MILWAUKEE - A part-time lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who contends the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks says he intends to apply for more jobs at the university.
Kevin Barrett said earlier this week that the introductory Islam course that he has been teaching is not offered during the spring semester and there was no appropriate course next semester for which he could apply.
But he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday that the Islam course is scheduled to be offered in fall 2007, and he would like to teach it or another course that semester. He said that he has spoken to two university officials, in separate departments, who are involved in hiring and that both encouraged him to apply.
“I talked in-depth with the people connected to hiring and said, ‘Is it going to be impossible for me to teach in the future?’ ” he said. “They said, ‘No, go ahead and apply.’ ”
Barrett’s hiring this fall drew complaints once his views on the terrorist attacks were publicly disclosed. UW administrators reviewed the matter and decided to allow him to teach the course as long as he limited his presentation of his personal opinions on Sept. 11 and also presented mainstream views.
Dennis Chaptman, a university spokesman, said the school administration would not be involved in determining whether Barrett could continue teaching. That decision rests solely with the individual departments, he said.
“The departments do their own hiring,” Chaptman said. “Barrett, like anyone else, is able to apply for positions for which he thinks he is qualified. He can submit his materials and apply like anyone else.”
