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Monday, February 05, 2007

Denial of Tenure
Hunger Strike


The MIT professor who warned he'd go on a hunger strike if his denial of tenure wasn't reversed has indeed sat himself down in the hallway outside the provost's office, where he will make the university change its mind about his job or die trying.

Whatever the merits of the guy's case, he's not doing himself any favors - in terms of his position at MIT, or in terms of any future position - by acting this way.

CV looks interesting... who is he?

The guy who camped outside the provost's office at MIT and starved himself because they wouldn't give him tenure...

Oh yeah... What else have we got?...


The Chancellor's letter to the MIT community about the situation is matter-of-fact:

'This morning, Professor James L. Sherley has begun a fast to express his disagreement with the decision not to promote him to tenure and with the outcome of his grievance process. .. [W]e have encouraged him to seek other means to express his views...'


A fast? This isn't some body-cleansing regime; it's a hunger strike, man...

Yet hunger strikes are for political prisoners; they're for protesting against tyrants; they're for demanding that your country's lethal jails be shut down. They're all wrong for disappointing tenure decisions.


The article about this, by the way, appears in the Health and Fitness section of the Boston Globe. Are they planning to write a weight loss series about him?