USF Faculty Senate to discuss firing of Al-Arian

The senate's president called the Jan. 9 emergency meeting, upset that Sami Al-Arian was fired during winter recess.

By BABITA PERSAUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 1, 2002

TAMPA -- An emergency meeting to discuss the firing of Dr. Sami Al-Arian has been called by his peers at the University of South Florida.

But will the Faculty Senate come out in support of the outspoken civil engineering professor suspected of terrorist ties, or in support of USF president Judy Genshaft, who fired him Dec. 19?

Some professors are fuming over the firing, calling it an assault on academic freedom. Others, such as Marion Becker, vice president of the Faculty Senate and a mental health law and policy associate professor, support Genshaft's decision. Becker said Monday she has received many e-mails from colleagues who feel the same.

The Senate is made up of 60 elected professors. They can draw up a resolution, but their role is purely advisory.

The Jan. 9 emergency meeting is a rare move. It was called by the senate's president, Gregory Paveza, who was upset that Al-Arian would be fired during winter recess, when students and faculty were away. Paveza himself is in Illinois on vacation.

The day after Al-Arian was fired, Paveza sent an e-mail to Genshaft stating that he was upset at the procedure and that professors did not get a chance to have their voices heard.

Paveza sent e-mails to senate members, stating that the issue was too important to wait until the senate's next regular meeting at the end of January.

The senate meeting comes at a time when Al-Arian has been given some breathing room. Al-Arian was originally given 10 days to respond to the letter telling him he had been dismissed due to contractual reasons, among them that he came on campus when told not to.

But USF Faculty Union president Roy Weatherford, a philosophy professor, found a clause that indicates any action taken by the administration after Dec. 15 must start on Jan. 2. That pushes Al-Arian's deadline to respond to Jan. 12.

At USF, there are two bodies that represent the faculty: the Faculty Union, in which membership is voluntary and which tends to deal with issues related to working conditions; and the Faculty Senate, which represents all faculty, including those at the St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Lakeland campuses. Members of the senate are elected from each college.

At the senate's October meeting, Al-Arian's case was discussed. At the time, he was on administrative leave from USF. After a lengthy discussion, Paveza said, a resolution was adopted that supported Genshaft placing Al-Arian on leave for security reasons.

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