[Critical-Realism] Finkelstein: DePaul Students Take a Stand - by Sitting In!

["Tim Murphy" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

DePaul Students Take a Stand - by Sitting In! 

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

Please find attached a press release regarding DePaul University students
sitting in for academic freedom, in support of Professors Norman Finkelstein
and Mehrene Larudee.

Please circulate widely.

Sincerely,
DePaul students for academic freedom

Media Contact: Victor Lang
(312) 576-1888

==

Media Advisory
For Press Event: 11, 12 June 2007
Place: 22nd Floor, 55 East Jackson, Executive Offices of DePaul University

DePaul Students Sit-In for Academic Freedom

Upset over DePaul University's denial of tenure to Professors Norman
Finkelstein, and Mehrene Larudee, and after a meeting between 30 student
leaders and DePaul President Fr. Dennis Holtschneider at his office,
students have taken action to defend academic freedom which is under attack
at the nation's largest Catholic institution. After an unsuccessful meeting
where their demands were ignored by the administration, DePaul students are
continuing their sit-in overnight and through this week at the President's
office and plan to escalate action among the student body.

Student leaders called for Fr. Holtschneider to grant the professors tenure.
They presented him with a petition of over 700 signatures calling for a
reversal of the decision, and engaged in a heated discussion on the
legitimacy of the university's decision. The decision made at the secretive
University-level overturned the tenure decisions made at the Departmental
and College-levels, which approved Finkelstein's position by votes of 9-3
and 5-0, respectively. Students were surprised by Larudee's rejection as she
was unanimously approved by both the Departmental and University level
tenure committees. The student leaders cite Finkelstein and Larudee's
positive peer reviewed scholarship and flaws in the tenure process as
reasons why they should receive tenure. Denial of tenure to the professors
means their employment at DePaul will be terminated.

Finkelstein, son of holocaust survivors and outspoken critic of oppressive
Israeli policy in Palestine, has come under attack from detractors like
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who seeks to silence critics of
Israel and has successfully interfered in internal DePaul tenure processes.
Despite being in the midst of their hectic finals-week and upcoming
graduation, student leaders are currently sacrificing their time by
occupying the Executive Offices of DePaul University indefinitely until
their demands for the tenure of Professors Finkelstein and Larudee are met.

More information can be found at
http://www.finkelgate.com 

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