Jewish controversy forces DePaul prof to leave

A DePaul University professor who has drawn criticism for accusing some Jews of improperly using the legacy of the Holocaust agreed Wednesday to resign immediately "for everybody's sake."

University officials and political science professor Norman Finkelstein issued a joint statement announcing the resignation, which came as about a hundred protesters gathered outside the dean's office to support him.

Finkelstein was denied tenure in June after spending six years on DePaul's faculty, and his remaining class was cut by DePaul last month.

His most recent book, "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History," is largely an attack on Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel." In it, Finkelstein argues that Israel uses the outcry over perceived anti-Semitism as a weapon to stifle criticism.

Dershowitz, who threatened to sue Finkelstein's publisher for libel, urged DePaul officials to reject Finkelstein's tenure bid.

Finkelstein said in the statement that he believes the tenure decision was "tainted" by external pressures, but praised the university's "honorable role of providing a scholarly haven for me the past six years."

The school denied that outside parties influenced the decision to deny Finkelstein tenure. But many of the dozens of students wearing "We Are All Professor Finkelstein" T-shirts who turned out in support of the professor said they had no doubt the administration did succumb to outside pressures.

They also wondered about the long-term effects on the school.

"I think there's just going to be a long standing sentiment of an injustice here," said Thomas Bellino, a 22-year-old student who has taken classes from Finkelstein. "I used to consider the president of DePaul, Father (Dennis) Holtschneider, sort of like a friend, someone who was aligned with my beliefs on academic freedom. But now I don't think that anymore and I think much less of the administration."

Ronald Edwards, an untenured biology professor, said he, too, was concerned.

"I think my colleagues and I need to ask if we get tenure at DePaul, is that something to be proud of? Maybe the answer is yes, but we need information before we can answer that question to be yes." And, he said, "Parents of students should ask themselves, 'Do I send my kid to a school where professorships are dubious, in terms of hiring and firing?' "

Finkelstein's resignation comes three years after DePaul made headlines by suspending a professor who argued with pro-Palestinian students at a campus activities fair.

In that case, DePaul officials maintained that Thomas Klocek's "belligerent and menacing" behavior led to his suspension, and not, as Klocek maintained, because his views were not politically correct.

Amid all the controversy, Finkelstein said he thinks he's leaving the school with his name cleared.

He made a point of saying it was particularly important that DePaul's statement described him as "a prolific scholar and an outstanding teacher."

"I felt finally I had gotten what was my due and that maybe it was time, for everybody's sake, that I move on," he said at a news conference that followed a morning rally staged by students and faculty who carried signs and chanted "stop the witch hunt."

Finkelstein said "DePaul students rose to dazzling spiritual heights in my defense that should be the envy of and an example for every university in the United States."

The professor would not discuss financial terms of the resignation agreement, which he said were confidential, but noted the agreement doesn't bar him from speaking out about issues that concern him, including "the unfairness of the tenure process."

He also said he doesn't know what he'll do next, but came to realize before Wednesday "that the atmosphere had become so poisoned that it was virtually impossible for me to carry on at DePaul."

"The least I could hope for is to leave DePaul with my head up high and my reputation intact."