ST. PAUL, Minn. – Amid growing criticism, the president of Hamline University, Fayneese Miller, admitted to mishandling a complaint about a drawing of the Islam prophet Muhammad that a faculty member showed in an art class in October. The faculty member was told not to come back spring semester. A debate ensued over balancing academic freedom with respect for religion. In exchanges after the complaint the instructor, Erika Lopez Prater, was characterized as engaging in Islamophobia.
Verbatim
Miller: “Like all organizations, sometimes we misstep. In the interest of hearing from and supporting our Muslim students, language was used that does not reflect our sentiments on academic freedom. Based on all that we have learned, we have determined that our usage of the term ‘Islamophobic’ was therefore flawed.”