linfield university controversy

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, including about Jewish noses as well as the Holocaust. She was 87. ( JTA) In the latest developments in an ongoing controversy at Linfield University over the firing of a tenured Jewish professor who accused the school of antisemitism, a report from the. Friedman.. 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. Linfield University. Dr. Bull served in numerous capacities and was a leader in opening new career paths for women in the corporate and educational fields. 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. The Anti-Defamation League and Oregon Board of Rabbis also asked him to resign. We've also seen the firings of two faculty members at Collin College for criticizing their administration about their COVID-19 reopening plans, . 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. He said Pollack-Pelzners firing was a personnel issue that Im not a party to and I have no opinion one way or the other about it., Pollack-Pelzners firing has led to an outcry among professors worldwide. Additionally, the ADL encouraged Linfield leadership to attend trainings on bias and antisemitism. Learn with FIRE provides learners with the opportunity to take courses on a wide range of topics, including free speech and due process, designed by our expert staff. 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. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which aims to defend student and faculty freedom of speech on campus, sent a letter to Davis on Thursday night demanding that he reverse Pollack-Pelzners termination, condemning what it called reckless conduct., The Shakespeare Association of America also backed Pollack-Pelzner, who teaches about Shakespeare, writing,Whistleblowers should not be punished and anti-semitism and other forms of racism should be condemned., A 2018 photo of the Linfield University campus in McMinnville, Ore. (George Rose/Getty Images). Dr. Davis said that an investigation had reached the same conclusion about the accusations against Mr. Nixon, who could not be reached. Linfield laid this, and other allegations, out in a statement last year from the Executive Committee of the universitys board of trustees. How Biden Intends to Misuse the CHIPS Act, Academic Freedom Is Under Siege by Anti-Israel Politics. 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. Baca, a 1978 Linfield graduate and partner in the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm, recently was reelected to another three-year term on the board and remains its chair. 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. Please enter your email address. This coded language plays off racist and toxic stereotypes with a long history in this country.. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner, Dr. Linder, Dr. Tompkins, Dr. Friedman and two other professors who had received requests to speak to the group responded in an email that investigating employees who have reported harassment and retaliation, no matter how well-intentioned the investigation is itself an act of retaliation., As the controversy has dragged on, Mr. Baca, the board chairman, has tried to reassure students and others on campus who have protested the handling of the sexual misconduct accusations, writing in a letter to the Linfield community last July, I believe that you are safe, that there is justice and that the trustees are protecting you.. The boards executive committee has repeatedly expressed its confidence in Davis and Baca, and the board is poised to vote at its next meeting to eliminate the voting faculty trustee seat and add nonvoting faculty members. Baca has been on the board for13 years. In fact, there is one felony charge against Jubb, along with seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor in Oregon. The small private university has weathered controversy recently, with the high-profile departure of a faculty member who drew attention to accusations of sexual harassment by school leaders. Linfield University has agreed to pay just over $1 million to settle a whistleblower suit filed by tenured English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, who accused the university of firing him. Faces of Research: Meet Aaron Stebner - February 13, 2023. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. One of those trustees resigned in 2019 and has been charged with sexual abuse. On Friday, the local branch of the N.A.A.C.P. FIREs 2022 College Free Speech Rankings are based on the voices of more than 44,000 currently enrolled students at 208 colleges and are designed to help parents and prospective students choose the right school. It has even pitted the N.A.A.C.P., which has cited racial bias in the accusations against Dr. Davis, against the Anti-Defamation League, which has joined in calls for Dr. Daviss resignation. As the controversy has dragged on, Mr. Baca, the board chairman, has tried to reassure students and others on campus who have protested the handling of the sexual misconduct accusations, writing. Linfields trustees failed see that deeply held resistance to Black leadership and culture fueled the ferocity of resistance to organization change, the report said. Regardless, I asked for and received his resignation from the Board.. Across the country, colleges and universities have been wrestling with allegations of sexual misconduct, racial discrimination and anti-Semitism. So eight criminal charges total, not all of them felonies. The professor said he tried notifying his bosses about sexual harassment. Pollack-Pelzners tweets stated that he was censored by the board in meetings. Lorraine Hansberrys second play had a white Jewish protagonist. 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. On Thursday, he recalled discussing the physical characteristics of Jews and Arabs and making the point that this portrayal of Shylock with the hook nose is just ludicrous.. Colleen Flaherty April 19, 2021 (Daniel Pollack-Pelzner/Twitter) Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. Linfield University is a private institution that was founded in 1858. 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. The refusal to take this action, and the defiant tone within these messages about the possibility of even considering such a step, perpetuates an image of Linfield as an organization that is not adequately addressing sexual misconduct allegations, Miller wrote. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. gave support to his account of racial bias, releasing a report that praised Dr. Daviss leadership and said he had been subjected to unfair personal attacks because of his race. The firing of a tenured professor at Linfield University in Oregon without a hearing has sparked a controversy involving allegations of anti-Semitism, racism, and claims that sexual. The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. statement last year from the Executive Committee of the universitys board of trustees. Linfield stands against xenophobia, racism, antisemitism and sexual misconduct in all forms.. Some of those counts relate to a female Linfield student who filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 stating that Jubb had sexually assaulted her, inappropriately touching and grabbing her without her consent. No competent university leader could credibly believe that tenured faculty are at-will employees. Jewish and Arab noses, he explained, are actually around the same size. An open letter signed by more than 1,800 professors says that Linfield denied Pollack-Pelzner due process. 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. If a person walks up and punches a student in the face, youre telling me I need to go convene a group of people before I take any action against them?. Linfield is inventing policies on the fly to justify its retaliation against a tenured faculty member. Davis invited the NAACP to investigate whether he was subject to racist treatment after he was accused both of antisemitism as well as sexual assault. Finally, the President said that people like me were destroying [Linfield] from within and could only show loyalty by accepting the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, Pollack-Pelzner tweeted. The reports only reference to the allegations of antisemitism comes in a rebuttal to the Jewish organizations that demanded Davis resignation. Pollack-Pelzner tweeted that after he passed on misconduct reports, he faced comments related to his religion from the head of the human resources department and the board chair, and he had also heard President Davis talk about measuring the size of Jewish noses. In addition, Pollack-Pelzner said that Davis told him people were overreacting to swastikas that had appeared on campus. It contains 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. The report finds that Linfield's administration violated the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the institution's own regulations, which incorporate AAUP . 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. 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.. In a letter responding to the ADL, Davis invited the group to meet following the academic year but rebuffed the call to resign. (Courtesy of Linfield University). 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. The university exists as a powerful reminder that threats to academic freedom often come not from ideologues but from administrators who fear criticism and have no business running a university. 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! "After 13 years on the Board and four years as chair, Dave decided it was in Linfield's best interest that he step down and allow new leaders to come to the forefront," Scott Nelson, university spokesman, told The Oregonian. ", 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. February 13, 2023 to Meet following the Academic year but rebuffed call! 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