President's Corner: IU needs to focus on its priorities

My recent decision to dismiss Coach Bob Knight has again focused national media attention on our campus.\nI spelled out my reasons for making that decision at the press conference announcing Coach Knight's dismissal. He has expressed his own opinions on the issue, and has made what I considered to be a gracious farewell to the students. It is now time to move forward, in an atmosphere of civility and mutual respect.\nCoach Knight is a basketball legend, a man who has made many lasting contributions to IU. He is also a polarizing figure; few people are neutral on the subject of Bob Knight. So, I knew that, no matter how this saga ended, I and other members of the administration would be vilified by some and cheered by others.\nI believe the great majority of students and community members have handled those controversies well. We should be good at civil disagreement and debate; it's an integral part of any successful learning community.\nBut vandalism and intimidation have no place in that process. Threats of violence directed toward people with whom you disagree are the antithesis of free speech; such threats are designed to stifle speech. No matter how students feel about the Knight situation, they should not feel afraid to express their views.\nIU administrators have been the targets of death threats. Those must cease. Even more reprehensible are those threats aimed at the IU freshman who was involved in the confrontation with Coach Knight shortly before he was dismissed. I'm shocked and saddened that there are a few -- I hope a very few -- in the University community who believe such tactics are justified. They are wrong.\nNow it is time for IU to move past this controversy and work to fulfill its important missions.\nThis controversy has been a blunt reminder that athletic success can be a two-edged sword. Hoosiers take justifiable pride in our great basketball legacy. But we err if we allow wins and losses in any athletic program to overshadow the true mission of a university -- teaching, learning and research. Coach Knight himself often stressed the relative unimportance of his job when compared with the greater goals of the institution.\nWith world-class schools and departments in a broad array of disciplines, a great arts and sciences tradition, and a growing reputation for leadership in information technology, we have an academic institution in which we can take tremendous pride.\nSuccessful students and faculty members in the classroom, productive researchers in the laboratories and libraries mean the most, in the long run, to the success of IU. That's what we are all on campus to achieve; those are victories in which each student and faculty and staff member can play a vital part.\nLet's get on with that work.