As people continue to sign on to this petition (now with 15,603 signatures), I will continue to update you here on what's going on. Today's news: 1) STUDENTS TAKE DEMAND TO REHIRE SALAITA DIRECTLY TO UNIV. OF ILLINOIS TRUSTEES Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Sat, 08/23/2014 http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/students-take-demand-rehire-salaita-directly-univ-illinois-trustees 2) WHERE ARE THE LAWYERS? UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS REPEALS THE FIRST AMENDMENT FOR ITS FACULTY Brian Leiter 08/23/2014 "At moments like this, one wonders: Where are the lawyers? Chancellor Wise and Chairman Kennedy have made statements that commit the University of Illinois to illegal because unconstitutional courses of action. They should resign, or be removed from office, before doing further damage to one of the nation's great research universities. Their public statements make clear they are unfit to lead academic institutions in which both freedom of speech and freedom of research and inquiry are upheld." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-leiter/university-of-illinois-re_1_b_5703038.html 3) DEAR COLLEAGUES TO TENURED FACULTY IN SUPPORT OF PROFESSOR Steven Salaita: We write this letter anonymously out of necessity. Our labor is precarious. Our career options are uncertain. We do not have a contract with a college or university that protects my ‘academic freedom.’ Further, writing a letter of this nature could jeopardize our career prospects, even among search committees—even though we really don’t think it should. http://contingentlabor.tumblr.com/post/95579332928/to-tenured-faculty-in-support-of-professor-steven