Thomas E. Klocek is a former part-time instructor at DePaul University. His teaching career at DePaul ended as a result of an altercation with pro-Palestinian students at an exhibit in the cafeteria of DePaul's downtown Chicago campus. His supporters have argued that he is a victim of "political correctness" and that his right to free speech has been violated. The university however, has stated that he was fired due to "belligerent and menacing" conduct towards students, which included shouting and throwing papers. DePaul University offered Klocek, who was not tenured, the continuation of his teaching position if he apologized to the students for his behavior. Klocek rejected this and instead sued the school for defamation and breach of contract. The case was dismissed.
Klocek's career at DePaul
Klocek instructed students as a part-time adjunct professor at the School for New Learning, a school for working adults. There Klocek created and taught a variety of courses ranging from “Languages & Cultures of the World” to “Russian and American Founding Documents”. He taught at DePaul university for 15 years, during which time he received consistently positive student reviews. Klocek's area of expertise were Slavic languages and Russian and Old Slavic literature. Klocek, who did not have a PhD, noted that initially he took the part-time position because he was working on a doctoral thesis, but that got caught up in his teaching and never finished his dissertation.
The Incident
During the yearly Loop Student Fair campus event where student groups setup exhibits in the school's cafeteria, Klocek approached the exhibit maintained by Students for Justice in Palestine. There an altercation ensued between four students and Klocek. Another four students from a group called "United Muslims Moving Ahead" from a neighboring exhibit became involved in the altercation. After approximately 30 minutes, other student groups called the faculty to intervene. Klocek was escorted out of the cafeteria by campus security, but returned and made a gesture towards the students, before leaving again. The students complained to the University about the altercation, describing it as a "racist encounter".
Klocek's version of the Events
Klocek claims that he approached the group because he disagreed with the content of the groups' leaflets. He stated that one leaflet described the death of American activist Rachel Corrie in Israel as "murder"; a charge which he considered to be offensive. As the debate became more heated, Klocek claims that the students compared Israel to Nazi Germany at which point a shouting match ensued. Klocek acknowledges that he told the United Muslims Moving Ahead student group that all terrorist attacks were committed by Muslims, but he claims that he was quoting Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg. Klocek also acknowledged that he raised his voice, but he denied using profanity. Klocek denies throwing the exhibit material at the students and claims that he put that back in a stack. Klocek also acknowledged that he returned and confronted the students again after being escorted away by campus security, but he claims that the gesture he made with his hand, involved flicking his thumb at his chin, which he argued is an Italian New Jersey expression meaning, "I'm finished" or "I'm out of here".