URBANA — A national organization that defends academic freedom is looking into the case of a University of Illinois professor accused of videotaping members of a pro-Chief Illiniwek group in a State Farm Center bathroom.
The American Association of University Professors, which placed the UI on its "censure" list for two years because of the Steven Salaita case, wrote to Chancellor Robert Jones on Thursday about his decision to place Professor Jay Rosenstein on paid administrative leave while the campus reviews the Jan. 22 incident.
The letter from the AAUP's Anita Levy suggests that the campus may have violated Rosenstein's right to academic due process under AAUP standards for disciplinary action against a faculty member and raised the prospect of future censure.