Union Sees USF Shift On Al-Arian
By BEN FELLERbfeller@tampatrib.com
Published: Apr 25, 2002
TAMPA - The University of South Florida's president shows signs she will let a banished professor return to work, and the school will almost certainly be censured if she doesn't, according to a report for the nation's leading voice on academic freedom.
President Judy Genshaft's recent language and actions show she is poised to ``back away from the brink'' of firing Sami Al-Arian and tarnishing her school, wrote the lawyer heading the American Association of University Professors' investigation of USF.
William Van Alstyne, in an assessment Genshaft rejects, wrote that the president's growing doubt in her own lawyer's advice - and criticism from faculty, national organizations and influential media - have given her pause.
Having ``spent quite some time with her, I also believe she does not want to preside over the university when (again) it is placed on the AAUP censure list,'' wrote Van Alstyne, a Duke University law professor.
Even assuming USF would win union and legal challenges, Genshaft does not want to be seen as a person who is ``careless, as a university president, on matters either of academic freedom or ... other people's freedom of political speech,'' he wrote.
Genshaft said Wednesday the characterization is wrong. She stands by her announced intention Dec. 19 to fire Al-Arian, and she said her deliberate pace in making a final decision does not mean she is wavering.
``If I had to do it all over again, I would do the same thing,'' Genshaft said. ``I don't want to bring any bad marks against USF, but I'm not going to let any one single organization guide the judgment of what's best for the university.''
USF suspended Al-Arian in September after a national television interview caused a furor regarding his history of inflammatory words and suspected links to terrorism. Genshaft made that move for safety, she said, because of threats against the school.
But in December, on the urging of USF trustees, she said Al-Arian should be fired for school disruption and breach of contract.
That drew the ire of the AAUP, which sent an investigative team to Tampa in March with a clear point of view that USF was poised to make a big mistake.
As the national standard bearer for academic freedom, the AAUP has weight within higher education. The association says its censure list does not amount to a blacklist, but universities know the designation can turn away faculty and hurt the school's standing.
Genshaft Plays Down Influence
Genshaft paid respect to the professors group but said it is not the ``swaying decision- maker'' in a case being watched nationwide.
``I've been at institutions that have been censured. I've been at institutions that haven't been censured,'' she said. ``There's basically very little difference.''
Censure is not imminent. The AAUP membership could not vote on such a move until June 2003, and any number of developments before then could make the matter moot.
But in a status report to the AAUP national office, Van Alstyne asserted for the first time that censure will happen - not ``may'' happen - if USF fires Al-Arian for its stated reasons.
``All I can tell you is if the matter proceeded in keeping with the original course, I do regard that outcome as virtually inevitable,'' Van Alstyne confirmed in an interview.
Standing By His Report
The AAUP censured USF for a few years in the 1960s for its treatment of a professor who held controversial views of the Cold War.
Van Alstyne stressed that he wants a positive outcome for USF and that he shared his report with Genshaft in good faith toward that goal.
``The more an institution cares about what kind of faculty it's able to attract, and its standing with national academic associations, the more these things tend to be taken seriously,'' he said.
Although Van Alstyne acknowledged Wednesday that Genshaft's decision on Al-Arian is ``highly uncertain,'' he stood by the observations in his report, based on interviews and readings. It asserted:
* Genshaft's description of Al-Arian as being on ``paid leave'' rather than ``suspension'' is significant, not just technically accurate. The distinction shows Al-Arian was not removed for disciplinary reasons, leaving Genshaft more room to bring him back, the report said.
That's not true, Genshaft said. ``What [Van Alstyne] has speculated is not what I was thinking at all.''
* Genshaft's ``surprising delay'' in deciding Al-Arian's fate shows national criticism has caused her to think twice. So has her eroding support in a lawyer's opinion that USF's case could withstand union and court challenges.
``I believe she is no longer nearly as convinced,'' wrote Van Alstyne, considered a national expert in constitutional law.
``I thought that was a very bold and unfortunate statement,'' Genshaft responded. She said she has complete faith in Tom Gonzalez, the Tampa attorney who advised her and the trustees.
Gonzalez, a labor lawyer for 27 years, said Van Alstyne failed to substantiate his views. He added: ``The AAUP is not a government entity. It's not an accrediting entity. It's a union. I think that should be taken into account in assessing the validity of the opinion.''
* Genshaft's best course is to let Al-Arian return to his computer science position by fall, Van Alstyne wrote. He included eight points Genshaft could use in explaining such a move to trustees, such as that the concerns over public safety have passed.
Genshaft said she will make a decision by August. The story keeps moving, she said, with developments such as law enforcement's confirmed investigation of Al-Arian.
Al-Arian, meanwhile, draws his $67,500 salary and waits for resolution. His attorney, Bob McKee, said he hopes the AAUP report will help show USF it should reconsider.
``From a legal perspective, it has no bearing,'' McKee said. ``From a political perspective, it carries a lot of weight.''
Reporter Ben Feller can be reached at (813) 259-8285.