Since the thrust of the anonymous "concerned person" is that the history department's chairman's e-mails have been quoted out of context, and since anonymous seems to have full access to them, then I will suggest anonymous post the complete, unedited e-mails for our edification. And while "concerned person" is at it, why not also post the unedited e-mails in which the chair warns Johnson to wear "bullet proof vests" against the expected assaults upon him by one of the "academic terrorists." I'm certain anonymous knows who the chair is referring to. And why not post the entire e-mail in which the chair uses that term.
And while anonymous is at it, let's also read the full e-mail in which the chair calls one of the "academic terrorists" Johnson should protect himself against, an "unscrupulous and unprofessional mole," yet who the chair nevertheless deliberately assigned to observe one of Johnson's courses just before he came up for tenure, hoping no doubt she would prove as "unscrupulous and unprofessional" in writing her evaluation as he asserted she was.
Moreover, since anonymous earlier talked about Johnson's supposed "humiliating treatment of the untenured colleague who chaired" the disputed search for a woman Europeanist, anonymous might also want to post the unedited e-mail that chair wrote which was "laced," we are told, "with demonstrable falsehoods about (male) candidates that she did not prefer and mocking comments about three (male) junior colleagues who did not prefer her selected candidate."
But, then again, anonymous might feel uneasy about publishing this e-mail since, informed people have just told me, anonymous appears to be the chair of that committee Johnson is accused of "humiliating," and not the "academic terrorist" and "unscrupulous and unprofessional mole" who is her mentor and who I earlier guessed was anonymous.
If so, I think, this would easily explain why anonymous wants to remain, well, anonymous, and defend not only the chairman -- after all, she will soon be coming up for tenure too -- and the contrived search she was overseeing. I can thus understand why she is "concerned," and not only about Johnson remaining at Brooklyn College.
by Jerry Sternstein on December 4, 2002 at 12:56 AM