ckaihatsu
20th April 2009, 04:38
PRESS CONFERENCE: DEFEND PROF. CAPEHEART! Thursday, April 23rd at 2pm in the NEIU Village Square!
In this era of Obama and “Yes We Can,” the administration at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) has continued to persecute Professor Loretta Capeheart because she is an anti-war teacher and an activist.
The Students, Staff, and Faculty of NEIU have decided to put on a press conference and rally to defend her from the administration and to shine a light on the attacks against Capeheart and Free Speech at NEIU.
Professor Capeheart is pressing her lawsuit against NEIU’s President, Vice-President, and Provost for violation of her free speech rights and retaliation against her for exercising these rights in defense of labor, minorities, and academic freedom.
After playing a leading role in her union (University Professionals of Illinois-AFT) during a strike, defending students arrested for protest of a CIA recruitment event, and contradicting her provost on the matter of recruitment and retention of Latino/a faculty, Professor Capeheart was:
-denied appointment to her duly elected post as department chair,
-denied merited awards, and
-defamed in a faculty council meeting by NEIU's vice president, who maliciously charged her without basis with stalking a student.
We are outraged at these serious and malicious attempts to silence one of our fellow academics, unionists, and anti-war activists. We cannot allow NEIU administrators to get away with these attacks on academic freedom and workers' rights. Their actions should be chilling to all workers, activists, and scholars.
Her case is a perfect example of the stakes of the ongoing struggle for academic freedom—for labor, for inclusion and equality of minorities, and for the right to protest war and injustice on our campuses.
Capeheart seeks an injunction against further violations, for her rightful appointment as chair, and for monetary damages for defamation.
Her struggle, and the broader struggle at NEIU for Free Speech Rights, has gotten attention from important organizations such as the Chicago Reader and Inside Higher Ed.
She also has an online petition that has gained much support:
http://www.petitiononline.com/j4lc/petition.html - 800+ signatures, particularly those of noted Professors and Activists Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn.
Please join us for this important event in this new political era where people are searching for news and information about protest, activism, and CHANGE.
CONTACT: Kenneth Barrios – NEIU Student – [email protected] - 773 552 0394
--------------
Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/thebusiness/081218/
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/23/speech
Socialist Worker
http://socialistworker.org/2009/04/08/defending-loretta-capeheart
In this era of Obama and “Yes We Can,” the administration at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) has continued to persecute Professor Loretta Capeheart because she is an anti-war teacher and an activist.
The Students, Staff, and Faculty of NEIU have decided to put on a press conference and rally to defend her from the administration and to shine a light on the attacks against Capeheart and Free Speech at NEIU.
Professor Capeheart is pressing her lawsuit against NEIU’s President, Vice-President, and Provost for violation of her free speech rights and retaliation against her for exercising these rights in defense of labor, minorities, and academic freedom.
After playing a leading role in her union (University Professionals of Illinois-AFT) during a strike, defending students arrested for protest of a CIA recruitment event, and contradicting her provost on the matter of recruitment and retention of Latino/a faculty, Professor Capeheart was:
-denied appointment to her duly elected post as department chair,
-denied merited awards, and
-defamed in a faculty council meeting by NEIU's vice president, who maliciously charged her without basis with stalking a student.
We are outraged at these serious and malicious attempts to silence one of our fellow academics, unionists, and anti-war activists. We cannot allow NEIU administrators to get away with these attacks on academic freedom and workers' rights. Their actions should be chilling to all workers, activists, and scholars.
Her case is a perfect example of the stakes of the ongoing struggle for academic freedom—for labor, for inclusion and equality of minorities, and for the right to protest war and injustice on our campuses.
Capeheart seeks an injunction against further violations, for her rightful appointment as chair, and for monetary damages for defamation.
Her struggle, and the broader struggle at NEIU for Free Speech Rights, has gotten attention from important organizations such as the Chicago Reader and Inside Higher Ed.
She also has an online petition that has gained much support:
http://www.petitiononline.com/j4lc/petition.html - 800+ signatures, particularly those of noted Professors and Activists Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn.
Please join us for this important event in this new political era where people are searching for news and information about protest, activism, and CHANGE.
CONTACT: Kenneth Barrios – NEIU Student – [email protected] - 773 552 0394
--------------
Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/thebusiness/081218/
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/23/speech
Socialist Worker
http://socialistworker.org/2009/04/08/defending-loretta-capeheart