Local Television Station KIFI TV8 has reported that Habib Sadid has been fired from Idaho State University. There appears to be some controversy with the firing, as a Faculty Appeals Board said there was not enough evidence for the termination.
The reason for the termination is reported to be “unprofessional and insubordinate behavior” where at an April 21st meeting he called others “Liars,” “incompetent,” and “corrupt.” Sadid was barred from campus and is said to have claimed a violation of his free speech rights.
It has also been reported that on April 9 at a ceremony at the Performing Arts Center, Sadid made “several accusatory, threatening, and denigrating comments about me and other individuals in a very public venue.”
The school has indicated that there have been other incidents, and that Sadid may have adversely affected the recruitment and fund raising efforts of the school.
It appears as though Sadid is constantly on the attack when it comes to school leadership and administration. He was also one of the key faculty member backing an effort to conduct a vote of no confidence against the former school president, Richard Bowen.
It looks either a) like the school may run more smoothly without unproductive interruptions, or b) the administration has successfully silenced a watchdog. You decide.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Some people are just out there to cause problems. If you’ve got a bus full of people, and one keeps punching the passengers, it’s best to have them take another bus.
Dr. Sadid did nothing wrong. He is in the USA not in some nation ruled by a tyrant. He is allowed to disagree and voice his opinions and I am sure that he has never overstepped his bounds (can’t wait to see how the ISU administration hopes to prove that) The ISU administration is trying to silence dissent, has created the lowest morale ever among faculty and staff, and will inevitably cause students to complain why they pay more every year, and have less and less faculty. ISU is a very special niche university, and Vailas has tried to change its fundamental purpose (into a research driven institution) without any other concern than looking out for his next pay raise. The rampant cronyism and crooked deals of the Vailas administration will be exposed by Dr. Sadid when they see eye to eye in the courts. Truth and justice will prevail.
I wonder if I make “several accusatory, threatening, and denigrating comments about Dr. Vailas and other individuals in a very public venue.” will be fired as a student?
Cassandra Frandsen
I don’t know the specifics of the story, since I don’t know the man, but I would think that teachers would be held to a higher standard than students, because they are… um… teachers.
This reminds me of my dad’s experience.
He was/is a Philosophy professor, extremely well-read, loves to debate, a very sharp sense of humor that he’s well-known for, and has been the author a few books since then that I understand have allowed him a comfortable living. As a philosophy professor he was naturally in the “Humanities” department at a very prominent university on the East Coast.
He was and still is very critical of government (especially government intervention),; and his own field and the educational system in general did not receive a “pass” either. I found a few of his essays and articles online recently and I’m tempted to link to them, but I’m not crazy about my last name being known (I may someday offend some whacko who visits this site in the future) .
So sometime in the mid 1970’s he (unfortunately) made a very strong argument published in the local newspaper making a case that “The Purpose of the Humanities is to Render People Unemployable” . This was a VERY humorous article and his arguments were solid. He was close to being granted “tenure” so needless to say this wasn’t a smart career move at the time. However true it may be, the university administrators didn’t much care for one of their professors claiming that their humanities classes render their students unemployable!
So he was fired, and not long after that he left our family when I was 5 years old and I haven’t seen him since. I don’t think his firing was the sole reason for his leaving our family but it probably didn’t help.
Anyway, this is an example of the limits of free speech. You have the right to say what you want, but others also have the right to say “You’re Fired.” A professor should probably at least wait until they are tenured (making it much more difficult for them to be fired) before being too critical of those who sign his paycheck.
Unless getting fired was intentional (possible), my dad and Sadid Habib likely learned this lesson the hard way.
It looks like the judge threw out Habib Sadid’s suit against the school.
As someone who had this professor for several class, I feel that he deserved to be fired. Personally I thought his actions in the classroom were cause enough for him to be fired, and that is the first time I have ever thought that about any teacher I have ever had. Of course his firing had nothing to do with his actions in the classroom, but having worked very closely with Dr Sadid I know what he can be like, believe me he most definitely did something wrong.