It has been brought my attention that Professor Mary Ann Fay, head of the Arab Studies Program and renowned professor in the Department of Sociology, has been refused a renewal of contract and will therefore not be allowed to return to teach next semester. The exact cause for this was a number of complaints brought to the Dean of Academic Affairs by students. Three different committees decided whether she could come back or not. Two of the committees gave her very high remarks and implored that she stay. The third one did not.
Professor Fay was not given the reasons or nature of these complaints. There is, however, a strong indication that they were brought on by students who believe her views are biased against Israel in her courses on Middle Eastern studies. I, along with those who have had the pleasure of having her as a professor, know to what great lengths this educated, well-traveled woman has gone to provide a great deal of depth and integrity into her historical work, as well as a varying number of primary sources. It is almost as if the perceived "bias" stems from students hoping to see a similar bias, but for Israel. Concurrently, it would seem that those who dare present another view of history are guilty of academic bias, indoctrination or even of anti-Semitism (which is a plague just like anti-Arabism or anti-Anything).
I am not writing this letter to talk about Israel or Palestine, or my views on politics at all. I agree with many of Fay's views and am not in accord some of her others. Is this not why we are here in college? By the grace of God, my parents are able to invest sums of hard-earned money for me to go to college. They do so with because they were guaranteed that I would be in an environment where I could equip myself with knowledge, food for thought and multi-dimensional views of this ever-globalizing world - based on both history and fact. Throughout my years as an undergraduate I have agreed and disagreed with many of my professors, whether mercantilist capitalists, socialists, or feminists. I did not apply to college to agree with everybody I come across. My experience with Professor Fay in Contemporary Arab World enabled me to get insights from an array of people of all colors, sizes and backgrounds. Like any professor, she has (and is entitled to) her own views, but has always been cautious to present them in a professional, neutral and subtle manner.
The specious grounds for her dismissal are nothing less than the result of some hidden academic McCarthyism that is beyond ridiculous, a new phenomenon I am loath to fathom. Professor Fay has been instrumental in building the Arab Studies program from the ground up. I am proud to say that she has personally nurtured it with dedication and sweat to be what it is today. As she goes, so goes the entire volume of academic diversity and discourse that contributes to the intellectual well being that would be deemed appropriate in this learning environment. If Professor Fay is denied a renewal of contract based on these preposterous grounds, the Arab Studies program and the entire institution will have lost a great intellectual and scholar who has contributed so much to our campus. I will not stand for this, and will do all in my power to stop this injustice. Her firing will be analogous to the dismantling of intellectual freedom and democracy, and the administration (still recovering from the corrupt practices of a select few I need not name) will be deemed an utter failure as far as I'm concerned.
Ali H. Ayub
Senior, College of Arts and Sciences
