Petition for Klocek

Thanks to John J. Miller at Phi Beta Cons for bringing greater attention to a petition being circulated by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East on behalf of Professor Thomas Klocek. Professor Klocek lost his job at DePaul University in Chicago without any due process after he argued with several students about issues in the Middle East at a student activities fair. Miller wrote an excellent article about the Klocek scandal in National Review last fall.
 
Klocek’s case was FIRE’s first major clash with DePaul, but it would not be our last. As loyal Torch readers know, we have since battled with DePaul over its attempt to punish students who protested and mocked the decision to invite Ward Churchill to speak at the school and its later charges against students for holding an “affirmative action bake sale” protest. After FIRE intervened, the university backed down in both of these cases, but not before I had the chance to call the university a “basket case” on Hannity and Colmes. I stand by that characterization of DePaul. I mean, how many times can a single university baldly ignore free speech and due process in one year? Readers should let DePaul know their opinions about the university’s treatment of Tom Klocek and its shoddy record of defending basic rights for dissenters.