February 2010

Volume 38 • Number 2 • February 2010 State Department Acts on Academic Freedom Issue inside Pursued by ASA by Lee Herring, in a complaint filed on African scholar to be admitted to ASA Public Affairs Office behalf of ASA and other this country for purposes of schol- organizations in the U.S. arly exchange,” said ASA Executive Lawlessness ashington, DC — 3 District Court in Boston Officer Sally T. Hillsman in response Exaggerated in Haiti In a major victory W in October 2007 (now, to the January 15 Department of State for academic freedom and A sociologist gives a first- American Sociological action. ASA has exhibited a long- civil liberties, Secretary hand account from Haiti. Association et al. v. standing commitment to international of State Hillary Clinton Clinton). scholarly exchange, according to has signed orders that Clinton’s orders put the Hillsman, and much of this is docu- Past, Present, and Future effectively end the exclu- Adam Habib case on hold until Habib mented in her March 2007 Vantage 5 sion of a prominent social of Rural Sociology secures his multi-entry Point column (see <www.asanet.org/ science scholar who was As society has changed visa. For background, see November footnotes/mar07/exec.html>). barred from the United States by the rural studies have changed 2007 Footnotes article (p. 1), “ASA In a message to Hillsman, Habib Bush administration, and whom the with it. Files Complaint Against the U.S. expressed his gratitude by saying that American Sociological Association Government for Excluding South “[t]his outcome would not have been (ASA) had invited to participate African Scholar from the United possible had it not been for the prin- in the 2007 ASA Annual Meeting A New Measure of States.” cipled stand taken by the American 7 in New York. The American Civil Well-Being “ASA has waited patiently but we Civil Liberties Union, the American Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged have been persistent in our goal for Sociological Association, the The American Human the denial of a visa to Professor Adam this long-awaited decision allowing American Association of University Development Project Habib, University of Johannesburg, brings a new set of tools to this internationally known South Continued on page 3 measure how well people in the United States live. Sociologist Sullivan Chosen as First Looking forward to the 2010 11 More Than 50 Years Annual Meeting in Atlanta with ASA Female UVA President Lloyd Rogler, a mental Atlanta: Birthplace of health expert, recalls by Johanna Olexy, ASA Public January 2006 issue of Footnotes). Before American Sociology a lifetime devoted to Information Office her Michigan positions, she spent 27 years at the University of Texas-Austin, by Earl Wright II, sociology. n January, the University of Virginia and she was named Executive Vice Texas Southern University (UVA) announced that sociolo- I Chancellor for Academic Affairs for gist Teresa A. Sullivan will become ost sociologists are familiar with the Texas University system in 2002. the university’s eighth president—its seminal achievements in the In that role, she was the chief academic “M first female president—as of August discipline including William Graham Science Policy .........................................2 officer for the system’s nine academic 1, 2010. Sullivan was unanimously Sumner’s teaching of the first sociology campuses, with the From the Executive Officer .................2 elected by the 19-member course at Yale during the 1872-1873 president of each campus UVA Board of Visitors academic term; Arthur B. Woodford’s ASA Forum ............................................ 12 reporting to her. In addition and will succeed John T. recognition as the first instructor in to her faculty position in Announcements ................................. 16 Casteen III, who steps the United States to have the word the department of sociology Obituaries .............................................. 19 down as president at sociology in his official title (Indiana and later the law school, she the end of his 20th year. University in 1885); the establish- held several other admin- Sullivan is currently the ment of the first named department istrative positions at Texas Provost and Executive of sociology in the United States at the including: Vice President Vice President for University of Kansas (Department of and Graduate Dean (1995- Academic Affairs at the History and Sociology in 1889); and Teresa A. Sullivan 2002), Vice Provost (1994- University of Michigan. the general recognition that the disci- 95), Chair of the Department Sullivan, a past ASA pline formally began with the emer- of Sociology (1990-92), and Director Secretary and current Executive and gence of the University of Chicago’s of Women’s Studies (1985-87). She Office Budget Member, has more than Department of Sociology in 1892” received her PhD in sociology from the 15 years of experience as a higher (Wright forthcoming). What is less University of Chicago in 1975. education administrator at large well known is the idea that the disci- In response to the