Credit: Fred Mulhearn, Baton Rouge Advocate
Dr. van Heerden claims he was fired because his criticism of the Army Corps of Engineers – after its levees failed during Katrina – put LSU’s chances of getting federal funding in jeopardy. LSU receives large federal grants from the Corps.
As observed by the American Association of University Professors in its 30-page report, LSU had a ‘prevailing position’ on the cause of the flooding and Dr. van Heerden’s research and public stance ran contrary to that position. In November 2005, LSU Vice Chancellor Michael Ruffner wrote,
“…LSU will engage in helping with [the] recovery of Louisiana, not in pointing blame. The chancellor has begun initiatives toward this goal, and it would not be useful to have the university associated, intentionally or not, with efforts aimed at causation.”
LSU’s apparent ‘prevailing position’ that the flooding was a natural disaster was in direct conflict with the findings of the investigation, called Team Louisiana that Dr. van Heerden was leading with funding from the Louisiana State Department of Transportation.
Trial will begin on the 19th of February in Baton Rouge Federal Court.
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I’m very thankful for Dr van Heerden and his stance on this subject. Time has shown he was correct and should never have been fired from the university.
Dr. Van Heerden did not cover up the truth but stood tall and announced the truth for the world to hear. He is a hero for his actions and should be reinstated to the LSU faculty with tenure and rank. Allen Bealle
“It would not be useful to have the university associated, intentionally or not, with efforts aimed at causation”
Um, what? If this is the university’s stance, they should shut down their college of engineering. I’m nearly speechless at how ridiculous that statement is…
I agree. Ivor Van Heerden is a hero, a courageous truth-teller, and an esteemed academic. LSU was in the wrong for firing him, trying to intimidate him, and for trying to cover up and hide the truth from the Louisiana public. Inexscusable behavior for any public university and they need to be held accountable for it so that it doesn’t happen again. I hope this case is widely reported on.
Rumor has it IVH settled out of court. I guess even the biggest self proclaimed martyrs for academic freedom have their price. BTW, IVH’s contract was not renewed because he showed up for work like 3 days in the last 3 years that he was employed by LSU.