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Genshaft's inaction is louder than words
© St. Petersburg Times For months we've waited for Judy Genshaft to act, and she finally has. She ducked. She was supposed to fire Sami Al-Arian on Wednesday. Instead, the USF president threw herself, and the pickle she's in, at the feet of an unlucky circuit court judge. USF filed a lawsuit in Hillsborough Circuit Court asking a judge to decide if it's okay for Genshaft to fire Al-Arian or whether doing so would violate his First Amendment rights. You've heard of the expression that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Well, Judy Genshaft is asking permission. It would get her and the USF board of trustees out of the corner they backed themselves into eight months ago when the board, largely business people ignorant of the fine points of academic freedom, voted to fire Al-Arian. They said they had the authority to do it. Then they didn't fire him. They didn't do it. And they didn't do it. Over and over, we heard the delay explained away, that Genshaft was seeking the opinions of various important people on campus, off campus, from here to infinity and back. But actions, or lack of them, speak loudly -- or in this case, shout. Genshaft wasn't following through on firing Al-Arian because she realized she couldn't get away with it legally, at least not without embarrassing the university. It was being threatened with censure from the American Association of University Professors. The months dragged on. An odd thing happened. Federal prosecutors declared they were actively investigating Al-Arian, a declaration they would never make under lesser circumstances. If only they indicted him, Genshaft would be off the hook. Al-Arian was not indicted. He continued to collect a paycheck. Genshaft remained on that hook. Now she's got a dream team of private lawyers, one expert in labor, another on the First Amendment, and still another on war crimes, to go to bat for her in court. They have concocted an argument that drops every flimsy reason Genshaft first used to justify firing Al-Arian -- for instance, that he threatened the safety of the campus following the uproar over his appearance on a Fox News talk show. In the lawsuit, they've gone to the real heart of the matter, arguing that he has aided and abetted terrorism. That's fine. They just should have done it in the first place, when the board so boldly jumped off a cliff and voted to give him the boot. You know, of course, that this case will remain in the courts for years. If a circuit judge rules that the university has to take Al-Arian back, you can bet USF will appeal in one skinny minute. The case will ping-pong through the state courts, and once all state appeals are exhausted, the university and Al-Arian will take their beef to federal court. Judy Genshaft will be able to put off her day of reckoning for the legal equivalent of forever. That's what is so galling about Wednesday's announcement. When she was chosen president of the university, nobody said Genshaft would have to decide the easy questions only, and could pass on the tough ones. In Tuesday's column, I incorrectly stated that Mazen Al-Najjar's wife, Fedaa, is a U.S. citizen. She is not. Like her husband, she faces deportation. -- You can reach Mary Jo Melone at mjmelone@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3402.
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Times columns today Mary Jo Melone Tampa Uncuffed Gary Shelton From the Times Metro desk |
