How Northwestern faculty derailed retired general's global studies job
Nick Anderson The Washington Post
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-northwestern-drops-karl-eikenberry-20160531-story.htmlNorthwestern University struck a deal with Karl Eikenberry last year that he believed would be a capstone to his career as a global citizen with military, diplomatic and academic credentials. The retired three-star Army general and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan would move from Stanford University to Northwestern to become the first executive director of a new global studies institute, backed by the largest single donation in the university's history.
The deal, announced in November, fell through months later, after a surprising debate erupted about Eikenberry's qualifications and his views on the value of the humanities and social sciences as elements of "soft power" in U.S. foreign policy. The dispute at the elite private university in north suburban Evanston reflected the power of faculty dissidents as a check on university administrators, as well as conflicting views on the value of military and diplomatic experience for advancement in academia.
Forty-six faculty members signed a letter in February describing Eikenberry as a "non-academic career military officer" who was a bad fit for the job. An online petition emerged to oppose Eikenberry's appointment.
"An ex-U.S. general will likely think about international politics in terms of war and from the perspective of the U.S.'s interests, and the research agenda will be negatively skewed as a result," wrote Charles Clarke, a Northwestern graduate student and one of the petition's backers. "Instead, why not appoint someone who will encourage research that is less belligerent and tainted by U.S. bias?"
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