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IU professors condemn threats
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Six Indiana University professors are asking their colleagues to sign a petition that condemns the "grotesque" student death threats against IU's president and the freshman who had a fateful run-in with Bob Knight. Political science professor Jeffrey Isaac, who co-authored the petition, said Wednesday it's time to restore calm to the campus and for students to get back to learning now that the longtime coach is gone. "This is an institution of higher education -- not an institution of basketball," said Isaac, who has taught at IU for 14 years. "The IU faculty feels this way and many IU students feel this way." He and five other faculty members drafted the petition Tuesday, urging students to calm down and put Knight's firing in perspective. About 150 faculty members had signed the petition by Wednesday afternoon. It condemns the "climate of intimidation" that arose after Knight's firing, voices support for IU President Myles Brand's decision to terminate the coach and reiterates that learning comes before sports. After Knight's firing was announced Sunday, more than 2,000 students marched in protest causing minor property damage, including knocking over light poles outside Brand's campus residence. Brand also has received death threats. "The mob mentality evidenced in the past few days is hostile to everything for which this university, and indeed any university, stands," the petition stated. Jeffrey Gould, an IU history professor who signed the document, said he hopes Knight's departure will allow the university to separate its reputation as a research institution from Knight's legacy.
"Certainly in my travels people have identified IU with Bob Knight and the controversy surrounding him, rather than the quality of its faculty and their work," said Gould, who has taught at IU for 12 years. "I'm hopeful that Indiana University will refocus its energies now to its education mission and that calm will return to the university." Thousands of students gathered Wednesday evening to hear what could be Knight's final address on the campus, at a gathering at IU's Dunn Meadow. Police blocked roads to make sure students remained calm after the speech. The gathering came a day after the stepfather of Kent Harvey, the 19-year-old freshman who said Knight grabbed his arm and berated him last Thursday, said the teen and his two brothers will likely withdraw from IU due to several death threats. Nick Cookerly, a 20-year-old junior who gathered with friends Wednesday to hear Knight's address, said he doubts the threats against Harvey are serious. "It's a bunch of college kids like me. They're not going to do anything -- just get the kid to leave campus," said Cookerly, of Danville. Isaac said he and other faculty members will present their petition to the 45-member Bloomington Faculty Council during its Tuesday meeting. Afterward, the council will vote on their own resolution. "It will express sadness that Knight is leaving but support for President Brand's recent decision. It will include both aspects," said council President S. James Sherman, a professor psychology.
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