MERGED Instructor of Catholicism at UI claims loss of job violates academic freedom

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I agree with GraceSofia, if they don’t retain him, he has no job. And no time to find another academic position. Which denies him at least one semester of employment.

And, I sincerely thank IHeartAquinus for the petition to sign. Which I did.
 
The problem he ran in to is explained in Constitutional law Prof. Lino Graglia’s statement that, “full societal acceptance, if not endorsement, of homosexuality is the current cause célèbre in today’s academia.”

Academic freedom exists to facilitate the pursuit of truth without fear of retribution. The fact that the administration didn’t like what he was teaching indicates that the pursuit of truth is not the school’s mission, but rather political advocacy of certain causes, as indicated by Prof. Graglia. The sooner people realize this and demand change, the fewer outrages like the one against this instructor, and the better off society will be.
 
Scoobyshme said:
I’m not in the least surprised. This culture is becoming more and more anti-Catholic by the minute. It’s 1932 all over again, except this time, it’s not the Jews who will end up in the ovens of concentration camps. It’s Catholics. And it’s not Nazi’s who will be doing the killing, it’s Marxist liberals who now control our government and our media, brainwashing the kids into what and how to think.

I look forward to being a martyr for the faith! 🙂
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You might want to check your sources - something like 3 million Catholics were exterminated in Nazi camps. It has all ready been done. You might also want to read the scriptures - Jesus seems a little more Marxist than our government. Marxist liberal seems like an oxymoron. Catholics do their share of brainwashing too.
 
texasnan said:
Must be an interesting place to have a job interview. “Oh, and by the way, just because we hire you to teach a particular subject, doesn’t mean you’ll be allowed to teach that subject.”😦
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Excellent comment!
 
donsnow said:
What happened to Prof. Howard and the issues discussed by Dale, Contarini and Holy Catholic are why I withdrew from a public college. I found the academic atmosphere hostile to plain Christianity and good moral values. I don’t have to put up with an English professor bashing God everyday in class. And I don’t have to put up with an Accounting professor slyly sliding comments about current social mores upon the students, instead of sticking to the subject.

I went to public college on my own nickel, and I didn’t like my time and money being wasted by abusive professors. Someday, I may return to college. Again, it will be on my own dime (inflation, you know, ;)) In the meanwhile, I have several much better activities to spend my time and money on, which don’t insult my Catholic sensibilities.

Oh, I’m a simple man with a complex mind. I like it very much that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, much like the Gospel, keeps things simple.
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I agree very much with what you said, however it is unfortunately true that the same things
happen at Catholic colleges. Happily, there is starting to be a number of good choices there. But only a few.

IMO, when it happens at a Catholic college it is worse - they have been “given much” and “much will be expected” of them. It’s one thing to turn against the truth, and another
to never have known it to begin with. At least the professors at the secular colleges are not masquerading as Catholic theologians.
 
snowlake said:
I agree very much with what you said, however it is unfortunately true that the same things
happen at Catholic colleges. Happily, there is starting to be a number of good choices there. But only a few.

IMO, when it happens at a Catholic college it is worse - they have been “given much” and “much will be expected” of them. It’s one thing to turn against the truth, and another
to never have known it to begin with. At least the professors at the secular colleges are not masquerading as Catholic theologians.
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Thank you for your reply.

It’s scandalous that this happens in Catholic colleges.

That I believe such scholars have been interpreting and translating scriptures from manuscripts in the newer Holy Bibles, is why my present reading Holy Bible is the Challoner Douay-Rheims and my study Holy Bible is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I just don’t trust modern scholars to revere the word of God enough to keep their elitist, progressive and un-Catholic opinions out of their work.
 
Some biography on Dr. Howell, recently published in the local newspaper:

He had been ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1978, which he walked away from when he converted in 1994/1995

In 1995, while a visiting professor at Indiana University, he was shot at multiple times by an unknown assailant. He was struck in the neck, nearly killing him and severely damaging his vocal cords.

His wife is Lutheran, and his conversion has strained their relationship. They attend both a Catholic and a Lutheran church, and have three children.
news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2010-07-25/long-path-ken-howell-instructor-who-lost-ui-position.html
 
Dale_M said:
Some biography on Dr. Howell, recently published in the local newspaper:

He had been ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1978, which he walked away from when he converted in 1994/1995

In 1995, while a visiting professor at Indiana University, he was shot at multiple times by an unknown assailant. He was struck in the neck, nearly killing him and severely damaging his vocal cords.

His wife is Lutheran, and his conversion has strained their relationship. They attend both a Catholic and a Lutheran church, and have three children.
news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2010-07-25/long-path-ken-howell-instructor-who-lost-ui-position.html
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Thanks, Dale. Today is the deadline that the ADF gave to the University to reinstate Dr. Howell. I guess we’ll see what the word is tomorrow…
 
This is good news, and I hope bodes well for Dr. Ken’s case, as well:
An adjunct professor who was fired on the basis of a student complaint about remarks about homosexuality WON her case.

Calif. professor fired for comments on homosexuality research secures $100,000 settlement
In June 2007 a student of San Jose City College Prof. June Sheldon’s human heredity course asked her a question about heredity’s affect on homosexual behavior, an ADF press release says. The professor described both sides of the issue, which was to be explored in a later class. She cited the class textbook and the research of a well-known German scientist.
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Another student made a complaint about the professor’s response. The school launched an investigation which declared her comments to be “offensive and unscientific.”
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“Professors shouldn’t be fired simply for doing their jobs as educators. Professionally addressing both sides of an academic issue according to the class curriculum is not grounds for dismissal; it’s what a professor is supposed to do,” remarked ADF Litigation Staff Counsel David J. Hacker.
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GraceSofia said:
This is good news, and I hope bodes well for Dr. Ken’s case, as well:
An adjunct professor who was fired on the basis of a student complaint about remarks about homosexuality WON her case.
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The outcome is encouraging, but I would point out that she didn’t actually win her case. She reached a settlement with the college. This distinction is important, because an out of court settlement doesn’t provide any kind of legal precedent. It just means that both sides agreed to stop fighting. In the settlement, the college admitted no wrong doing.
 
Dale_M said:
The outcome is encouraging, but I would point out that she didn’t actually win her case. She reached a settlement with the college. This distinction is important, because an out of court settlement doesn’t provide any kind of legal precedent. It just means that both sides agreed to stop fighting. In the settlement, the college admitted no wrong doing.
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Ooooooh, you’re right. I didn’t even notice that.
 
Dale_M said:
The outcome is encouraging, but I would point out that she didn’t actually win her case. She reached a settlement with the college. This distinction is important, because an out of court settlement doesn’t provide any kind of legal precedent. It just means that both sides agreed to stop fighting. In the settlement, the college admitted no wrong doing.
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Plus, she was fired over two years ago and they’re just reaching a settlement now, which does not include getting her job back. That would mean a long road lies ahead for Dr. Howell if this case ends up similarly.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Plus, she was fired over two years ago and they’re just reaching a settlement now, which does not include getting her job back. That would mean a long road lies ahead for Dr. Howell if this case ends up similarly.
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Yes, those are good points. I am sure Dr. Howell doesn’t want this to drag out for two years.

And, if he loses, there is the question of who will teach the courses, and how the content might change.
 
Here’s another, newer article on this incident:

Fired for Teaching the Truth by Bryan Berry

There doesn’t appear to be any new developments as of late, but this article does a pretty good job of bringing all the facts together. It also includes some quotes from Dr. Howell himself and from Msgr. Swetland (the former Chaplain of the Newman Center and the one who originally hired Dr. Howell). That made it worth the read for me.
 
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