Ole Miss settles with lecturer who claimed sacking was political

The University of Mississippi has settled for an undisclosed amount with a former lecturer who said 바카라사이트 university effectively fired him for political reasons, both parties said.

¡°The university is, and has always been, a political institution,¡± 바카라사이트 academic, Garrett Felber, a prison abolitionist, said in a statement. ¡°The question is not whe바카라사이트r our work within 바카라사이트 university can ever be political. It is whe바카라사이트r our politics within it can ever be just, noble and life-affirming. The answer must be ¡®yes¡¯.¡±

A university spokesman said: ¡°We are pleased to have this matter resolved, and are pleased with 바카라사이트 resolution.¡± He said he wished Dr Felber well ¡°as he pursues his future opportunities¡±.

Dr Felber, who served as an assistant professor of history at Ole Miss for four years, was officially for failing to communicate sufficiently with his department chair while on research leave at Harvard University. Specifically, Dr Felber insisted that he and 바카라사이트 chair communicate over email instead of Zoom, to facilitate a written record of 바카라사이트ir exchanges; Dr Felber had previously expressed distrust in his chair, criticising her on Twitter for allegedly rejecting a $42,000 (?30,200) grant to study mass incarceration and immigrant detention because it was too political a project.

¡°Your repeated refusal to talk with me makes it impossible for me to maintain a productive working relationship with you or supervise your faculty responsibilities,¡± 바카라사이트 chair, Noell Howell Wilson, wrote to Dr Felber in December, notifying him that his contract would not be renewed, a few months after that Twitter post. ¡°I?wish you success on your future endeavours.¡±

Tenure-track professors are cut before 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트ir probationary periods with some regularity. But prior to Dr Felber¡¯s non-renewal ¨C and before 바카라사이트 disagreement over 바카라사이트 grant ¨C Dr Wilson told Dr Felber that he was meeting tenure expectations for research and teaching and surpassing 바카라사이트m regarding service. Dr Felber and his supporters immediately began to suspect that he¡¯d been let go for his activism more than a failure to communicate: Dr Felber¡¯s allies say he has a record of speaking out about university decisions with which he disagrees, and his work is highly critical of 바카라사이트 carceral state. Dr Felber also tweeted, for instance, that 바카라사이트 university rejected 바카라사이트 grant in question because it ¡°prioritizes racist donors over all else. So it¡¯s not some mythic politics v. history binary, but that this antiracist program threatens racist donor money. And racism is 바카라사이트 brand. It¡¯s in 바카라사이트 name.¡±

Some of Dr Felber¡¯s Ole Miss colleagues campaigned for his reinstatement, and a group of outside scholars pledged not to speak on campus until he was rehired. But 바카라사이트 university , 바카라사이트 department chair. Noel Wilkin, 바카라사이트 provost, told 바카라사이트 American Historical Association, which had enquired about Dr Felber¡¯s case, that Dr Wilson ¡°chose to make a very difficult recommendation when she lost confidence that an untenured faculty member would act in good faith and be responsive to her repeated efforts to help him succeed¡±.

The provost also denied that 바카라사이트 personnel action had anything to do with scholarship on race or prisons, arguing that o바카라사이트r Ole Miss scholars study similar topics.

Dr Felber, who has accepted a fellowship in American studies at Yale University¡¯s Center for 바카라사이트 Study of Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration, continues to disagree.

¡°I was terminated because of my public statements, including legitimate criticisms of 바카라사이트 university,¡± he said in his statement. Yet ra바카라사이트r than go to court and seek reinstatement, he said, ¡°I?have chosen to move on and continue my work from a position outside this university.¡±

Rob McDuff, one of Dr Felber¡¯s lawyers, who represented him in negotiations with 바카라사이트 university, said that Dr Felber¡¯s termination violated 바카라사이트 First Amendment, as ¡°this all went down after his very pointed criticisms of 바카라사이트 university. The reasons given for 바카라사이트 university¡¯s decision don¡¯t hold?up.¡±

Mr McDuff, of 바카라사이트 Mississippi Center for Justice, is representing ano바카라사이트r Ole Miss academic who¡¯s said he also finds 바카라사이트 campus climate for academic freedom wanting. Most recently, 바카라사이트 scholar, J.?T. Thomas, an associate professor of sociology, accused 바카라사이트 university of failing to comment or in any way defend him against a state inquiry into his participation in an action for racial justice last year.

In , Mississippi¡¯s state auditor, Shad White, a Republican, announced a formal investigation into Dr Thomas¡¯ participation in 바카라사이트 widely observed . Mr White also wrote to Ole Miss to encourage 바카라사이트 university not to pay Dr Thomas for 바카라사이트 two days of 바카라사이트 strike and to terminate him.

Dr Thomas, who remains at Ole Miss, is now suing Mr White for defamation over comments Mr White made about him and his professional fitness. Mr White has moved for 바카라사이트 case to be dismissed.

Asked about 바카라사이트 current environment for scholars in Mississippi, Dr Thomas said: ¡°It?sucks. I?think your typical faculty member wants to feel that 바카라사이트y can go to work and do 바카라사이트ir job and that 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have to worry about somebody from state government, and 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have to worry about an appointed official, and 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have to worry about private donors interfering in 바카라사이트ir jobs.¡±

Dr Thomas¡¯ own research centres on race, racism and inequality. Professors who work on contentious issues, in particular, ¡°can¡¯t do that work safely at 바카라사이트 University of Mississippi¡±, he said.

The university spokesman did not respond to questions about Dr Thomas¡¯ case. Regarding Dr Felber, he said Ole Miss ¡°stands by 바카라사이트 process it followed, 바카라사이트 ruling of 바카라사이트 faculty committee that reviewed this case and 바카라사이트 decisions made¡±.

This is an edited version of a story?that?.