Kroc Institute Director Scott Appleby expresses disappointment at the resignation of Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, whose visa revocation prevented his teaching at the University of Notre Dame this fall.
Tariq Ramadan resigns from faculty
Tariq Ramadan, whose failure to obtain a U.S. visa prevented his teaching at the University of Notre Dame this fall, has resigned his faculty appointment, citing the stress on him and his family from the uncertainty of their situation, R. Scott Appleby, director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, announced today.
Ramadan, whose visa was revoked by the U.S. State Department last August, acting on the recommendation of the Homeland Security Administration, had reapplied for the visa in October. Ramadan and his family have remained in Geneva, Switzerland, where they have made their home. Their furniture had already been shipped to South Bend when the visa was revoked. It has remained here and will now be shipped back to Switzerland, Appleby said.
“We are disappointed that Professor Ramadan will not be joining our faculty,” Appleby said. “Faculty and students at Notre Dame and at other U.S. universities were looking forward to engaging him productively on a variety of issues central to our times. Such dialogue, we believe, is an essential requirement to a deeper understanding of the complexity of the Muslim world.”
In a letter to Appleby, dated December 13, Ramadan said that with the Fall 2004 semester coming to a close he thought it was the appropriate time to resign as the Henry R. Luce Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding. He held a joint appointment with the Kroc Institute and the classics department.
“As you may imagine,” Ramadan wrote in his letter, “my family has experienced enormous stress and uncertainty during this period, and I keenly feel the need to resolve our situation.” He said he appreciated that “strong and permanent support” of the University.
Ramadan’s visa situation remains unresolved with no word from the State Department on his pending application. No specific information was provided to Ramadan or Notre Dame on the reasons for the previous revocation, except that it involved matters of “national security.”
Contact: Matthew V. Storin, associate vice president for news and information
