A professor at the U.S.-accredited American University in Cairo, Egypt, has lost his title to an endowed chair over his refusal to use his classes to convert students to Islam, according to a new report.
And it get worse.
“A professor at American University in Cairo has fled Egypt out of concern for the safety of his family after a fight to defend his academic freedom rights and a run-in with Egyptian security forces,” documents a report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
The organization has written a letter to American University president Francis J. Ricciardone asking for something to be done to protect professors’ and students’ rights to academic freedom.
Specifically, the accreditation of the school under “The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools” could be at risk for its actions, the letter explains.
“Our concern arises in light of the university’s treatment of Adam Duker and the revocation of his position as Abdullah II Taher Chair in Comparative Religion. While Duker resigned from AUC following the university’s efforts to interfere with his teaching and contract, his resignation does not end the university’s responsibility to maintain academic freedom.”
FIRE told the school, “To mitigate the damage caused by its actions, AUC must reform its practices and publicly reassure its community that it will not again undermine faculty rights.”
The report explained the trouble started because a donor to the school tried to order the professor to portray Islam more positively, and in fact work to convert students to Islam, in his class.
“Tarek Taher, the son of the late Abdulhadi H. Taher, who endowed Duker’s chaired professorship, was responsible for the management of his father’s estate. In January 2017, he contacted Ricciardone requesting to learn more about his father’s endowment and to ensure that it ‘fits within his vision,'” FIRE reported.
“AUC shared copies of Duker’s syllabus with Tarek Taher, who went on to request that Duker use a different translation of the Quran, one that used ‘Allah’ instead of ‘God.’ Duker reported that he met with Taher, who recounted to him a dream in which a celestial being voiced concerns to him about the program. Taher expressed a desire to pre-approve Duker’s lectures and asked that he proselytize for Islam in class. Duker refused Taher’s request that he use the position to convert students to Islam,” FIRE said.
Unable to dictate the class proselytization, Taher ordered the school to revoke Duker’s appointment, and Duker told FIRE he was “told that the title was removed over his failure to present Islam more favorably than other faiths in class. He was also told to remove any public reference to the endowed professorship.”
But FIRE warned the school, “Whether at home or abroad, a university’s commitment to academic freedom is only worthwhile if it can withstand donors’ efforts to influence professors’ pedagogical decisions.”
Senior Program Officer Sarah McLaughlin explained, “Given the institution’s American accreditation, students and faculty deserve to know if AUC treats their rights like rock-paper-scissors, where donor demands always beat institutional commitments.”
Shortly later, FIRE said, “Interim Dean Robert Switzer informed Duker that he was under investigation for continuing to publicly refer to himself as the Taher Chair – his contractually specified title – which he said caused ‘considerable embarrassment, and possible further damage’ to AUC.”
A faculty senate grievance process revealed no misconduct on the part of Duker, and an expression of concern that a donor “was allowed to interfere in academic matters and influence the Provost’s decision to strip Dr. Duker of his title.”
Duker eventually left the school and fled Egypt “out of concern for the safety of his family,” FIRE reported.
He shortly before had been confronted and challenged by armed members of Egypt’s security forces.
“Censorship and religious discrimination are inconsistent with the charter of an American university,” Duker said. “Censorship is inappropriate; it betrays the foundational ethic of a modern university. Religious discrimination is dangerous, especially when it lies just beneath the surface at an ostensibly non-sectarian university.”
FIRE documented how there had been earlier pressure on Duker, including orders to drop a documentary from his classes, and to remove “the word ‘Christianity’ … from the beginning of the course name.”
In fact, Duker was told “his loss of the Taher Chair position” was because of his “failure to present Islam more favorable than other faiths.”
FIRE explained its actions concern AUC’s promises to students and faculty of academic freedom. It is bound by those promises because it is a member of the Middle States Commission.
The donor’s demands to control class time is an issue, too, it said.
“While Taher’s requests are troubling, AUC’s leadership is responsible for effectuating the incursions on Duker’s academic freedom, either by entering into agreements permitting donor control over academic freedom or by failing to defend its faculty members’ rights.”
The Inside Higher Ed publication noted, “It is common for colleges and universities that seek endowed chairs to specify the general topics of the chairs with donors, and to keep donors and their families engaged with the college after the gift is given. But donors of endowed chairs are not typically allowed to oversee a professor’s work or cancel a chair if they disapprove.”
Duker took a one-year position at another university in order to leave Cairo, FIRE said.
