Cornel West has held prestigious positions at many institutions, including at least two endowed "University Professorships" -- the highest academic rank -- at Harvard and Princeton, and chairs at Yale, the University of Paris, and the Union Theological Seminar, and he has lectured widely at universities around the world. He left Harvard in 2002 in a very public dispute with then-president Lawrence Summers, taking an endowed chair at Princeton. In 2017, he rejoined the faculty of the Harvard Divinity School in a non-tenure track position as Victor S. Thomas Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy. Evidently nearing the end of his five year contract, West applied to be switched to a tenured position. He was turned down, which West considers disrespectful. In an interview with Chronicle of HigherEducation, he said: "My ridiculous situation at Harvard is a symptom of a much larger crisis in higher education. First, Black scholars and too many others are too often disrespected, devalued, or dismissed."
I have no strong opinion about West's situation. He apparently joined Harvard in a non-tenure eligible position, and he has now been offered a ten year extension at a high salary. West is surely an important and highly regarded public intellectual, so perhaps there was an implicit understanding or assumption that he would later be able to switch to a tenured position.
So why would Harvard create yet another public dispute with West, given his his history and stature. West thinks he knows the reason. It was the Zionists. Seriously, he has said repeatedly that his request for tenure was rejected only because of his critique of Israel. Although he has offered no proof or even specifics of the conspiracy, he told CHE:
In my case, my controversial and outspoken views about and critiques of empire, capitalism, white supremacy, male supremacy, and homophobia are tolerated, but any serious engagement around the issues of the Israeli occupation are rendered highly suspect and reduced to anti-Jewish hatred or prejudice.
And, regarding disapproval by "he powers that be at Harvard,"
So, I surmise it must be my deep Christian witness based on the idea that an ugly Israeli occupation of precious Palestinians is as wrong as any ugly Palestinian occupation of precious Jews.
Also,
[T]wo brilliant scholars critical of the U.S. empire and Israeli occupation — a Black Dominican woman and a Jewish Israeli woman — have been denied tenure. I see a pattern here.
He also put it this way in a tweet:
Is Harvard a place for a free Black man like myself whose Christian faith & witness put equal value on Palestinian & Jewish babies- like all babies- & reject all occupations as immoral?
The beauty of the anti-Israel conspiracy theory is that it requires no actual evidence. Once something bad or unfavorable happens, blame reflexively falls on Israel or Zionists (or among certain company, Jews). West, for example, repeatedly states that his other radical beliefs are acceptable to Harvard, including his critique of capitalism, which might be most offensive to donors, and his "joyful support" of Bernie Sanders. Thus, having eliminated all of the other possible objections, the only remaining source of his woes among the "powers that be" must be backers of Israel. The CHE interviewer did not follow up or ask West for proof of his supposition. The complaint proves itself. West does not specifically name the "powers that be," of course, though he once referred to Lawrence Summers as "the Ariel Sharon of American higher education."
To quote Cornel West: I see a pattern here.
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