U. of I. instructor fired over Catholic church teachings offered another job

The University of Illinois on Thursday said it had offered a job to an instructor who was fired over a complaint that he engaged in hate speech in his explanation of Catholic church doctrine on homosexuality.

The university also said it will stop allowing the on-campus St. John’s Catholic Newman Center to pay instructors who teach Catholic-related courses and will instead pay those teachers itself — ending a decades-old arrangement that troubled some faculty.

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday whether adjunct instructor Kenneth Howell had accepted the university’s offer, which does not include any guarantee of a job after the fall semester.

Under the offer, Howell would receive $10,000 to teach an Introduction to Catholicism class for the semester. Like all offers made to adjunct instructors, the offer is for only one semester, university spokeswoman Robin Kaler said.

It wasn’t clear Thursday how much Howell previously had been paid. The decision to offer Howell the job back, Kaler said, was made by the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, which the university’s Religious Studies program is part of. The class, she said, has been full since registration started in the spring. Classes start Aug. 23.

"The fall semester is fast approaching, so the school made the decision to contract with him to teach that course," she said.

Abbas Benmamoun, who heads the school, declined comment.

Howell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One of his attorneys with the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund said he appreciated the university’s decision but had not yet heard from Howell.

"We’re extremely pleased that Dr. Howell is back in the classroom," David Hacker said. "But we’ll be watching carefully to make sure his academic freedom is protected through this ongoing process."