(Phoenix New Times) The Maricopa County Community College District has agreed to pay $155,000 in a settlement to a Scottsdale professor whose quiz questions about terrorism offended Muslims.
In return, Scottsdale Community College Professor Nicholas Damask agreed not to pursue a lawsuit or other claims against district personnel. The district also vowed to strengthen its commitment to academic freedom.
Damask became a target of intense criticism in May 2020 after a student in a world politics class he taught, Mohamed Sabra, published quiz questions online that Sabra and others perceived as false and disrespectful of Islam. The gripe went viral, causing a public relations crisis at SCC as thousands of negative emails poured into the school. SCC President Christina Haines and the school’s public relations staff then slammed Damask publicly while pressuring him to sign an apology letter they’d written for him.