UVA news, universities. She joined the University pline may have been earnestly birthed Mary Sue Coleman, University of of Michigan in 2006, where she also 10 years prior to the establishment serves as its chief budget officer (see the Continued on page 4 Continued on page 6 footnotes • February 2010 To view the online version, visit <www.asanet.org/footnotes/feb10/index.html> 1 American Sociological Association footnotes.asanet.org from the executive officer ASA Celebrates State Department Accountability Action affects ASA Annual Meeting and academic freedom, and is a defeat for ideological exclusion am delighted that this issue of ing in Atlanta to be fulfilled. always recognize its vital importance to a prominent and vocal human rights IFootnotes reports on the positive and Readers can find detailed back- the strength and security of democracy. advocate, promotes democracy and long-awaited outcome of ASA’s District ground on this case in the November In a speech to the American equality, making his questioning of Court lawsuit, American 2007 Footnotes front page Council of Learned Societies in the efficacy of the war in Iraq and Sociological Association et article and in my Executive May 2008, I said that the reason for certain U.S. anti-terrorism policies al. v. Clinton (formerly v. Officer column (<www. Habib’s visa denial appeared to be noteworthy. Every year since 2002, the Rice and Chertoff), through asanet.org/footnotes/8. “ideological exclusion,” a covert, Financial Mail, one of South Africa’s which we challenged the Nov07FN.pdf>). At that unwritten policy by which the leading financial magazines, has U.S. Department of State’s exclusion time we wrote, “Academic freedom is government refuses to allow people described Professor Habib as one of of Professor Adam Habib from the fundamental to ASA’s mission, which who have expressed critical political the 300 most influential opinion mak- country since 2006 (see p. 1). Actions rests upon the ability of scholars from views to enter the country. I believe ers in South Africa, and the New York by the Bush Department of Homeland wide-ranging perspectives to engage that the order issued by Secretary Times and Washington Post regularly Security and inaction by the State in dialog that nurtures scientific Clinton last week—which assures quote him on a wide range of social Department—until Secretary Hillary development to the benefit of the Habib and Tariq Ramadan will not and public policy matters. Clinton’s recent decision—had resulted larger society. Academic freedom is be denied visas based on the reasons Scholarly Society as Free Speech in ASA’s invitations to Habib to speak the hallmark of American democratic they were denied in 2006 and 2007, Advocate at our 2007, 2008, and 2009 Annual culture.” ASA’s persistence in pursuing respectively—confirms this view. Meetings being accepted but going this conviction and our commitment (Ramadan is also believed to have Foreign scholars have no voice unfulfilled. to this case was worth the significant been denied a visa by the state depart- under our laws to protest their exclu- January 15, 2010, Secretary Clinton effort. But it took a regime change. ment for ideological reasons.) Habib’s sion, as they have no right to free signed an order prohibiting Habib visa denial—under provisions of the speech under our Constitution and Persistence Pays from being denied a visa to enter the Immigration and Naturalization Act, no right to enter the United States. United States on the basis of the inap- The persistence of ASA, and the with allegations that he “engaged in And, they have no right to a review propriately unspecified accusations persistent and able pro bono work terrorist acts”—was simply a cover for of consular decisions that exclude related to terrorism that were raised of American Civil Liberties Union exclusion, based on the government’s them. Because American citizens do by the Bush administration. That (ACLU) attorney Melissa Goodman, judgments about his ideology and have some First Amendment rights administration had refused repeatedly have been important to keep the issue criticism of the U.S. Government. The under these circumstances, ASA and to publicly state or document any of of academic freedom and scholarly government would surely not aban- other scholarly societies can challenge its opaque and unverifiable rationales association members’ constitutional don the use of “evidence” of “terrorist administratively and in court our gov- First Amendment rights before the for deporting Habib in 2006 and per- acts” if it contained any substantive Continued on page 7 manently denied his visa in 2007. In U.S. courts, the media, and the larger indication that Habib was a danger to what is hopefully a new era of govern- academic community. Habib knows people in the United States. ment accountability and transparency, that the leaders and members of the Habib’s world-wide reputation as a Clinton’s ruling assured all concerned Association as well as the staff of the scholar of democracy, governance, and Sally T.

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