Judicial Watch
| Email this article |
Printer friendly page
|
|
For Immediate Release |
| Oct 30, 2002 |
Contact: Press Office
202-646-5188
|
JUDICIAL WATCH SUES THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS OVER CUBAN-AMERICAN PROFESSOR FIRED FROM PUBLIC CHICAGO UNIVERSITY FOR OPPOSING TERRORIST DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO
Illinois Governor George Ryan, A Castro Fan Who Opposes the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba, Is On the Board of Trustees of the University That Fired Professor Juan Lopez
(Miami, FL/Chicago IL) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the University of Illinois at Chicago on behalf of Juan Lopez, the Cuban-American political science professor with an impeccable teaching record who is a fierce opponent of Fidel Castro’s communist regime. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accuses the state-run university of discriminating against Lopez because of his nationality (Cuban) and political views, a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
For years Professor Lopez has publicly criticized Illinois Governor George Ryan’s cozy relationship with Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro and Ryan’s trips to the island in an effort to lift the decades-old U.S. Embargo. In fact, in 1999 Ryan became the first sitting governor in about 40 years to travel to Cuba. The historic trip opened the way for Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland, a big contributor to many political campaigns, to become the first company to sell food directly from the United States to Cuba since 1963.
Professor Lopez, who was hired by the university in 1995, was on tenure track and twice received top-notch reviews from a committee of tenured faculty that referred to him as an “excellent scholar.” The final requirement for tenure was to publish a book, which he accomplished this year. Titled, Democracy Delayed: The Case of Castro’s Cuba, the book is being published by the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Press and has received excellent reviews from top scholars around the country, including the Director for the Institute for Cuban Studies at the University of Miami, Jaime Suchlicki, who says the book is bound to “become a classic.” Chicago University officials, however, denied Lopez tenure recently, claiming that the quality of his book is insufficient. Therefore Lopez was fired.
“Academia is supposedly where ideas flow freely yet Professor Lopez is being punished for speaking out against a terrorist dictator because the governor’s friends stand to make millions of dollars doing business with him? This publicly funded university is practicing some of the same oppressive tactics that Fidel Castro uses daily such as denial of freedom of speech and rights of association, both guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution ,’’ said Larry Klayman, Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel.
Top of Page
|
|
| Group waiting for action on Code Pink digs
- Washington Times
(October 25, 2007)
|
| Dishwashers for Clinton -
Washington Post
(October 22, 2007)
|
| Papers? I Don’t See Any Papers.
-
Newsweek
(Oct 29, 2007)
|
| Their Seven Deadly Sins
-
American Spectator
(October 18, 2007)
|
| Accused Law Firm Continues Giving to Democrat -
New York Times
(October 18, 2007)
|
| Prosecution Rests in California Bribery Trial -
The Washington Post
(October 18, 2007)
|
| Hillary leads in donor refunds
-
Washington Times
(October 17, 2007)
|
| ARPAIO TARGETS DAY LABORER COMPLAINTS IN CITY OF PHOENIX -
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
(October 15, 2007)
|
| The Convict and the Congressman -
Conde Nast
(November 2007)
|
| White House Denies Delaying Release of Clinton Records -
New York Sun
(October 12, 2007)
|
| Effort to Curb Illegal Workers' Hiring Blocked - Washington Post
(October 11, 2007)
|
| He’s back: Sandy Berger now advising Hillary Clinton - Examiner.com
(October 8, 2007)
|
| Illegal immigrants are issued ID cards in some places -
USA Today
(October 4, 2007)
|
| Former Presidents Can't Withhold Records -
Washington Post
(October 2, 2007)
|
| Hsu raised big money for Clinton supporters -
The Boston Globe
(September 26, 2007)
|
|
|
|
|