linfield university controversy

Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education. FIRE files an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the First Amendment rights of a dog-toy maker to parody a famous whiskey brand and to adopt a test that protects free expression against overzealous trademark owners, including colleges and universities. But its logic more closely resembles spammy Internet advertising than a coherent application of law or policy: Tenured Faculty Members Hate This One Weird Trick! Baca said he met at length with Motis when she raised her complaint in 2019 and he banned Jubb from attending the next board meeting while he began a process to remove him as trustee. Do these folks really think theyre going to win a social media war against Generation Z?, Trey PetersonWood, a recent Linfield graduate, said Monday that the more Linfield attempts to censor and silence advocates for accountability, the more damage they are causing to this great institution that has the potential to be a leader in the age of what oppressors call cancel culture, but in reality, its the age of accountability.. The Zestimate for this Townhouse is $559,300, which has decreased by $54,929 in the last 30 days.The Rent Zestimate for this Townhouse is $3,499/mo, which has decreased by $247/mo in the last 30 days. It contains 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. He said that he had reported that four trustees had been accused of sexual misconduct by students and faculty over the past year and suggested that there be sexual harassment training and guidelines. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. 4d. He said that as an African-American man, he understands the need for education, training and community engagement on matters of discrimination and intolerance.. Faculty members within Linfield's College of Arts and Sciences Monday passed a resolution signifying no confidence in the university president and board chair, calling for their resignations. Until then, it may be unwise in defending against accusations that the university mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct to summarily terminate a tenured faculty member because he got the number of felony sexual assault counts wrong. But my fellow trustees, who are very familiar with the events, have urged me to remain as Chairman. Most important, you should know that Professor Pollack-Pelzner has been engaged in a smear campaign toward me and the administration at Linfield University, Davis wrote. reporting from Linfields student newspaper The Linfield Review. Pollack-Pelzner and two other professors accused Davis of making antisemitic comments about Jewish noses and the Holocaust, but Davis denied the allegations. Israeli Orthodox Jew raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for victims of settler riot, Wikipedias Supreme Court tackles alleged conspiracy to distort articles on Holocaust, This Purim, a space for queer Jews to celebrate their identities and dance the night away, Avi Maoz, Israeli politician and proud homophobe, resigns from deputy minister role, As Israel reels from violent attack on Palestinians, settler leadership remains unapologetic. Davis had previously denied making the comment, and an investigation into him had concluded based on his denial that the comment could not be substantiated. Lorraine Hansberrys second play had a white Jewish protagonist. Its just devastating, Dr. Pollack-Pelzner said, adding that he had spoken publicly in his capacity as a faculty trustee who had received complaints from students and colleagues. Longtime trustee David Jubb, who left the board in June 2019, is accused of sexually abusing four different students, including a student trustee last year. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. In response, he said, Mr. Baca, the board chairman, accused me a Jewish trustee of harboring a secret agenda to grab power.. When he sent an email to himself as a test, he received, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, an auto-reply, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner is no longer an employee of Linfield University. A Linfield University spokesperson explains that Pollack-Pelzner was let go for circulating unspecified false statements, for an equally unspecified failure to comply with university policies, and generally being insubordinate.. The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. Davis said the university initiated internal and external investigations of each incident and found no support for the claims in Pollack-Pelzners posts. Lost your password? Offices on the Portland and McMinnville campuses will be closed from Dec. 23 - Jan. 2 so employees can enjoy a much-deserved rest this holiday season. Philadelphia, PA 19106. Faculty supported the motion 88 to 18. Students as well as fellow academics are also protesting the decision by Linfield University, a Baptist-affiliated school with some 2,000 students, to fire Daniel Pollack-Pelzner. While I did not witness any untoward behavior as alleged, I regret that Mr. Jubb was allowed to be in the same setting with a student, Baca wrote. Sign up to get important news and culture from around the Northwest, delivered to your inbox six days a week. This coded language plays off racist and toxic stereotypes with a long history in this country.. Promising to be open about budget cuts, he quoted a former professor of his who used to make the analogy, You dont send the Jews to the shower with soap, Dr. Linder said. In an interview on Friday, Mr. Baca acknowledged mentioning a power grab in a long and contentious discussion but said he had not known that Dr. Pollack-Pelzner was Jewish or that the comment could be construed as anti-Semitic. In fact, there is one felony charge against Jubb, along with seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor in Oregon. Joe Wilferth, dean of arts and sciences, also wrote to faculty members to say, In my experience over the last seven months, what has been written and shared in these various outlets, even on university e-mail lists, only serves to exacerbate what is arguably an already-hostile work environment., The boards executive committee recently endorsed a deans proposal that the campus engage in mediation to facilitate a culture of understanding and mutual respect that leads to university-wide cooperation and collaboration including the articulation of standards related to professional responsibilities and an institutional code of conduct., Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, professor of English, underscored the university's desire to adopt a code of conduct and she sees it as an "egregious violation of academic freedom.Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, another professor of English who has criticized the university publicly, wrote on Twitter, So, in response to allegations of misconduct, @LinfieldUniv has shut down student comments on Instagram, censored critical posts on Facebook, and suspended campus email lists. The Anti-Defamation League and Oregon Board of Rabbis also asked him to resign. Throughout a controversy that has resulted in two separate no-confidence votes, Davis and the board that supports him have behaved like petty tyrants, altering the colleges governance structure, suspending mass faculty emails, and insisting that all broad correspondence be vetted by the vice president of finance and administration. Pollack-Pelzner goes on to relate a strange . But no such corollary exists for faculty and students should not be subject to such a bizarre policy. Pollack-Pelzner, an English literature professor who had tenure, was fired Tuesday after he and others publicly accused Linfield President Miles K. Davis of making multiple antisemitic comments,. Nelson said outside law firms, internal investigators and the universitys human resources office investigated and found no evidence to support the claims of antisemitic comments Pollack-Pelzner laid out in his posts. Other faculty members have since stepped forward to report an even stranger comment. I dont know how anybody could feel safe in this environment., Linfield University Fires Professor Who Spoke Out About Misconduct Cases, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/us/Linfield-university-professor-fired.html. In a related case, Linfield faces a whistle-blower lawsuit from a former professor, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, who says he was fired for standing up to the board about sexual misconduct and discrimination. The controversies have played out for months in a federal lawsuit filed by a student, through public statements from faculty members and leaders, student protests, and votes of no confidence. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. As FIRE detailed yesterday, Linfield Universitys senior leadership abruptly terminated Daniel Pollack-Pelzner after he criticized the universitys handling of sexual assault and harassment allegations against board members, and alleged that Linfield president Miles K. Davis had made a remark about Jewish noses. Davis has, until now, denied that claim. Set aside that President Daviss false denial of his comment on Jewish noses is the only blatantly false statement one can pin down in this case. She singled out Baca for criticism, saying the schools general counsel told her that Baca gave his word that David Jubb would never have contact with students again or be allowed at events that served alcohol.. In interviews this week, Dr. Davis and the board chairman, David Baca, denied any wrongdoing. Linfield has pushed back on this criticism, saying it investigated the most recent complaints in question and no university policies were found to have been violated. All Ive been trying to do for the last two years is to get Linfield leadership to follow its own policies. Florida State University ranked No. The president said he was unaware of the guidelines, hadnt seen the most recent version of the faculty handbook, didnt know who had updated it, and didnt believe it had been approved by the administration. But, for Davis, the minutiae of process are important for others: So what did Pollack-Pelzner do to merit his dismissal? Click here! This is simply not how tenure works. Pioneer Hall is seen through the signature oak trees at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. No. Anyone can read what you share. Linfield University. Friedman.. In another incident, Dr. Friedman reported that Dr. Davis had come up from behind her after a panel discussion in 2018 and had rubbed his hands up and down her arms while whispering that he was looking forward to meeting her later, she said. Based on that investigation, the NAACP criticized the ADL and Oregon Board of Rabbis for calling on Davis to resign. frequently responds to hate and anti-Semitism on college campuses, rarely is that anti-Semitism or hatred perpetrated by a president of a university or other leadership.. ", executive assistant to Susan Agre-Kippenhan, Linfield University: Tenured Professor Terminated Without Due Process for Criticizing University, Stanford professors stand up for free speech culture with petition to end bias reporting system, FIRE reminds Supreme Court the First Amendment is top dog, REPORT: Faculty members more likely to self-censor today than during McCarthy era, FIRE, NCAC object after State College of Florida censors art exhibit, Nobody said defending free speech was easy, Penn Law dean asks for major sanction against professor Amy Wax, creating tenure threat for all Penn faculty, AAUP censures Linfield University for blatant academic freedom violations, Fired for criticizing his administration and discussing racism, Indiana professor sues, FIRE, PEN America, condemn new rule forcing some Mississippi universities to consider collegiality in tenure review. The local ADL representative did not respond to a call for comment on Friday. The handbook was last updated in January of this year, according to the Chronicle. Tensions reached a high on Tuesday when the university fired Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a Shakespeare scholar and tenured professor of English who had served on the board of trustees and had spoken out about the accusations of anti-Semitism and sexual misconduct. Be a part of it! The State College of Florida Bradenton requested a traveling art exhibition to remove pieces with the words diversity, inclusion, justice, and equality. FIREs award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed. There will be a trial and the facts will be determined by a jury. One of those reports included former board member David Jubb, who was indicted last year on eight counts seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree sexual abuse. Carmody has been on the board since 2008. Affording process before any action? We've also seen the firings of two faculty members at Collin College for criticizing their administration about their COVID-19 reopening plans, . Its been such a blow and its so overwhelming, he said. While we have strong disagreements with much of the media (and social media) speculation, we do not believe further argument in the press are an appropriate avenue for community healing.. That includes the dismissal of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, which occurred in the middle of a Zoom meeting at Linfield University without him being granted any hearing or due process. Tenure is not at-will employment and the university promises procedural protections to its faculty.

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