University of Illinois Keeps Catholic Thought Prof At Least For Next Semester

Yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain will retain an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought pending completion of a review by a faculty Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Earlier the University had indicated it would not keep Kenneth Howell on in a teaching position this fall, apparently in reaction to a student complaint that an e-mail sent by Howell explaining how homosexual conduct would be viewed under natural law theory amounted to hate speech. (See prior posting.) That University decision led to a barrage of e-mails protesting the action. While the University will retain Howell for the coming semester, at the same time it is changing the arrangement under which Howell's $10,000 salary came from the church-supported Newman Center, which also selected instructors who would teach Catholic studies courses.