by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Author Robert Rosen said a history professor invited him to speak at UNM, but the department withdrew the invitation and left him with the bill for his airfare.
Vera Norwood, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, reinstated his invitation on Oct. 17 to honor the commitment made in the original invitation.
Noel Pugach, a history professor, invited Rosen to speak at UNM about his book, Saving the Jews, even though Pugach disagrees with the book's argument, Rosen said.
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Pugach declined to comment.
Pugach sent a letter to Rosen on Oct. 9, stating the history department instructed him to withdraw the invitation.
The book is controversial because of issues concerning plagiarism, citations and use of sources, Norwood said.
The book states President Franklin Roosevelt did everything he could under the constraint of the U.S. government to help European Jews during World War II.
His position is contrary to the theory that the United States was an accomplice to Hitler, he said.
Andrew Sandoval-Strausz, assistant history professor, said Rosen cited books but copied sections without mentioning the sources again, and that is why the department decided to rescind the invitation.
"You can't take the exact words from somebody else without saying, 'I took that person's exact words,'" he said. "Under the rules of academic life, it's not enough to just give a cite to an entire book when you've used the exact words."
Rosen wrote a letter to UNM President David Harris, stating the University should support academic freedom and allow him to speak. Norwood then sent a letter to Rosen, stating he is welcome to come speak by invitation of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Harris was not available for comment Tuesday.
Rosen said he made several requests for an explanation as to why his invitation was rescinded. He has not received an explanation, he said.
He will speak Monday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Woodward Hall, Room 147.
Rosen said he is not an academic, but his book is properly cited and was edited by Alexander Moore, a Ph.D. in history at the University of South Carolina Press.
"This is a man who edits for a university press, so obviously he knows the proper way to cite and quote," he said. "I reject any charge of plagiarism as false."
Rosen said the decision caught him off guard, because universities are supposed to be places where people can speak freely.
"The academic world doesn't like my book. I don't like theirs," he said. "When you prevent somebody from speaking on a university campus, I think that's a very serious thing."
Richard Holder, associate provost for academic affairs, said no one was trying to limit Rosen's First Amendment rights.
"The University certainly supports freedom of speech and academic freedom, and he (Rosen) has a right to present his views," Holder said.
Rosen said he was suspicious the Wyman Institute, a nonprofit organization for Holocaust studies, contacted the department and discouraged it from hosting a lecture by him.
The institute tried to prevent him from speaking in Boston, he said.
The Wyman Institute did not return calls Tuesday.
Rosen said the institute disagrees with his book and has made allegations he plagiarized.
"The Wyman Institute has an ax to grind with me, because I'm very critical of them in my book," he said.
Sandoval-Strausz said the Wyman Institute e-mailed him and the history department chairwoman and pointed out the parts of the book that use information from other sources. He said he does not know if anyone else received the e-mail.
No one in the department could tell the book wasn't properly cited until the institute contacted it, Sandoval-Strausz said.
"I had no idea there was a problem," he said. "You'd have to be a very established scholar in the field to know this."
