Here We Go Again?

While courts have, for the most part, upheld the use of" collegiality" in academic personnel processes, I don't think any institution of higher learning that claims to be interested in quality should use the concept. A test of" collegiality" too often serves as a club to punish ideological dissenters among the untenured faculty.

This morning's Indianapolis Star has a column on the case of Indiana Law School professor William Bradford, who's being opposed by some law school professors for tenure on grounds of"uncollegiality."

I'm going to be looking into this case more intensively, but the story as presented by the Star is frightening: Bradford's qualifications as a teacher and a scholar are excellent; he has supported the war against terror and refused to sign a pro-Ward Churchill petition prepared by colleagues; and his leading opponents are on the far left of the department and have crossed swords with him on political issues.