Free Republic

Political science professor John McAdams is going to be reinstated at Marquette University following a victory at the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He had been suspended by the school for writing a blog post critical of a graduate student. "The undisputed facts show that the University breached its contract with Dr. McAdams when it suspended him for engaging in activity protected by the contract's guarantee of academic freedom," said the opinion written by Justice Daniel Kelly. The state's high court ordered Marquette to "immediately reinstate Dr. McAdams with unimpaired rank, tenure, compensation, and benefits." ( Journal Sentinel ) The case...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday that embattled Marquette University political science professor John McAdams was improperly suspended after he publicly criticized a graduate student by name on his politically conservative blog, leading to threats against her. The court ordered the Jesuit university to immediately reinstate the professor and sent the case back to a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge to award damages, including back pay.

Sara Goldrick-Rab, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, caused a firestorm last month when she publicly compared her governor, Republican Scott Walker, to Adolf Hitler in a tweet. She poured fuel on the flames by tweeting at incoming freshmen who were Walker supporters, encouraging them not to attend the school because of Walker’s education funding policies. Then, she apologized. Now she’s promoting a class she’s teaching this fall on “scholar activism.” The graduate seminar will “explore the biographies and narratives of a diverse array of scholar activists, examine the sociopolitical and economic forces shaping their work, and consider...

Marquette University has begun the process to fire a tenured professor after he publicly said that students have the right to oppose gay marriage while in class, while also naming the professor who tried to ban it. In a letter to Dr. John McAdams, Marquette informed the professor that the "University is commencing the process to revoke your tenure and to dismiss you from the faculty. Marquette is taking this action after Dr. McAdams became aware that another professor, Cheryl Abbate, had banned a student from opposing gay marriage in her classroom. Parts of the incident were recorded secretly by...