U of I Grad Student Gets Behind Effort to Have Religion Professor Reinstated

A University of Illinois graduate student staging a protest against the firing of a professor says controversial material in religion courses is nothing new.

Mechanical Engineering student Eli Lazar has been distributing fliers on campus and in the Chicago area, drumming up support for former adjunct professor Kenneth Howell. Howell was dismissed after a student complained about lessons in which the professor stated that homosexual acts are morally wrong. Lazar says he took a class on world religions... in which different professors covered major religions. For example - Lazar says a discussion on Hinduism contended that disabled persons were born that way due to karma, and something they'd done in a previous life. "The idea was we were there to learn about Hinduism - agree with it or not." said Lazar. "I've actually also sat in on Professor Howell's course, and think he's an excellent instructor. I think myself as well as a lot of other students are really upset about this because we feel that student sensitivity is starting to dictate how courses are taught."

Lazar, who is Catholic, says it's not a matter of whether he agrees with Howell, saying that's the language the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, and should encourage debate in class. "If students (in Howell's class) were to be getting bad grades for diagreeing with the professor, that's definitely a call for action," said Lazar. "I think if for some reason your professor was promoting a viewpoint with saying that you should go out and tell other people what they're doing wrong, that's fine. But I mean, this is a discussion on a controversial topic that was relevant, and it definitely should be allowed."

The U of I Faculty Senate's committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure is reviewing the decision. Lazar says he's confident the panel will choose to reinstate Howell. The student also says he's been impressed with new U of I President Michael Hogan's prompt response to his e-mails, asking that committee to take up the issue.