I previously blogged controversial statements by Boyce Watkins (Syracuse University, Whitman School of Management), Why Universities are Fundamentally Racist.  Professor Watkins was denied tenure by Syracuse last week and blames Fox News' Bill O'Reilly:

  Inside Higher Ed:  Did Bill O'Reilly Doom a Tenure Bid?:

In many academic circles, being attacked by Bill O'Reilly might be a badge of honor. A Syracuse University professor, however, charges that he was denied tenure last week in part because of the fallout over his on-air disputes with the Fox television star, who has branded him "a new Ward Churchill."

Boyce Watkins said that the university has responded to attacks on him in ways that are different from how it handles other controversial statements made by professors, creating a stigma around his work because it does not conform to "white liberal" ideas about race.

And Watkins, who is black and who teaches finance, said that an e-mail message that was not intended for him, but which he received and has forwarded to Inside Higher Ed, shows that professors view his public statements in a negative light, and that he couldn't get a fair tenure review.

Chroncile of Higher Education: Public Scholar Engages Syracuse U. in Public Tenure Dispute:

Having encouraged its faculty members to become more publicly engaged, Syracuse University is now caught up in very public tenure dispute with a black professor who ran with its advice and became a high-profile and controversial media commentator.

Boyce D. Watkins, an assistant professor of finance who frequently appears on television and talk radio to discuss issues related to race, is reacting to Syracuse's decision to deny him tenure and let him go by accusing the university of being racially biased. He has also suggested that its decision was a response to people who did not like his criticisms of college athletics and to calls from Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News talk-show host, for his dismissal.

"Academia is racially sick, and we must all give it the necessary medicine," Mr. Watkins wrote last week in a blog post announcing the university's decision, which he later criticized in interviews on satellite radio.

Boyce Watkins, Dr. Boyce Dismissed by Syracuse University:

In case you don't know, my tenure case was denied, which means I'll be dismissed by Syracuse University. I personally am not offended, as I didn't expect to receive tenure after the attacks by Bill O'Reilly last year and the work I've done speaking out on behalf of NCAA athletes (Syracuse earns tens of millions from athlete families and likely lost alumni donations after the Bill O'Reilly attacks — I stand by every word, however, since I won't allow a racist like O'Reilly to speak of lynching Michelle Obama or any other Black woman for that matter). Additionally, our business school (The Whitman School of Management) has not, to my knowledge, recommended tenure for any African American, in any department, in its entire 100 years of operating history (I can't concur with the conclusion that every Black scholar on the planet is unqualified to be here). So, while we can say all we want about elusive and idealistic concepts such as academic freedom, most scholars understand that the rules change when you are an outspoken Black man with no significant Black male power presence on your campus. My role was to support pre-existing intellectual, social and administrative paradigms, not to engage in active, progressive scholarship.

Below the fold are some video clips of the Watkins – O'Reilly contretemps: