Joseph Massad

Professors Joseph Massad and Andrew Nathan received the Lionel Trilling and Mark Van Doren Awards, respectively, on Monday in an announcement from the Columbia College Academic Awards Committee.

On Nov. 12, 70 members of faculty signed a “Statement of Concern” alleging that “President Bollinger has failed to make a vigorous defense of the core principles on which the university is founded, especially academic freedom.” I wonder how many considered the ironic and, at times, unbelievable fact that the same University President Lee Bollinger helps pay Hamid Dabashi’s salary.

The recent tenure battles regarding professors Nadia Abu El Haj and Joseph Massad have led to renewed allegations that undue “outside political influence” is threatening the academic freedom that is at the heart of Columbia University.

The University must reaffirm that while the marketplace of ideas may expose professors to criticism, the intrusion of non-academic pressure on the tenure process is unacceptable.

Faculty members presented a letter to top administrators Tuesday condemning University President Lee Bollinger for creating a “crisis of confidence” and accusing the University’s administration of inadequately protecting academic freedom on campus.

It’s a wonder that MEALAC professor Joseph Massad isn’t a hoax perpetrated by conservative activist David Horowitz. No doubt Horowitz excites over academics who so perfectly epitomize everything wrong with the academy, and whose published works read like dossiers from Campus Watch.

During his speech on Monday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad parried many of our direct questions concerning his denial of the Holocaust, his desire to destroy the state of Israel, and his government’s pursuit of nuclear technology.

As a generation of controversial Columbia academics trudge toward tenure, get ready for a fight.

Don’t look now, but there’s a revolt afoot. It arguably doesn’t matter whether Nadia abu al-Haj, author of the controversial and theory-bloated Facts on the Ground (the curious can find almost the entire book on Amazon Reader), is granted a lifetime post at this University.