Professor's sudden dismissal stuns students(Aryan Race Nation)

equinoxnews ^ | 04/01/05 | Tiffanie Johnson and Roberto Chavez

[Pikamax]

Professor's sudden dismissal stuns students By Tiffanie Johnson and Roberto Chavez

Students expressed shock last week when a popular history professor suddenly was dismissed. Then many expressed disbelief after they discovered an audio-enhanced website where he spoke out against Jews and blacks, including FDU basketball players.

"He was my favorite professor," said one student. "I can't believe it is the same man."

In fact, Jacques Pluss, an adjunct professor at the Metropolitan Campus, openly discussed his March 21 dismissal from Fairleigh Dickinson in a 44-minute interview on a website of the National Socialist Movement designed with swastikas and a picture of Adolf Hitler.

Pluss said he was "removed" from his classroom duties when he received a brief phone call at 5:30 p.m. from the department chairman who, he said, told him he was being released "for the convenience of the university" the following day. "I was stolen away in the night," he said. Pluss reported that he will be paid his salary through the end of this semester. He also said he will retire from "the academic world" and devote himself to the cause of the White Aryan Race Nation.

The professor speculated that he was dismissed because of his work with the National Socialist Movement on the internet, adding that the university "followed the typical Jewish, lawyerly, Hebrew line." He suggested that a "watchdog group" may have alerted FDU about his activities beyond the classroom.

During one segment of the conversation, Pluss said the university did not want adverse publicity while its Division 1 basketball team was in the NCAA playoffs. He said the players are "n--- to the core" and "sit in the back of my class with CDs and earphones" listening to "ghastly rap music."

Earlier in the same broadcast, Pluss referred to the "browning of America" and called FDU a "heavily Judaized institution" with a large minority student population. He said those students are "floating their way through school on taxpayer dollars," adding that it (FDU) is "not just browned, but singed." He also discussed attending a recent "gathering" of the White Aryan Race Nation in South Carolina, commenting that he had been gratified by the turnout.

Talking about his sudden dismissal, Pluss said it was "a terrible thing to do for students" who will have to deal with "a new teaching style, a new course outline and exams." He said he learned that "half of the class did try to speak with the department chairman" about his departure, but "were told to leave the building."

Pluss also said he "was not teaching any particular ideology" in his classes because of his training, specifically at the University of Chicago where he earned a Ph.D.

The audio broadcast apparently was posted on Tuesday, March 22, the day after Pluss was dismissed. Within 24 hours, word had spread among students, especially residents, that his views could be heard by conducting a Google search using his name.

"I feel that the college did what was necessary to protect its students from any type of emotional danger or law suits that could have come up because of him belonging to the National Socialist Movement," said junior Ameniki Omotola, an international student from Trinidad. "Dr. Pluss never appeared to be a person who supported white supremacy. In fact, this really shocked me when I saw his name on the website. His classes were entertaining, and I could say I learned a lot."

Sophomore Charles White said Pluss was one of his favorite teachers during his freshman year. "Pluss never came off to me in class as a man who supported white supremacy," he said. "He was one of my favorite teachers and I talked highly of him. I really liked him, and now I'm ashamed I ever did. I feel the school did the right thing in firing him."

Senior Christopher Langford said he was shocked and disappointed when he found out about Dr. Pluss. "I had no idea that he was an alleged racist," he said. "Now that I think about it, Dr. Pluss seemed to have a morbid fascination with Hitler and Nazism. But he never once taught propaganda or expressed his views in class. He came off as being liberal in his thinking. An incident arose in class about racism, and he appeared to be very anti-racist."

Meanwhile, the Equinox received a press release from the National Socialist Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minn.; it was dated March 23 and emailed by Jacques Pluss.

The release stated: "The NSM officially condemns Fairleigh Dickinson University for engaging in acts of left-wing McCarthyism. This past Monday, Professor Jacque Pluss was removed from his teaching position apparently for no other reason than being a member of NSM. It is against every concept of the Constitution and the principles of our republic and an act of sheer stupidity for the powers that be to force anyone to leave job [sic] simply because of his/her legal political affiliations. If American universities truly stand for the market place of ideas, and of freedom of expression, then we must protect all, including Professor Jacques Pluss . . . We at the NSM also realize that the Constitution is best protected in a free marketplace of ideas rather than by school officials that may be controlled by political correctness and Jews."

However, the university administration gave quite a different reason for the dismissal. "He was released for the official reason of (having) six absences and not making them up," said Dean of University College John Snyder. "As a professor, he did not meet that requirement."

Snyder responded to the professor's claim that he was released for the "convenience" of the university. "It's the Universities responsibility to take care of its students and the academics of the students," Snyder said.

Pluss was replaced in the classroom by Prof. Michelle Hartman. According to Snyder, she reported that students were upset and asking many questions. "Students were really upset because they didn't ever get anything that indicated he was basically a hate monger," said Snyder. "The term they used was 'betrayal.' They felt betrayed for the most part."

"We don't do FBI-style security checks for adjunct professors for the reason that we have an incredible number of adjunct professors," Snyder continued. "Also, when reviewing background information, you can never obtain information from previous employers on why they (former employees) were released or let go. They never disclose reasons for leaving." He said the University discovered the professor's Nazi associations after he had left his position.

Snyder said that, when the department decided to dismiss him, nobody knew his whereabouts. After the University discovered his outside activities, research showed that he was making Nazi statements. "I don't really know what the initial resource was for getting to the website - I don't know how students found out," said Snyder.

Attempts by the Equinox to reach Faramarz Fatemi, director of the School of History, Political and International Studies, who informed the professor of his release, were unsuccessful.

