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A Minnesota school that placed the feelings of Muslim students in a classroom over any academic freedom a teacher had should reconsider its decision, according to a statement from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Reports confirmed the school refused to renew a contract for the teacher, whose identity was not released, after he used an artwork that depicted Muhammad in a class.
Hamline dismissed the teacher after demanding that «respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom.»
Muslims object to any depiction of Muhammad.
The free speech organization explained that Hamline «betrayed its commitment to ’embrace’ free expression» with its actions.
The school is private, so is not bound by the First Amendment as a government university would be, but, FIRE reported, «it makes clear commitments to academic freedom that faculty will reasonably interpret to align with the First Amendment’s protections.»
«In the First Amendment context, courts have made clear that expression, ‘however repugnant,’ is protected if ‘germane to the classroom subject matter,'» FIRE said.
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Hamline claimed to justify its decision because of concerns about «Islamophobia,» but FIRE reported blanket bans on material relevant to the classroom subject «are not acceptable.
