Professor Fired for Gaza Tweets Wins Settlement from University

A settlement agreement with Salaita approved by UI trustees Thursday provides him with a $600,000 lump-sum payment, plus another $275,000 to cover his legal expenses.

After 15 months, two lawsuits, a chancellor's resignation, an academic censure and a boycott, the University of IL settled with Steven Salaita on Thursday. "And so once that was the case, it made sense to get this case resolved". The U of I has already spent a few $1.3 million in legal fees over a lawsuits that Salaita filed after he lost a tenured faculty position.

The decision to revoke the job offer from Salaita, who had quit his previous job, sold his house, and moved to IL, ignited another round of outrage among free-speech activists and those in academia who saw the encroachment of partisan politics into an academic appointment.

The controversy began in July 2014, weeks before Salaita was to begin a tenured faculty job in the department of American Indian Studies on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

In a statement after the vote, Interim Urbana Chancellor Barbara Wilson says the settlement reflects the belief Salaita and his family should be compensated for the financial disruption they experienced.

The messages Salaita posted showed he "lacks the judgment, temperament and thoughtfulness to serve as a member of our faculty in any capacity" the university said in response to Salaita's suit.

He has since taken a job at the American University of Beirut.

"This settlement is a vindication for me, but more importantly, it is a victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment."

Ms. Levy said she was encouraged by the settlement, and she called it a credit to both parties.

UIUC's then-chancellor Phyllis Wise, on the other hand, said the issue was not Salaita's personal views, but rather the tone in which he expressed them, which raised questions about his ability to be tolerant in the classroom. "Although the amount is significant, it is less than what we would spend if the case were to continue and proceed to trial over the next year". Professor Salaita sued UIUC, the university Board of Trustees and high-level administrators for violating his First Amendment right to free speech and for breach of contract. "In the future, university administrators will have to think twice before they choose the interests of wealthy donors and alumni over upholding their constitutional obligations". Sanders noted that AAUP's report on academic freedom and shared governance issues in the Salaita case, on which the June censure vote was based, suggested a retraction or clarification of Wise's initial justification for firing Salaita: that his comments were "uncivil".