Freshman Tiara Johnson felt that Pluss never came off as a white supremacist. "I would have never guessed it in a million years," she said. "I just don't understand how he could smile in our faces and have long conversations with black students [in class], but carry so much hatred for us deep down inside. One thing I noticed was that he missed about five or six classes this semester, but never told us where or why he was gone."

Sophomore Marc Eichler said that, when he heard that Dr. Pluss was a member of the National Socialist Movement, he nearly fell out his chair. "I'm Jewish, but the guy never had anything against me -in fact, he gave me an A," he said. "He never came off as being a racist. I would discuss issues regarding my religion in class, and he never said anything."

Senior Allison Baretz said that a professor does not belong at FDU teaching issues such as the Holocaust when he himself believes in it. "During class he never really came off as a man who supported white supremacy, but after knowing his actions and thinking back, there were some signs," she said. "He talked a lot about religion. He did not want to teach the Holocaust for more than one class (an hour and a half). And he asked us to write a journal as if we were in the shoes of a German soldier during the Holocaust, asking us how we would react. For our mid-term, he gave us a question of comparing and contrasting the Holocaust and the rise of Nazi Germany to modern-day terrorism. I have this reaction because I am Jewish, and to have a 'Nazi' teacher does not go over well. I am extremely relieved that the school made this decision to fire Dr. Pluss and did not disregard it and let him stay."

"He was one of my favorite teachers," Langford said. "I even wanted to nominate him as Faculty Member of the Year for the SGA Gala."

[familyop]

Your scattered arguments aren't making any sense now.

[Rembrandt_fan]

I've been reading you, sport. Here's a phrase that really jumped out: "Are you for a limited government that believes the individual is sovereign?"

Where have I heard that before--oh, yeah, now I remember. That 'sovereign citizen' nonsense comes out of militant, extremist groups like the Posse Commitatus, and whatever the heck they are, it isn't conservative. And don't you feel just the tiniest bit awkward defending a self-professed Hitler-worshipping anti-semite? No? I thought not.

[familyop]

The Pluss issue is not about the "power that you give government." It's about the right of parents and administrations of private institutions to fire someone who is unfit to be teaching history and who is a typically slippery Nazi menace when teaching history.

[Rembrandt_fan]

I won't presume to speak for familyop, but physical threats typed into a keyboard using a pseudonym carry no weight. They are, in fact, the one sure sign of a coward. Threats are also a sign that the one making them has lost the argument, and knows it.

[familyop]

"It would also cause you to lose some teeth if we were face to face."

That's very doubtful, given my background, training and having been sworn in for more than one kind of duty. ...not to mention the weakness shown by your comment.

[Lx]

Bump to see where all this goes...

I'll tune in after work.

[Rembrandt_fan]

So much for 'dialouge'. Hah!

[familyop]

Yes. And thank you for your input. ;-)

[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote: "Bump to see where all this goes..."

For me, not much further. Taking on all comers has just about worn me out. If I even see the name 'Nathan Bedford Forrest' or read one more word about the travails of Nazi college professors on campus in the next few days, I'll pop a blood vessel or something.

[familyop]

"My grandfather and his brother survived WWII but with long-term disabilities. I take issue with anyone that would attempt to link me to anything remotely having to do with Nazi Germany or Neo Nazis."

My forefathers fought in all of the American wars except the Spanish and Mexican wars. You shouldn't defile the memory of those men by advocating for neo-Nazis like Pluss to teach history.

[briant]

Buchannan is the prototype.

[JarheadFromFlorida]

You see, it is only free speech when liberals agree with it. Does the name Ward Churchill ring a bell?

[JarheadFromFlorida]

[[So, who decides who is a racist and who isn't?]]

Liberals beleive that THEY are the gatekeepers of free speech. If they agree with it, then it is free speech. If they don't agree with it, then it is hate speech.

See how it works (or used to work)?

[jude24]

people who oppose the massive illegal immigration from Mexico into America are "racists."

Opposing illegal immigaration isn't necessarily racists, although a lot of the anti-illegal immigration activists I've observed were actually racist, but the two aren't necessarily identical.

Further, wasn't the West founded and shaped by one race, and is it "racist" to say that it was?

It might not be racist, but it is certainly ignorant and bigoted. White caucasians weren't the only formative factors in western culture. Some Jewish itinerant preacher named Jesus defined it for the past 2000 years. The next most influential figure in Chrsitianity after the Apostles was Augustine, who would probably be equivalant to being Moraccan. I guess St. Augustine probably looked a little like Zacharias Moussaui.

If, for example, a Vietnamese person moves to America, is he weakening Western culture by default by moving here?

I know several Asians from several countries, including Vietnam - they're every bit as Western as I am, an Italian-American. They're even Christian ministers (Presbyterian)! That's about as Western as it gets.

[jude24]

So, who decides who is a racist and who isn't?

Res ipsa loquitor. When someone says something that doesn't usually get said by non-racists, they're probably racist.

[Bonaparte]

I supplied you with 2 links to accounts of Fort Pillow. You have yet to dispute any of the facts presented therein. Instead, you've only repeated your original claim, unsupported by evidence. Now you add the charge that I "defend the notion of a slave state Confederacy." How on earth did you torture that out of my posts? I addressed only the issue of Ft Pillow and the role of Forrest in that engagement. Somehow, you've generalized that to include the lost cause itself.

[Cronos]

So you may not sell the swastika on e-bay but you can buy the hammer and sickle. You may no longer denigrate Jews

So, do YOU want to sell/buy nazi swastikas? Do YOU want to denigrate Jews?

[cyborg]

You have no idea if Jesus was Jew?