New York – Kristofer Petersen-Overton, the adjunct professor who lost his job teaching a Middle East politics course at Brooklyn College after a student and Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind criticized his views on Israel, has now been rehired by the college.
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Assemblyman Hikind has tonight issued the following statement:
“It is pathetic that the administrations of Brooklyn College and CUNY has caved to intimidation tactics and reversed their earlier, praiseworthy decision to oust Mr. Petersen-Overton from his post.
Mr. Petersen-Overton has stated in published reports that he “understands” suicide bombing.
In re-hiring Mr. Petersen-Overton, Brooklyn College and CUNY have sent a message to suicide bombers and their supporters that a publicly-funded institution of higher learning condones suicide bombing as an acceptable method of ‘resistance.’ Granting Mr. Petersen-Overton access to thousands of impressionable young minds, especially at the taxpayers’ expense, is nothing short of shameful and embarrassing.
By CUNY’s own determination, Mr. Petersen-Overton was relieved of his teaching job and deemed unqualified because he did not hold a doctoral degree. His re-appointment and the University’s flip-flopping on this issue is cowardice at its very worst.”
Below is statement from Brooklyn College:
At 7:15pm on Monday, January 31, President Karen L. Gould released the following statement to the students, faculty, and staff of Brooklyn College:
Over the past several days, as a result of a provostial decision about an adjunct appointment, Brooklyn College has been thrust into a debate about academic freedom. This debate has been fueled at times by inflammatory rhetoric and mischaracterization of the facts. It is unfortunate that matters of utmost importance to our college community can be so rapidly co-opted by those with a political agenda and distorted by the media.
I stand united with you: We must never allow decisions about our students’ education be swayed by outside influence. In the matter at hand, this certainly has not been the case. On behalf of every member of this institution, I reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the principles of academic freedom, faculty governance, and standards of excellence.
Today, the Department of Political Science and its appointments committee voted unanimously to recommend Kristofer Petersen-Overton to teach a graduate course on the Middle East. Based on information that has come to light, they are confident he has sufficient depth of knowledge and the intellectual capacity to successfully lead a graduate seminar. The provost now supports their recommendation, and I am in full agreement.
Brooklyn College continues to have a strong commitment to academic freedom. As one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, we value civil discourse on even the most difficult topics. We believe that open, substantive dialogue between those with different points of view is an essential component of a 21st-century education.
Equally essential are academic standards that ensure an excellent education for all students at all levels. During this calendar year, we will work together as faculty and administrators to ensure that our graduate programs are of the highest caliber.
It is now time for us to come together as a community and welcome Mr. Petersen-Overton to Brooklyn College. We wish him and his students a productive, rewarding semester of graduate study.
His comments were pathethic but he is entitled to voice a dissenting opinon. Thats what academic freedom is all about.
These are the hands you put your children in and they are certainly influenced. Don’t try and ponder on how your childs views are similar to your enemies. It’s your own fault.
University is a place for the exchange & debate of varied views. That RIGHT has been a hallmark of The United States & applies to all of our secular educational institutions.
I’ve taught on the undergraduate level. A college instructor is not really supposed to present his / her opinion, but rather to guide discussion. However, all too often instructors feel free to share their opinions and even try to influence students to accept their opinions.
hopefully students just won’t sign up to this guy’s class. then he will have no job.
Why not fill his class with frum students and debate him?
At one time, a good percentage of the City University of New York’s student body, as well as the teachers, (prior to 1970), were Jewish. Today, it is a different story.
Rav Avigdor Miller z’tzal said better go to the office of the mafia than go to university. He was overstating what universities are; but truth be told they are bad. In college
must of my professor were leftist and today it is worse. This man is teaching HATE; and I repeat HATE. He does not represent to the students that this is his opinion but rather this is facts. A person who justifies suicide bombing does not belong in a class room. The liberals give freedom to everybody to have their say except conservatives.
Will somebody have to sit in to all of his classes to make sure that no “pearls of wisdom” come out of his mouth and go into the ears of impressionable kids??
If liberal teachers and professors can do it so can conservative and republicans. There is nothing wrong with a history teacher mentioning the Holocaust, even if it is off topic. Or how in some arab countries their laws do not have the freedoms that our country has. It all depends on how you broach the subject.
How can she say that she “stands united” with students?! Perhaps they will hire a holocaust denier, or offer a course in “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” also in the interest of academic honesty? What about a course in Intelligent Design for the Geology Department?