Brigham Young University has placed Steven E. Jones, a senior professor of physics, on paid leave because of concerns over his involvement in Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group that says the U.S. government permitted and may have even orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.
A university spokeswoman, Carri P. Jenkins, said on Friday that the decision had been based on the “increasingly speculative and accusatory nature of statements being made by Dr. Jones regarding the collapse of the World Trade Center” (The Chronicle, June 23).
Mr. Jones, a co-chairman of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, wrote a paper, “Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?,” that appeared in 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, a book published last month by Olive Branch Press.
“Our concern,” Ms. Jenkins said, “is that Dr. Jones’s work has not been published in scientific venues.” The issue will be reviewed by the physics department, the college of physical and mathematical sciences, and the university to determine if it meets standards of Brigham Young’s academic-freedom policy.
Mr. Jones, who has been at Brigham Young since 1985, could not be reached for comment on Friday. He will continue to have the use of university facilities for his research, but his two introductory physics courses have been assigned new instructors.
Richard N. Williams, associate academic vice president for faculty, said he hoped Mr. Jones would continue to conduct research in physics. Mr. Williams emphasized that the work to be evaluated in the inquiry is restricted to Mr. Jones’s publications on the government’s alleged role in the collapse of the World Trade Center, which he said are not related to Mr. Jones’s area of academic scholarship.
But James H. Fetzer, the other co-chairman of Scholars for 9-11 Truth, said he hoped Mr. Jones would continue his work with the organization. “It’s very clear that this may be very costly because you have faculty who are being threatened with the loss of their positions,” said Mr. Fetzer, who himself retired as a philosophy professor at the University of Minnesota at Duluth in order to focus more on the movement.
Mr. Fetzer said Mr. Jones’s situation at Brigham Young recalled the troubles faced by other academics whose beliefs in government-conspiracy theories related to the September 11 attacks have threatened their jobs. Among them are Kevin Barrett at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (The Chronicle, July 14) and William Woodward at the University of New Hampshire (The Chronicle, September 8).
Brigham Young does not have tenured positions, but Mr. Jones has “continuing” status, a designation similar to that of tenure, although it does not guarantee employment, according to Ms. Jenkins.
The review of Mr. Jones’s work, according to Mr. Williams, will determine a course of action for the university.
Brigham Young, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was censured by the American Association of University Professors in 1998 for a violation of faculty rights. Brigham Young’s administration said at the time that the faculty member in question had ignored the university’s limitations on academic freedom, as stated in its policy, by attacking Mormon leaders and contradicting Mormon doctrine (The Chronicle, June 26, 1998).
Background articles from The Chronicle: