Peter Kirstein: Breaks story about Norman Finkelstein tenure controversy

Chuck Suchar, DePaul University’s Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, opposes tenure for Norman Finkelstein in a three-page memorandum dated March 22, 2007. Dr Finkelstein received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. The Political Science department voted 9 to 3 in favour of granting tenure. Three filed a minority report and the dean sided with that. The five-member College Personnel Committee was unanimous in favour of granting tenure. The dean’s letter basically attacks the tone of Finkelstein’s scholarship for not being kind to his critics; it is cited as too personal and not in the tradition of DePaul collegiality. It sounds to me like persecution of a man who dares oppose supporters of Israel and dares to question aspects and motives of those who blindly accept every traditional interpretation of the holocaust....

[HNN Editor's Note: Peter Kirstein broke this story on his blog on April 1st. Subsequently, the story was picked up by the Chronicle of Higher Education, which had tracked the story independently. ]