Steven Salaita and University of Illinois reach a settlement

The University of Illinois has approved a six-figure settlement for Steven Salaita to end two lawsuits he filed against the university for rescinding a tenured job offer due to his intemperate and offensive (some would even say anti-Semitic) tweets. According to the Chicago Tribune, Salaita is due to receive $600,000, and his attorneys will receive $275,000. In addition, the university has apparently spent well over $1 million on legal fees of its own. According to the Tribune report, the university's Board of Trustees voted 9 to 1 to approve the settlement, which does not require the university to admit any wrongdoing and ends Salaita's pursuit of a position at the university.

Salaita's lawyers have released a statement, posted at the the Academe Blog. The University of Illinois statement is here. The Daily Illini has more here.

University of Illinois/Urbana Philosophy Department Chair Kirk Sanders also has a statement posted at Leiter Reports. Salaita himself also has an essay in the Nation.

For commentary on the settlement, here's Corey Robin at Crooked Timber and William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection (left and right, respectively).

For those who'd like background on this controversy, here are my prior posts on the Salaita controversy:

• Tweeting without tenure
• More on tweeting without tenure
• Steven Salaita's legal claim—a dissenting view
• Did the University of Illinois rescind Steven Salaita's appointment to appease donors?
• University of Illinois trustees vote against Salaita appointment
• Salaita lawsuit against the University of Illinois will proceed