Vagina Monologues ok at DePaul, Supporting Israel is Grounds for Dismissal!

David French, the President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, has sent a letter of righteous outrage to the heads of DePaul University, protesting the University's abuse of academic freedom in the Thomas Klocek case.

DePaul University, a Catholic institution in Chicago, recently fired a popular faculty member, Dr. Thomas Klocek, because he dared to tell the truth and express unpopular opinions (unpopular at DePaul at least) in favor of Israel while speaking to student anti-Israel activists on campus (not in class). Klocek was fired without a formal hearin, for expressing his opinion. According to the DePaulia student newspaper and other sources, during a sidewalk debate Klocek cited a Chicago Sun-Times article that quoted the general manager of the Al-Arabiya television network as saying, “It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims.” This was unacceptable behavior, claimed the DePaul chiefs.

"DePaul has unquestionably violated Professor Klocek's due process rights, and the university did so because his statements were allegedly offensive," commented French.

The dismissal of Klocek came against the growing outrage over the employment of Holocaust Denier Norman Finkelstein as assistant professor of political science by the same institution. DePaul's heads defend employing a crackpot with no serious academic credentials like Finkelstein in the name of "academic freedom" while firing Klocek for expressing his opinions outside of class.

Now we learn that the President of DePaul makes a point that he defended the academic freedom for a campus production of "The Vagina Monologues," while allowing Klocek’s career at DePaul to end because of a 15 minute disagreement with students outside the classroom.

Here is what the President of DePaul Dennis H. Holtschneider wrote, “Recently, I have found myself as president standing up for this academic freedom when the university withstood a nationally organized campaign against a production of 'The Vagina Monologues' on campus.”

Vagina Monologues and Holocaust Denial are kosher at DePaul, but expressing support of Israel is not.