URBANA, Ill. – A recent report about a University of Illinois adjunct professor who was dismissed after an expose exposed his fugitive past with the left-wing Symbionese Liberation Army is emboldening supporters calling for his reinstatement.

James Kilgore was an adjunct professor of global studies and urban planning at the University of Illinois when The News-Gazette published an editorial in February revealing his criminal past with the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical left-wing organization that committed bank robberies, murders and other acts of violence between 1973 and 1975.

Kilgore was a fugitive on the run for more than 25 years after his involvement in a fatal robbery in 1975 before he was caught living as a professor with a family in Cape Town, South Africa in 2002. He was convicted of second-degree murder and served six years in prison, then returned to his wife – a professor at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus, Inside Higher Ed reports.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

Kilgore applied for a teaching position there in 2011, was upfront with school officials about his past, and they hired him despite it.

The News-Gazette editorial nonetheless ignited public criticism about the university hiring a convicted felon, and the issue snowballed after a Chicago Sun-Times editorial that featured Kilgore’s mugshot, though the university defended its hiring decision, according to the news site.

“He served his time in prison. He is very remorseful. He didn’t do the shooting. He is a good example of someone who has been rehabilitated, if you believe in second chances and redemption, he’s someone who helps prove that’s the human thing to do,” spokesman Robin Kaler, told the Sun-Times in March.

About a month later, university provost and vice chancellor academic affairs Ilesanmi Adesida essentially told Kilgore his time there was over.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

Sensing something was wrong, Kilgore says, he asked if it would be “more appropriate to say that the door was closed on my future employment at the university,” and that Adesida said yes.

“I asked him who and what process had been gone through to arrive at that decision, and he answered, ‘I can’t say,’ ” Kilgore said. “So that’s my information.”

Kilgore’s colleagues, who have all said he’s a stellar educator, started the group Friends of James Kilgore and launched a petition on Change.org that reads:

We the undersigned scholars, legal professionals, activists and concerned individuals believe that the University of Illinois gave in to political pressure and refused to approve future employment contracts for James Kilgore on the basis of his background and sensationalist media coverage, rather than on his job performance.

Refusing to approve Kilgore’s employment contracts represents a blow to academic freedom and transparency in universities but also has serious implications for the fifteen million Americans who have felony convictions and face a constant battle to access employment. We call on the University of Illinois to immediately restore James Kilgore’s employment status.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

The university, meanwhile, assembled a committee to review the case and the university’s employment practices regarding background checks and hiring felons. In a report on the committee’s findings, published by Inside Higher Ed and set for discussion by the university board today, essentially supports Kilgore’s rehire and recommends “individualized assessment” for employment candidates with a criminal past.

“[The] committee does not support a blanket or permanent exclusion of employment for Mr. Kilgore,” the 10-member, provost-appointed faculty committee wrote, according to Inside Higher Ed.

“The record demonstrates that Mr. Kilgore has been a successful employee and has contributed to the scholarly and academic missions of the campus in the academic hourly and visiting specialized positions he has held over the last four years.”