Academic Freedom and Tenure: City University of New York1

Academe, Nov/Dec 2004 by Finkin, Matthew W, Nails, Debra, Uviller, H Richard

This report arises out of the decision made by the central administration of the City University of New York to relieve Mohamed Yousry of his teaching responsibilities and to discontinue his further service as an adjunct lecturer at York College, a component of the CUNY system. It did so because of Mr. Yousry's federal indictment on charges of assisting a terrorist organization by serving as a courier or conduit. The indictment arose in connection with Mr. Yousry's work as an Arabic translator for an attorney, the main subject of the indictment, representing a convicted (and notorious) terrorist.

At first encounter, this brief statement suggests two potential scenarios: (a) of a university administration acting swiftly and responsibly to ensure the safety of a campus in a city already subject to murderous attack, or (b) of a member of a suspected minority rushed to judgment by an administration acting in a climate of fear. Neither scenario, however, is presented. Instead, this case concerns far less dramatic and far more mundane, but nonetheless important, issues of fairness and sound administration.

I. The Institutional Setting

The City University of New York consists of nineteen twoand four-year institutions and a graduate center; it has over 200,000 students and employs more than 6,000 full-time and as many as 9,500 part-time faculty. For many years, the instructional staff has been represented under New York's public employee collective bargaining law by the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), a local of the American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO), which also maintains an affiliation with the American Association of University Professors. The university's current chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, was chancellor at the time of the events giving rise to this investigation. Frederick P. Schaffer was and remains the university's general counsel and its vice chancellor for legal affairs.

York College began operation as CUNY's fifth four-year undergraduate institution in fall 1967, in rented space in Bayside, Queens, with 371 students and a full-time faculty of 50. In the 1970s, the college was moved to rented and purchased properties in Jamaica, Queens, where construction of its current campus commenced in the 1980s. Together with liberal arts programs, the college developed career-related majors in the health professions and business, with an emphasis on cooperative education. It now offers, in addition to the baccalaureate, professional degrees in nursing, occupational therapy, and social work. Nearly 6,000 students are currently enrolled.

Dr. Charles C. Kidd, Sr., was president of York College in April 2002, when Mr. Yousry was barred from further teaching. He left office in summer 2002. Dr. Russell K. Hotzler served as interim president until May 2003, when the current president, Dr. Robert L. Hampton, took office. (President Hampton has not played any role in the matter under investigation.) At the time in question, Edward B. Weil, was the college's provost and vice president for academic affairs; he remains so.

II. Events Giving Rise to This Investigation

Mr. Yousry was born in Egypt in 1955 and is a graduate of Cairo University. He emigrated to the United States in 1980 and is a U.S. citizen. He obtained a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies at New York University and is a candidate for the PhD from that institution; only his dissertation remains to be completed. While pursuing his graduate studies, Mr. Yousry supported himself and his family by working as an Arabic-English translator. Some of that work involved translating for lawyers whose clients were incarcerated in federal and state prisons for which clearance by the relevant federal and state authorities to enter the prison must be and was secured. For work on high-security cases, Mr. Yousry had to be and was placed on a list approved for such work by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also translated for the government on occasion and for the news media as well. In addition, he taught as an adjunct or visiting teacher at Long Island University and New York University.

Mr. Yousry was first appointed as an adjunct lecturer at York College in 1995 and served continuously in that capacity until relieved of teaching in April 2002. He taught two sections of courses offered in the Program in Cultural Diversity, "Understanding Cultural Diversity" and "Cultures and Societies of the World: Middle East." His classes were visited and evaluated by successive (acuity members in charge of this & program. He was consistently given high ratings and was I extremely popular with his students. Although the subject of "Cultures and Societies of the World: Middle East" is fraught with the potential for complaints of bias in the presentation of the subject matter, particularly as it deals with the IsraeliPalestinian dispute, by ail accounts he was punctilious in presenting these issues with dispassion and balance. He was hired additionally for the fall 2002 term by the Department of History and Philosophy to teach a course offered under its auspices.