Posted on 02/09/2015 11:08:13 AM PST by Academiadotorg
Proving once again that tenure offers little protection to more conservative scholars, Marquette’s president recently fired a tenured professor who possessed a more traditional outlook.
“On November 9, 2014, you chose to post on the Internet a story prompted by a secretly-taped conversation between a student and a graduate student instructor,” Marquette Dean Richard Holz wrote to Dr. John McAdams on January 30, 2015. “While you left the student’s name out of your post, and later insisted that his anonymity be protected, you posted without permission the graduate student instructor’s name, Ms. Cheryl Abate.”
“In addition, you gave an account of what happened in a class you did not attend and was not taped, describing Ms. Abate as ‘airily’ making a statement about ‘gay rights.’ You further purported to describe how the student’s concerns were ignored by university officials in the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Philosophy.” The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) linked to the letter in its critique of the dismissal.
Abate taught Ethics and allegedly told a student she would tolerate no criticism of gay marriage in her classroom. It is worth noting that on Rate My Professor.com, Dr. McAdams reviews are overwhelmingly favorable while Abate’s are a bit less so.
The one outlier on the Abate page is a student who clearly disagrees with her viewpoint. That review seems to back up Dr. McAdams assertions. “Her opinion is the only one that matters,” the reviewer wrote. “She is the least tolerant person I've ever met.”
“Take anyone but her or a community college class, you will get better quality. Luckily I'm good at learning on my own so I did well. She is the reason I take online classes and avoid a dictator for a teacher.”
This was unquestionably an excuse for his long-desired (by pinko university leadership) firing - but he should have been more careful.
Catholicism at its finest. Love is embracing homosexuality and drifting further from the Scriptures.
Tolerance in academia is intolerable. That’s why they never complain about Islam, but trash Christianity.
And the pope wants open borders.
Making accusations against a graduate student instructor by name on the internet was, indeed, a foolish thing to do.
Did he go through regular channels first, reporting her to her department chair and to the dean? Perhaps he did, and they refused to act. But it’s still a mistake to put her name out there, frustrating as it is to fight the politically correct system that is wrecking our schools and colleges.
This is what happens when you fail to divert embracity in today’s world.
The other side never follows “procedure.” Why do we have to?
He should have given her a pseudonym using her initials, like: Candi Azz.
What kind of mistake is that?
No wonder Walker quit, he wouldn’t let them brainwash him.
Thanks for the non sequitur of the day.
you’re all on a roll
It’s interesting to note that there are a number of other professors and academic types who are defending McAdamsover at academeblog, even when they disagree with him.
-A rep from the AAUP (American Association of University Professors) is arguing that Marquette has violated their own due process regulations in their handling of McAdams. http://academeblog.org/2015/01/26/aaup-letter-to-marquette-on-john-mcadams/
-A fellow professor who disagrees with McAdams on many issues, also believes due process is being ignored here, AND he points out the grad student didn’t handle the situation all that well in the first place. http://academeblog.org/2015/01/20/daniel-maguire-on-the-mcadams-case-at-marquette/
-This guy can’t stand McAdams, thinks he was out of line, and even *he* thinks firing is an inappropriate and excessive punishment: http://academeblog.org/2015/01/21/putting-the-john-mcadams-case-in-some-context/
I’m not a sue-happy guy, but if McAdams ends up being fired, I hope he takes Marquette to court. What is happening to him is a great big pile of horse muffins.
Maybe I missed something, but it says that the student approached the chairwoman and dean but was brushed off. I’m not sure whether the fired professor did.
I was a conservative in a very liberal department for many years, and frequently disagreed with my colleagues—although it’s been getting worse and worse since then. But if you’re the only one in the department who is willing to fight the issue, you have to be extremely careful not to give them any handles to attack you with.
I’m not saying that the leftards at Marquette were right, but that they probably outnumber the conservatives about 20 to 1, so you have to be pretty careful how you deal with these situations.
On the other hand, firing a tenured professor is extreme, and pretty stupid. Marquette will get a bad name for that, I think, even among many liberals, who like to think that their own tenure is sacred.
I have a feeling that Marquette’s been looking for a “reason” to get rid of McAdams for years - unfortunately for them, I think their MAD - McAdams Derangement - caused them to create a very large mountain out of this molehill.
See #16. If the other side runs things, you have to try to avoid giving them a handle to screw you with. It’s bad enough as it is.
Many Calvinist churches accept gay marriage with open arms. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge Catholics if I were you...
The local bishop should prohibit Marquette from calling itself a Catholic university. But he won’t.
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