The decision to deny or grant tenure has been passed to Columbia, though Barnard continues to deny that their Tenure Committee has made a decision. They are doing this because they do not want alumnae/i to find out that this tenure is going forward while there may still be an opportunity to stop it. Instead, they believe that the decision should be made behind closed doors and quietly ratified by Columbia (read about a Dirty Deal that will gain tenure for El Haj in exchange for denying Joseph Massad...who up until now, has been considered the greater embarrassment for Columbia).

We are concerned about Columbia University and their growing trend to accept professors who use politics instead of academic discourse but each case must be decided on its own merits and here we are in the best of positions because after a careful review, it becomes very clear that Abu El Haj's tenure has no merit. She has published a single book the fails to meet even the most basic standards of academic integrity.

So, what can you do to help?

First, be informed. Read the many articles we have posted here - in the Academic Review and Peer Review sections. One of the things we learned at Barnard was that we had to be informed in order to make intelligent decisions and so we ask that you become as informed as possible.

Second, we ask that you sign the online petition to deny El Haj tenure: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/barnard/

Third, we ask you to write to the Columbia Provost and President offices and express your concern.