Knight critic lengthens leave through spring

English professor Murray Sperber, a vocal critic of coach Bob Knight, doesn't want to teach when the team takes to the court. \nHe said this to College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy, who has extended Sperber's leave of absence up through the spring semester.\n"IU faculty take their teaching obligations very seriously and do not casually request to be excused from their classroom teaching duties," Subbaswamy said. "I believe this action signals strongly both IU's commitment to freedom of speech and Professor Sperber's dedication to teaching and his students."\nSperber, who has written extensively on college sports, was granted an unpaid leave of absence for the fall semester in June after he received threats from ardent Knight supporters. He told police he had received many angry phone messages, such as "if you don't shut up, you will be shut up."\nA seven-week investigation by the board of trustees resulted in the suspension and fining of Knight, who has also been placed under a zero-tolerance policy. The trustees found a "29-year pattern of inappropriate conduct" that included physical and verbal aggression against players and University employees.\nCNN/SI interviewed Sperber for its hour-long May expose, which featured a tape of Knight striking former player Neil Reed. After the program aired, Sperber was thrust into the national spotlight. The media frequently quoted him, and he appeared as a source in articles in the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.\nSperber argued that Knight, who teaches a course about coaching basketball, violated his professional obligations as a faculty member. The University has long had a code of conduct for faculty, and Sperber formerly served on the Bloomington Faculty Council, which helped formulate disciplinary procedures.\nAfter the University granted him a leave of absence, Sperber temporarily took up residence in Montreal.\n"We offered to do everything in our power to help protect Professor Sperber's freedom to teach his classes," Subbaswamy said. "But he chose to be away from the Bloomington campus for the fall semester. We readily accommodated his request."\nSperber will be paid half his salary for the spring semester, during which he will stay in Bloomington. Sperber said he wants to devote time to work on his fourth book in the hope that passions cool off.\n"If Knight keeps his act together through next season and does not cross the zero-tolerance line," he said in an e-mail, "then the media attention to his case will die down, and I and everyone else at IU can return to normal life."\nPresident Myles Brand said in a press release that he backs the decision.\n"IU staunchly upholds the freedom of its faculty and students to express their professional opinions, controversial or otherwise," he said. "It is deplorable that irresponsible individuals have threatened the academic freedom we all require to conduct the work of the University."\nBrand earlier came under fire for his handling of the situation. In mid-July, 165 faculty members sent an open letter to Brand calling Brand's support of Sperber "casual."\nJ.T. Forbes, assistant vice president for public affairs and government relations, denied the extended leave of absence is a public relations move.\n"To my understanding, there's no connection," he said. "But we'd still like to make the record abundantly clear that the University has always been firmly behind Sperber."\nThe University also gave Sperber a $5,000 research grant for the fall semester.