Updated on 7/16/24

(NEW YORK)—Stripping the former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse of his faculty position due to his involvement in pornography would undermine academic freedom and set an alarming precedent, PEN America said today.

A faculty committee voted 5-0 last week to recommend that former Chancellor Joe Gow be stripped of tenure and terminated. The committee argued that he violated university policies and that his notoriety “would follow him into that classroom” and render him ineffective as a teacher. The recommendation was delivered to the current chancellor and the final decision on his employment will be rendered by the UW Board of Regents. 

“The recommendation to fire Gow strains credulity,” said Kristen Shahverdian, Campus Free Speech director at PEN America. “The chancellorship and his professorship are separate jobs, and the university must not pursue a path that punishes Gow for his private speech, or in advance of conduct related to his future teaching that has yet to occur. Academic freedom includes the right to private speech to avoid politically motivated firings, and this recommendation could lead to an alarming precedent that puts that in jeopardy.”

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Statement from 1/4/24:

(NEW YORK)— A tenure review of the former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus— fired last month from his chancellorship and placed on leave for pornographic videos he made with his wife— calls into question the university’s commitment to academic freedom, PEN America said today.

Kristen Shahverdian, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America, said: “Professors are allowed to have private lives – and private speech. While a Board of Regents can make determinations about who serves as chancellor considering potential reputational harm, it would be a radical overreach to apply that same logic to Joe Gow’s status as a professor, revoking his tenure and academic position for what is, ultimately, a protected area of self expression. This tenure review calls into question UW’s commitment to academic freedom for all and it should be halted.”

The university’s Board of Regents unanimously voted to fire Gow following the discovery of the pornographic videos he had made on an anonymous account. The university cited “significant reputational harm” and placed him on administrative leave prior to his return to the faculty. UW President Jay Rothman has since requested a review of Gow’s tenure and has hired a law firm to conduct an investigation.

About PEN America

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057