Update on prof McAdams

[MUfan12]

That's not the conduct Marquette should support from a tenured professor.

Employing him isn't necessarily a show of support. They have suspended and reprimanded him publicly. Revoking tenure for this is a step too far, IMO.

[brandx]

Are you talking about the freedom of speech that guarantees that the government can't abridge your right to speak?    And how does that apply to Marquette, being, you know, not the government?

I don't think it is a free speech issue, but his side will use it in a lawsuit.

The 2014 report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found 59% of higher education institutions have policies that they believe infringes on 1st Amendment rights. FIRE also issued a "yellow light" rating to another 35.6 percent of schools because they have "policies that over regulate speech on campus."

Some of the examples FIRE cites as free speech violations are attempts to prevent harassment & bullying among students.

[🏀]

Did you read his Nov 9 post?  If a TA can't handle that level of criticism they shouldn't be involved in academia...

Criticism or bullying? Just another McAdams stunt.

[Coleman]

The right decision. Takes some balls to stand up to a bully, and Lovell showed he has big brass ones. Mad respect.

[🏀]

Employing him isn't necessarily a show of support. They have suspended and reprimanded him publicly. Revoking tenure for this is a step too far, IMO.

He clearly doesn't deserve tenure from the University with his actions.

This wouldn't be supported at any one of the professions we all work for, Marquette shouldn't support it either.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

Criticism or bullying? Just another McAdams stunt.

Reverse the situation: TA allows a discussion of the ethics of gay marriage and a professor takes to a blog to criticize the TA for offending gay students.  Would that be bullying?

[MUfan12]

This wouldn't be supported at any one of the professions we all work for, Marquette shouldn't support it either.

You know as well as I do that academia is a different world than any of "any one of the professions we all work for."

[🏀]

Reverse the situation: TA allows a discussion of the ethics of gay marriage and a professor takes to a blog to criticize the TA for offending gay students.  Would that be bullying?

This has NOTHING to do with gay marriage. NOTHING!

So yes, if it was put in the exact same terms, with the exact same outing, it's still bullying.

You know as well as I do that academia is a different world than any of "any one of the professions we all work for."

There's the inherent problem, and glad that Lovell is continuing against that different world at MU like he did at UWM.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

This has NOTHING to do with gay marriage. NOTHING!

So yes, if it was put in the exact same terms, with the exact same outing, it's still bullying.

There's the inherent problem, and glad that Lowell is continuing against that different world at MU like he did at UWM.

I highly doubt you would accept a firing of a liberal professor in my hypothetical, but so be it.

[🏀]

I highly doubt you would accept a firing of a liberal professor in my hypothetical, but so be it.

I'm far from liberal, and there's post history to back that up.

[rocket surgeon]

+1.

Good to see others can see beyond the Fox News headlines on this.

Keeping McAdams after this would be the bigger detriment to MU's future. Lovell stepped up to the plate big time.

You didn't do yourself any favors by adding the "Fox News headlines" part. We get where you're coming from sans the Unremarkable quip

[🏀]

You didn't do yourself any favors by adding the "Fox News headlines" part. We get where you're coming from sans the Unremarkable quip

Yeah, probably unnecessary. It was driven by the fact that this is even an issue because McAdams knew the stunt he was trying to pull. He was looking for the headline and that's the most irritating part of this.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Haven't stayed on top of this issue but have been receiving emails from alumni who are not too pleased with this situation. Couldn't believe how worked up some are.

[rocket surgeon]

Yeah, probably unnecessary. It was driven by the fact that this is even an issue because McAdams knew the stunt he was trying to pull. He was looking for the headline and that's the most irritating part of this.

Ya know what?  I just rethunk (sic) my comment on your post- you are right(my apologies)there probably will be a Fox News headlines and Rush Limbaugh, mark belling, Sean hannity, Megyn Kelly, et.al. Headlines...  I am not trying to bring politics into this but I am sorry to say, the reality is those are the headline stories that are going to have marquette's pr people working overtime

[RJax55]

It was driven by the fact that this is even an issue because McAdams knew the stunt he was trying to pull. He was looking for the headline and that's the most irritating part of this.

And now he finally becomes the martyr. In the end, he wins.

[Galway Eagle]

Where'd the poll come from? I didn't add that to my original post... I think...

[exercisevanity]

This has NOTHING to do with gay marriage. NOTHING!

I disagree. This case is dripping with political undertones. Anyone who tends to follow Roman Catholicism more dogmatically will have a stronger tendency to be appalled by the behavior of the TA first, and will forgive McAdams's transgressions on "journalistic necessity" grounds. Those who tend to agree with the TA's stance on gay marriage and feel that the anonymous student is a homophobic weasel will be more likely to interpret this situation against McAdams; they will consider him a bully with an axe to grind against the lesbian Department Chair and the "Vegan-feminist" Cheryl Abbate.

