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Response to the Epstein/Butz Controversy

There have been comments about us "firing Professor Epstein" for his response to Professor Butz's views on the Holocaust on the NU Net.

In the first place, Sheldon Epstein was not a Professor, but an unpaid volunteer instructor. We usually have many of these appointments in any given year, with term appointments. His was due to expire on December 31, 1996 and it did. He was NOT fired. We had decided to make a change much earlier in the year for several reasons. For example, the last three times he taught his course, 50% or more of the students dropped the course. We obviously needed a better approach.

The material on the Holocaust that Mr. Epstein proposed for his engineering design class was inappropriate for this course and so we asked him not to use it. He chose to do so and we did NOT stop him from doing it.

He could have rebutted Dr. Butz via the same Net, or he could have given a public lecture or he could have taken his students to lunch to discuss his views. He did not do so. This certainly did not help his situation.

Everyone reading this should understand the power of the Net, to distribute patently false and misleading information rapidly and to a large audience. People often send things when they are angry or without first cooling down. We are going to have to learn to live with this new technology, without eliminating our basic freedoms.

In case anyone has a question, I abhor Dr. Butz's views. His presence here is an affront that I have tolerated for many years.

Jerome B. Cohen, Dean
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Northwestern University
January 8, 1997


See also President Bienen's response