Why the behaviors of Chancellor Wise and the Illinois Board of Trustees need to be labeled as uncivil
The Board of Trustees at Illinois voted 8-to-1 to dehire Professor Steven Salaita. Recordings of the meeting and interviews with reporters depict the smugness with which the Chancellor and the Board responded at the meeting and in response to questions about the decision. These leaders had an opportunity to perform the meeting with civility, a concept they have offered as a core pillar of commitment for the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. They had the opportunity to demonstrate the ethic of care and openness to dialogue that the idea of civility depicts. They had an opportunity to foster a space for humility and acceptance of diverse worldviews and ways of being, commitments that the Chancellor has so often used as a branding strategy in the last few months. They had an opportunity to foster a space that opens up to diverse interpretations and worldviews. Most of all, the Trustees had an opportunity to correct their past actions clouded in opaque decision-making.