Mirth & Girth On May 11, 1988, a student painting depicting
Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, was taken down by three of the city's African-American
aldermen based on its content.'' Police Superintendent
LeRoy Martin ordered the removal of the painting, In 1994, the city agreed to a settlement: the money would go toward attorneys' fees for the ACLU. The three aldermen agreed not to appeal the 1992 ruling, and the police department established procedures over seizure of materials protected by the First Amendment.
What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag? In February 1989, as part of a piece entitled
What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?, student
"Dread" Scott Tyler spread a
Flag of the United States on the floor of the institute. The piece consisted of a podium, set upon the flag, and containing a notebook for viewers to express how they felt about the exhibit. In order for viewers to write in the notebook, they would have to walk on the flag, which is a violation of customary practice and code. While the exhibit faced protests from veterans and bomb threats, the school stood by the student's art. Scott would go on to be one of the defendants in
United States v. Eichman, a
Supreme Court case in which it was eventually decided that federal laws banning flag desecration were unconstitutional.
Racial slur and art studies In 2018, then
Dean of Faculty Martin Berger, an art historian, gave an academic lecture on the civil rights movement in which he read a quote that employed the
n-word. This part of his presentation caused controversy among faculty and staff, some thought it appropriate in the academic setting in which it was used, while others did not.
Title IX In 2017, a controversy arose after Michael Bonesteel, an
adjunct professor specializing in
outsider art, and comics, resigned after actions taken by the institute following two
Title IX complaints by
transgender students being filed against him in which each criticized his comments and class discussion. The institute initiated an investigation and took certain actions. Bonesteel described the SAIC investigation as a "
Kafkaesque trial", in which he was never shown copies of the complaints. He claimed he was assumed to be "guilty until proven innocent" and that SAIC "feels more like a
police state than a place where academic freedom and the open exchange of ideas is valued".
Laura Kipnis, author of
a book on Title IX cases in which she argues that universities follow reckless and capricious approaches, argued that SAIC was displaying "jawdropping cowardice". The school said the claims made against it were "problematic" and "misleading", and that it supports
academic freedom. == Property ==