, though tough competition and selection for getting the job in the first place may do so. I am in general a believer in the old Chinese saying: 'If you suspect someone, do not employ him; if you employ him, do not suspect him'. Also, in academia specifically, lack of job security tends to be associated with turning some universities into teaching-factories with no time or resources for research, which ultimately makes for an inferior learning experience for the students too; and others into research-oriented pseudo-businesses, obsessed with 'research indicators' rather than research itself, and inclined to treat students as nuisances who take time away from grant applications.

However, going around shouting 'Death to Israel' (or 'Death to Arabs' or 'Death to France' or 'Death to gays' or 'Death to feminists') while on campus, is not the sort of behaviour that should be protected by tenure. It creates a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students or indeed any who have Israeli friends; and it sets an example of unprofessional hate-speech. I am not sure that a *single* offence justifies dismissal, but certainly it should be treated as a disciplinary offence.

[vminfla]

6. Pino repeatedly violated the schools code of conduct

Like Ward Churchill, Pino is not an academic. Like Ward Churchill, it may take some time for him to be removed from the University.