One graduate student relates the story of an attack Witzel made over the Indology Net-an e-mail subscription group that discusses Sanskrit studies-against a professor at the University of Chicago.

The graduate student said Witzel criticized the professor because they have had personal disagreements.

Witzel, however, said the dispute was entirely professional.

When asked about the incident, Witzel rushed for his bookshelf and pulled out a translation of a Sanskrit text and turned to a page covered with yellow dots.

Each dot, he said, represented a mistranslated word.

Witzel said many of the department's disagreements resulted from political witch hunts by students and faculty members.

"The point is [that] political games are played on all levels," Witzel said. "You must find out who uses whom."

Witzel added that he is "not a political person; on the contrary, I only defended myself. I was under constant attack."

Speaking of his resignation as department chair, Witzel said, "Certain people got what they wanted, and then there was peace."

December 1994 Meeting

Graduate student concerns became manifest in December 1994.

University officials asked the students to suggest possible improvements to the department, but they were afraid to respond, according to one graduate student.

But 17 students met at Dunster House on December 15 "to facilitate the preparation of an agenda of student concerns," according to minutes of the meeting taken by graduate student Sarah LeVine.

Although the minutes never explicitly blame Witzel for the department's problems, they are often critical of his decisions.

The minutes note that students must take an exam for which they translate a passage from the Mahabharata. Witzel, according to the notes, had designated the class a "hobby" and refused to accredit it.