The Justice on Campus Project
http://joc.mit.edu/uwa/

University of Western Australia
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The Justice on Campus Project has witnessed and documented dozens of incidents of university administrators muzzling speech on their campuses, but the case of David Rindos and the University of Western Australia may be the most vile yet.

Like most cases, it started innocently enough -- in 1988, when the university recruited Rindos as a Senior Lecturer for what they promised would be an "integral part of our teaching programme" in the the Archaeology Department.

Soon afterwards, as acting department head, Rindos learned of Department Head Sandra Bowdler's abuses of power and sexual escapades with her female students. They begged Rindos to intervene.

Almost immediately after Rindos expressed his concerns privately to the deputy vice chancellor, the university moved into damage control mode. They shunted Rindos to another department; they denied him tenure; they refused him due process; they eventually fired him. Bowdler buttressed the administration's position by claiming Rindos' teaching was "an total failure."

More recently, UWA administrators have taken their campaign against their former faculty member to the Net. After this archive -- crafted by Hugh Jarvis -- originally went online at SUNY Buffalo, the UWA administration ordered its students not to link to it. Then they tried to intimidate SUNY Buffalo with absurd threats of legal action, claiming UWA "has taken steps against the administrators of the site."

The Justice on Campus Project finds UWA's actions to be disappointing, censorial, and contemptible. It is proud to offer a complete archive of all the available documents for the benefit of the public.

Perhaps by shining a bright light on the actions of the University of Western Australia, justice on its campus may yet be achieved.

-The Justice on Campus Project, July 24, 1996