Faculty Council makes statements on Knight firing, civility

At its first meeting of the semester Tuesday, Bloomington Faculty Council passed resolutions making a statement about the Sept. 11 firing of former head basketball coach Bob Knight and reasserting the importance of civility among members of the University community. The resolution stressing conduct was passed unanimously by the council; the resolution regarding Knight passed by a vote of 32-9.\nJames Sherman, president of the BFC and professor of psychology, brought the issues to the table saying the agenda committee felt that not addressing it would seem like an oversight on the part of the faculty.\n"Ignoring the situation or doing nothing gives the impression that we all live in ivory towers and are not aware of the situation, or that we don't care," Sherman said. "We feel that making a simple statement is something we must do."\nA statement drafted by the agenda committee addressing the Knight firing was distributed to Faculty Council members. The statement expressed sadness at the loss of Bob Knight and appreciation of IU President Myles Brand and the IU administration "for their hard work and effectiveness in dealing with this situation and for making the difficult decision to terminate this chapter in the basketball life of the University."\nSherman then introduced Jeffrey Isaac, professor of political science, and Isaac read a statement detailing a letter with 150 faculty signatures circulated by Isaac last Tuesday in response to Knight's firing.\n"The letter was an effort to project an independent faculty voice on an issue that had received the attention of the nation and indeed the world," Isaac said. "It was an effort to present a responsible faculty viewpoint to all of those concerned with how the furor surrounding the dismissal of Coach Knight related to the University as an academic institution."\nIn the letter, which was published by the IDS, three basic points were made. First, IU "is a place of higher learning, not a sports camp or a basketball school." Second, Brand acted within his authority in dismissing Coach Knight. The letter also condemned the acts of "vandalism and intimidation" against Brand, University officials and freshman Kent Harvey."\nAfter Isaac's presentation, members of the BFC disagreed with the agenda committee's resolution.\n"I would prefer supporting (Isaac's) resolution than this one, which was drafted to please everyone," said Robert Arnove, professor of education.\n"We're talking about the concepts, ideas and decisions made that led to this," said Elizabeth Lion, professor of nursing. "I think the words (of the agenda committee's resolution) are beautiful, but it doesn't tell anybody anything."\nA motion was made to reaffirm a resolution made in November 1999, stressing the importance of "values fostering a climate of civility and mutual respect." The motion passed unanimously.\nArnove then moved to replace the resolution written on the Knight firing by the agenda committee with the three main points of Isaac's letter. This motion passed by a vote of 32-9.\nIn his statement before the Faculty Council, Isaac also said the difficulty in circulating his petition letter made him realize the need for a forum for faculty to share their opinions with each other.\n"In this day and age it seems to me that there is no good reason why the entire faculty ought not to have access to a listserve," he said. "I hope that if the BFC is empowered to establish such an organ of faculty communication then it will act to set one up."\n During the discussion of a resolution addressing the Knight situation, faculty members also spoke out in support of a faculty listserve or other form of communication.\n "This council is better when it does work not when it makes statements," said Robert Eno, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures. "This faculty needs a forum; we're not going to speak with one voice."\nSherman said the passed resolutions will become part of the BFC's records and will also be forwarded to the administration and posted on the organization's Web site. \n"We need to start trying to move on beyond this situation," he said. "I think we are getting beyond it."\nIn addition to the statements regarding Knight and Brand, the council discussed several other issues at its Tuesday meeting.\nSuzanne Thorin, dean of the University Libraries, presented the new library management system to the council. The new Web-based catalog will be launched Jan. 1, 2001 on the IU library Web site, www.indiana.edu/~libfind.\nJob openings were announced for the positions of dean of the School of Music and director of the Wells Scholars program.\nBloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis reported to the council on the state of the budget, highlighting areas that he deemed necessary but also which took a great deal of funding. Some of these included the new School of Informatics and the School of Journalism's high school institute.