Rantel said he remained concerned about the politicization of college campuses, but that Jones "has mishandled the issue horribly."
"Now what's happened is that the whole project is discredited," he said. "Now it looks like a bunch of crazies who were trying to go after innocent professors, which certainly wasn't what I supported."
Robert N. Watson, an English professor who was one of the academics singled out for further scrutiny on Jones' www.uclaprofs.com website, said Jones "withdrew the money offer because professors figured out they could bankrupt him by encouraging masses of their students to submit recordings. He's still recruiting spies, and it will damage education if professors have to worry constantly about what could be taken out of context and used to make them look bad, as Jones does so unscrupulously."
But another professor on Jones' "Dirty Thirty" list of targeted UCLA professors, historian Ellen DuBois, said she remained concerned that Jones' effort was part of a broader campaign by conservatives to seek passage of an "academic bill of rights" to regulate discussions in university classrooms.
Jones, who graduated from UCLA in 2003 with a political science degree, was known on campus for his aggressive tactics against affirmative-action advocates, antiwar activists and other liberals. After graduation, he was fired from at least two jobs, including one as a researcher for conservative activist David Horowitz. Jones formed the independent alumni group last year, raised $24,000 and persuaded an impressive array of conservative scholars and politicians to join its advisory board.
