Political science professor John McAdams will be out of a job for conduct that doesn't appear to violate any explicit rules at Marquette University.
His mortal sin? Blogging.
College Fix readers are well aware of the McAdams' saga: The conservative professor called out a graduate teaching instructor who told a student he couldn't openly disagree with gay marriage in class – at a Catholic university, of all places. He got banned from campus, apparently because he named a grad student … who happens to have authority over undergrads.
McAdams shared a lengthy letter he got from Dean Richard Holz saying that he was getting fired because he "chose to shame and intimidate [the grad student] with an Internet story that was incompetent, inaccurate, and lacking in integrity, respect for other's opinions, and appropriate restraint."
"If Marquette can fire a tenured professor for criticizing a fellow teacher on a blog, then tenure at Marquette is worthless, as are freedom of speech and academic freedom," said FIRE Executive Director Robert Shibley. "While this is more than likely just an excuse to get rid of McAdams, the fact that McAdams's supposed offense was criticizing a teacher for squelching dissenting opinions in class only makes Marquette's utter contempt for dissenters more obvious."
The American Association of University Professors' Academe blog says Holz's letter citing its policies is a "complete distortion" of its statements.
