Students respond to professor's column

Some members of the university have reacted strongly to what they perceive as "anti-Muslim" rhetoric in a column published last Monday on Forbes.com by Tunku Varadarajan, a clinical professor of business at NYU's Stern School of Business.

Varadarajan wrote the column, titled "Going Muslim," in response to the Nov. 5 massacre at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. At Fort Hood, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding 28 others. Hasan, who is also an Army psychiatrist, is an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent. He allegedly shouted "Allahu akbar" ("God is great") before he began shooting in the Soldier Readiness Center of Fort Hood.

In his column, Varadarajan characterizes Hasan's actions as "going Muslim," a phrase he likens to "going postal" (a slang term that has its origins in several cases from 1983 onward in which U.S. Postal Service workers shot and killed their colleagues). He wrote that by opening fire, Hasan defended his religion in "an act of messianic violence against his fellow Americans."

Varadarajan's column elicited a great deal of criticism. A group of NYU students sent a letter expressing their concerns to Stern dean Thomas Cooley, President John Sexton and Khalid Latif, the chaplain and director of NYU's Islamic Center. In their letter, they asked that Varadarajan's comments be repudiated.

Second-year Steinhardt graduate student Sulayman Ferguson was among the students who wrote the letter.

"It's singling out Muslims in a way that's pretty offensive," Ferguson said about the column. "You'd never say that about another group. You could never say someone's 'going Christian.' "

But Varadarajan believes much of the negative response is unwarranted. He said a number of his critics appear to have not read his piece "carefully."

"Many others are ideologically predisposed to reject my arguments, arguments which have been made by many other commentators on this subject," Varadarajan said. "My views are actually quite mainstream."

In his responses to the students' letters, Cooley wrote: "You need to think more about what this means since you don't seem to understand it." He said Stern would not rebuke Varadarajan's column because doing so would defy the notion of free speech.

Ferguson said he found Cooley's reply "very condescending." Cooley defended his response.

"As dean, my duty lies in defending the academic freedom of the faculty, as well as the rights of students, to their own freedom of expression," Cooley said. "This is true whether I agree with the ideas or not."

Ferguson and other students are skeptical of Cooley's explanation. In particular, Ferguson said he believes Cooley is reluctant to rebuke the column because he also writes a weekly column for Forbes. Cooley denied this allegation.

"It is the principle of academic freedom, not the fact that we are both columnists, that is important here," he said. "One thing that news organizations and universities have in common is that they both encourage the free exchange of ideas."

In a statement, Sexton said that although he found Varadarajan's column to be offensive and disagrees with it, he values civil discourse. Sexton said he will not impose a sanction against Varadarajan.

"Such an action would be antithetical to NYU's academic principles, and it will not happen," Sexton said. "It is the nature of a university to be home to opposing ideas and opposing views, even absurd and offensive ones."

But Stern senior Sahal Kango, a member of NYU's Islamic Center, said he and the rest of the Center value free speech, but believe Varadarajan's column went too far.

"We believe in academic freedom, but also that academic freedom enables students to grow, develop and contribute," Kango said. "How can we expect students to mature, to learn and to engage their identities if they feel unwelcome and unsafe?"

Varadarajan said that in light of the controversy stirred by his column, he is considering writing a follow-up article highlighting the nature of the response to his column.

Meanwhile, Ferguson said he hopes to continue the discussion of the column on and off campus.

He said: "I think the dialogue will continue for a while."

Michaela Kron is university editor.