As a wronged lecturer sues a small Minnesota liberal arts college, the school’s leaders have at long last admitted: “sometimes we misstep.” By that, they mean that they shouldn’t have branded an art history instructor’s actions “Islamophobic” when she dared to show a 14th-century image of the Prophet Muhammad. Adjunct Professor Erika López Prater’s decision to introduce the image to her class (only after her repeated warnings that images of holy figures would be shown) upset some students, ultimately leading to López Prater losing her job.
The very limited apology is welcome, given that Hamline University had previously hunkered down and denied any errors in its treatment of a faculty member. They didn’t abridge academic freedom, they insist — they merely weighed it alongside other concerns.
But when an art historian cannot respectfully display and discuss actual depictions of Buddha and Muhammad in a course without unleashing holy hell, academic freedom is not merely being put in context; it is being blatantly overridden.
