U Of I Faculty Submit Petition Backing Kilgore

Some members of the University of Illinois faculty have shown their support for a former 1970's radical who the school has said it wouldn't rehire as a teacher.

James Kilgore is a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. He has been working at the Urbana-Champaign campus since 2011 and currently teaches two classes.

He said last month that the school told him that it wouldn't extend his contract. However, Provost Ilesanmi Adesida has said the decision isn't final and will be reviewed by a committee.
 
On Monday, about two dozen faculty members gathered at a campus administration building to deliver a petition demanding Kilgore's employment contract be extended.

The News-Gazette reports that the petition had 310 names and was given to both the provost and the chancellor.