These preconceptions will influence the interpretation of the case.

Personally, I think Lovell's PR statement is dripping with bull, but I tend to believe what Holz wrote to McAdams. This is a case of death by one thousand cuts. Over time, McAdams has proven unable to restrain himself on his blog, and this situation is simply the tipping point. I think the ultra-liberal philosophy department lobbied Lovell to take this case to the bank and cash it, and he agreed with the department over McAdams's claim of tenure.

What better time to clean house than with a new President? Marquette administration has known for a long time that this guy is a headache, and quite frankly, hired or fired, the guy is going to generate negative PR against the University. I wouldn't be surprised if administration is thinking of this as a bit of a hedge:  the odds that McAdams will embroil himself in something even more inflammatory than this case in the future is probably pretty high! So why not fire him now, take the lumps, and avoid the next inevitable abortion-gay-Muslim flare up that might spin out of control?

That being said, I disagree with the decision. I think termination is one step too far. I get the feeling that McAdams is scared despite his outward blogging confidence. His recent statements have included more grammatical errors than usual, and his writing a bit more erratic. In other words, I think that the threat of termination would have been sufficient to control his behavior. But administration is going for the throat, and they're not going to balk at this point.

I feel that termination is one step too far because the whole issue presents such lively debate. Sure, close-minded trolls will claim there is no room for debate, but let's face it, this is an interesting set of facts. Let's start with the TA:  are faculty allowed to criticize her on the same terms as a normal faculty member? Probably not, because she is a student, but on the flip-side, I feel the the students should then have more access to the Department Chair, to openly present controversial decisions made by the TA. This would balance the equation. It sounds as if the little weaselly spy bastard (the one person in this whole thing I despise) didn't get a fair shake from Nancy Snow when he visited with her.  -- the conversation probably never had a chance, considering Snow's own preconceived notions about gay marriage, but I consider her a bad actor here because she should have granted more weight to a student bringing her concerns about a TA.

Next, McAdams. He made plenty of big-time mistakes in this matter, but I'll bet he never saw this one coming. He is operating under the impression that he is at liberty to pursue and publish these controversies under journalistic pretenses, but I think he is mistaken. His constant references to "Journalism 101" have no bearing on his relationship to Marquette's principles. The biggest mistake he made is forgetting who pays his salary -- it's the students, the customers. Lovell knows that the first order of business is to make Marquette an attractive place for students.

In the end, academic tenure has to mean something, and no amount of Lovell spin can change that. He made a business decision, and he appeased a long-standing wish of the philosophy department (ranked 97th in the nation...) to rid themselves of McAdams. He did it because the opportunity presented itself, and he did it to hedge against bigger future headaches. You might say this is as big as it can get, but I doubt it. Middle of winter, basketball team ain't hot right now, this won't go viral.

The reason Lovell's decision is wrong is simple in my mind:  tenure should protect faculty against statements and decisions that can be reasonably debated. McAdams's decision to go public about an issue of controversy is reasonable to many, including me, and his equating a TA to a faculty position (and thus crapping on her no differently than he has other faculty in his blogs), actually presents an interesting debate regarding the prevalence of TA leadership in the classroom, and how much actual faculty supervision is necessary to assure classroom integrity. McAdams may be a pompous ass, and he might very well be Professor McCrabby, but that shouldn't be enough. Academia does not equal the rest of the business world.

[MUfan12]

Vanity, you summed up how I feel about this better than I can. Thanks for posting.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Good. I dont want MU to be associated with professors like him. Good riddance.

[exercisevanity]

Wait, does Left Shark have... pit stains?

[exercisevanity]

Good. I dont want MU to be associated with professors like him. Good riddance.

In other words, the ends justify the means. That shouldn't be good enough.

[Galway Eagle]

In other words, the ends justify the means. That shouldn't be good enough.

I would argue that it does. I agree wholeheartedly with your earlier post till the student was essentially forced to transfer out due to the hate mail she was receiving from McAdams lapse in judgement. Had that not happened I would agree that this is too far and believe that a slap on the wrist would do just fine. 

[reinko]

http://mu-warrior.blogspot.com/2015/02/marquette-to-warrior-blogger-were-going.html?m=1

[tower912]

And they say you can't get rid of professors with tenure.   

[rocket surgeon]

I understand this case is more complicated than this, but Johnny is going to or already has become ground zero for conservatives cry against the liberal stranglehold on education in general and universities more specifically.  As one national talk show host put it last week, conservatives are getting very sick and tired of being the minority voice on campuses all over the nation while getting the beat down all over. I don't believe this will have a happy ending. This may have more repercussions than the warrior name boondoggle. We may even see the warrior thingy play into this as just another example of where this university is going and again, many do not like the direction and/or the national pub.