Subramanian Swamy's Two Courses Removed from Harvard 2012 Summer School Course Catalogue

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/12/7/faculty-final-meeting/

Faculty Cancel Controversial Summer School Instructor's Courses,
Debate Reaction to 'Occupy'
At meeting focusing on free speech, some professors chastise Faust for
closing gates, and most vote to remove Subramanian Swamy's courses
By Radhika Jain and Kevin J. Wu, CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Published: Wednesday, December 07, 2011

....

SUMMER SCHOOL TROUBLE

A subsequent vote for the approval of the 2012 Summer School course
catalog, which faculty acknowledged would normally take no more than
one minute, generated a heated debate when Comparative Religion
Professor Diana L. Eck proposed an amendment to exclude Swamy's
Economics S-110 and Economics S-1316 from the catalog.

Swamy received significant criticism for an op-ed he wrote last summer
in the Indian newspaper Daily News and Analysis, in which he called
for the destruction of mosques, the disenfrachisement of non-Hindus in
India who do not acknowledge Hindu ancestry, and a ban on conversion
from Hinduism.

"Swamy's op-ed clearly crosses the line by demonizing an entire
religious community and calling for violence against their sacred
places," Eck said, adding that Harvard has a moral responsibility not
to affiliate itself with anyone who expresses hatred towards a
minority group. "There is a distinction between unpopular and
unwelcome political views."

Although Harvard chose to stand by Swamy in August in an effort to
affirm its declared commitment to free speech, faculty members shot
down his two courses, effectively removing him from Harvard's teaching
roster. Many faculty determined Swamy's article was not a product of
free speech—but of hate speech.

"[Swamy's position on disenfranchisement] is like saying Jewish
Americans and African Americans should not be allowed to vote unless
they acknowledge the supremacy of white Anglo Saxon Protestants," said
History Professor Sugata Bose.

Dean of the Summer School Donald H. Pfister explained that courses
included in the catalog are chosen by individual departments.

"I find [Swamy's] position reprehensible, but on the other hand, it is
our duty to support departments and their offerings," he said.

Philosophy Department Chair Sean D. Kelly, who also serves as
vice-chair of the Faculty Docket Committee, initially defended the
unanimous decision of Harvard's Faculty Council to keep Swamy on the
teaching roster as an effort to preserve free speech at the school and
kick the vote to the faculty-wide meeting.

Kelly ultimately voted—as did an overwhelming majority of faculty
members—for the amendment to remove Swamy's courses. The revised
catalog was consequently approved.

"I was persuaded ... that the views expressed in Dr. Swamy's op-ed
piece amounted to incitement of violence instead of protected
political speech," he wrote in an email to The Crimson.