Ethics Newsline®

MADISON, Wis.
While defending his right to free speech, the University of Wisconsin has warned a controversial faculty member to stop associating the university with his views.

Kevin Barrett claims the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the Bush administration in an effort to provoke war. Barrett, who has been interviewed by news media worldwide, has been a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin at Madison since 1997, according to a report from the New York Times, and has taught a variety of courses about Islam, African literature, and other subjects.

His claim has instigated a blistering debate about academic freedom and brought about calls for his removal by some Wisconsin legislators.

“They apparently have no limits to what can be taught in the classroom,” Rep. Steve Nass told the Times. “Barrett has got to go…. It is an embarrassment for the state of Wisconsin. It is an embarrassment for the university.”

But University of Wisconsin provost Patrick Farrell told UPI that he stands behind Barrett’s academic freedom and that the instructor will be teaching a course on Islam at the Madison campus this fall.

“If the situation arises that I don’t have confidence that he can separate his views from what he teaches, I’ll change my decision,” Farrell said.

But the Associated press reported that Farrell also threatened in a letter to change his mind if Barrett continues to use Wisconsin’s imprimatur to seek publicity. “If you continue to identify yourself with UW-Madison in your personal political messages or illustrate an inability to control your interest in publicity for your ideas, I would lose confidence,” he wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the AP.

Barrett’s case is reminiscent of the controversy surrounding Ward Churchill, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder who became notorious after an essay he had written comparing 9/11 victims to Nazis was publicized. The Los Angles Times noted that Ward is in the process of being fired after his university scrutinized his works and claimed he committed fraud.

Churchill claims he has been targeted for his political beliefs and plans to sue, according to the Times.