Opinion: Column unfair to liberal profs
Eric Fantegrossi's Feb. 14 article, "Academic Freedom Essential," was misleading to the point of being offensive, and the writer should issue an apology at once. Fantegrossi's column argues that "liberal" professors ought to "teach rather than propagandize" and that academic freedom is essential to the creation of an informed populous. With this central premise I stand in complete agreement. To illustrate his argument, however, Fantegrossi invokes the case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian professor at the University of South Florida who was fired and incarcerated for his supposed ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In his article Fantegrossi writes, "Teaching your personal beliefs is one thing, but when Professor Sami Al-Arian was arrested for plotting to set up a terrorist cell within the university, it became dangerous. Can you imagine the slanted curriculum this guy was teaching?"