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Professor's handout sets off campus debate

Saturday, April 30, 2005 6:47 AM CDT

Plenty of readers weighed in this past week on the case of Southern Illinois University Carbondale History professor Jonathan Bean, who has been taking a licking on campus for a handout distributed in his class recently.

A native of Vermont, Bean received his doctorate from Ohio State University in 1994 and came to SIUC in 1995. He teaches courses on U.S. history, including business history, policy history, and the Great Depression.

But now his academic career could be in jeopardy thanks to the fact he handed out a paper in class called "Remembering the Zebra Killings."

Bean, who was named "Teacher of the Year" on April 11, said he wasn't advocating anything. He was trying to stir thought among his students.

His department chair told him to apologize. He didn't think he needed to apologize, but because he was asked to do so, he did.

On the SIUC campus you hear a lot of talk about academic freedom.

So we asked our readers if they believed Bean's academic freedom had been violated. The response in Bean's favor was overwhelming. Here's what they said:

"As a liberal, I am appalled by the actions of the History Department and their administrators. If there is anywhere in the world where ALL ideas should be examined, it is a university. Political correctness and prior restraint is exactly what the university should be fighting," said reader Howard Cotton.

Robert Hancock of Carterville agreed.

"Of course, Dr. Bean's academic freedom is being usurped, so what else is new? One unmistakable hallmark of the liberal world view is their devotion to free speech and academic freedom, unless, of course, the one exercising these rights happens to disagree with them."

And Patrick J. Harris, who works at SIUC, suggested that there might be some who have a vendetta against Bean.

"I think he should include the subject matter just as he included other parts of our culture. Bean should be allowed to explore the matter as part of the class. Furthermore, the article does not appear to be racist," Harris said.

The vast majority of readers who responded to our online "Click & Connect" question as to whether Bean's academic freedom had been violated said they believed it had.

Bean and his wife have two children. They've had a few sleepless nights since the controversy erupted.

Do you think Bean has been treated fairly? I'd love to know what you think.

Or we could follow the advice of SIU board Chairman Glenn Poshard and just move on. After a bitter, emotional week, that might be the best advice of all.

META MINTON is editor of The Southern Illinoisan and may be reached at (618) 351-5033 or by email at meta.minton@thesouthern.com.@thesouthern.com.