The growing evidence of outside interference in the hiring process at universities and the recent tenure denials at DePaul University, has prompted leading scholars across the nation to begin to speak out in defense of academic freedom. The DePaul University Academic Freedom Committee, Verso Books, and Diskord Journal sponsored a public symposium chaired by Tariq Ali, editor of Verso Books and New Left Review, and featuring: Akeel Bilgrami (Columbia University), Noam Chomsky (MIT), Tony Judt (NYU), John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago), Norman Finkelstein (formerly of DePaul University), Neve Gordon (Ben-Gurion University), Mehrene Larudee (DePaul University) and Evan Lorendo (DePaul Academic Freedom Committee).