Celebration Rally at Brooklyn College
February 3, 2011
Brooklyn College: We Stopped the Attacks on Academic Freedom! Kristofer Petersen-Overton is back!
Just a week before the start of spring semester classes, Kristofer Petersen-Overton was fired from his position as an adjunct lecturer of political science at Brooklyn College. A scholar highly regarded by many distinguished faculty at CUNY, Petersen-Overton was scheduled to teach a Middle East Politics course. His firing by Provost William Tramontano came hours after college President Karen Lee Gould was contacted by a New York State assemblyman who complained about the instructor’s academic writings on Israel and the Palestinians. It is clear that Petersen-Overton's dismissal was the product of political pressure.
The college's actions were a clear violation of academic freedom, including the university's own official policy. We demanded that Petersen-Overton be fully reinstated in his position, and that his course on Middle East Politics be allowed to proceed as originally designed. The university ultimately respected this academic freedom, and we urge it to do so with all its employees and students. This is especially crucial with contingent faculty like Petersen-Overton, who receive none of the protections of tenure despite the fact that they teach the majority of courses at the City University of New York.
Stopping attacks on academic freedom is crucial to the rights of all of us who work and study at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York! We made this happen!
CELEBRATION RALLY details
When: Thursday, February 3, 12-2pm
Where: Brooklyn College
Outside Boylan Hall in the campus Quad, near Bedford Ave.
Trains: Q Local to the Avenue H station, at Avenue H & East 16th Street. Walk 4 blocks east to the Ocean Avenue entrance. #2(7th Avenue Local) or #5 (Lexington Avenue Express) to the Flatbush Avenue/Nostrand Avenue station.
