Baca came under scrutiny most recently earlier this year when former faculty member Daniel Pollack-Pelzner brought to light allegations of harassment and anti-Semitism among Linfield leadership. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner said he had taken the letter as a personal attack, adding that he had been ordered not to talk about sexual misconduct outside of executive session and had then been banned from attending the sessions and finally fired after speaking out on Twitter. If you face retaliation over protected speech, reach out to FIRE to learn more about how we can protect your rights. Linfield Universitys actions are a crystal-clear violation of its own policy on firing a tenured professor for cause. The dismissal of a tenured faculty member for cause, the handbook says, must relate to the fitness of faculty members in their professional capacities as teachers or researchers, not to their generation of bad publicity for the college. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The outside investigator found the faculty members report to be substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence, but said that it did not rise to the level of violating Linfields harassment or Title IX policy. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The university, which has about 1,900 students and 139 faculty members, maintains an affiliation with the American Baptist Churches U.S.A. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner lost his post a month after he had outlined multiple accusations of anti-Semitism and sexual misconduct by university leaders in a statement on Twitter. The Oregon Board of Rabbis called on Dr. Davis and Mr. Baca to resign. Portland Campus 2900 NE 132nd Ave Portland, Oregon 97230 971-369-4100. eCampus Online and Continuing Education (OCE) Online degrees and certificates 503-883-2200 Link to home page . Tenure and contracts are not Calvinball. The president said that it had nothing to do with his fitness as a teacher or a researcher (though thats the standard, according to the faculty handbook). According to the summary of the independent investigation of that report, which was provided to OPB, Davis had approached the faculty member from behind, and rubbed his hands up and down the professors arms while saying he looked forward to a scheduled meeting. 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. In a statement, the university said Dr. Pollack-Pelzner had been fired for cause., He has engaged in conduct that is harmful to the university; deliberately violated instructions to preserve the attorney-client privilege, and deliberately circulated false statements about the university, its employees and its board and refused to comply with university policies, the statement said. Pollack-Pelzner said he hopes Linfield puts its energy toward building a safer and more supportive community for everyone instead of focusing its energy on him. Im trying to figure out what my options are. That was related to complaints of misconduct about former board member David Jubb, who was indicted last year on multiple counts of sexual abuse some of those counts relating to a female Linfield student who filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 against Jubb. Daviss answer is wildly implausible on its face and incomprehensibly at odds with the basic conception of tenure. 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. The university said he had vigorously denied the allegations. That is exactly what FIRE is telling Davis and the institution he currently leads. Fr nhere Informationen zur Nutzung Ihrer Daten lesen Sie bitte unsere Datenschutzerklrung und Cookie-Richtlinie. Linfield - Nursing alumni go on to earn a starting salary of $47,300. A lawyer hired by the university substantiated Dr. Friedmans claim that Dr. Davis had put his hands on her arms but found that the conduct had not violated Linfields anti-harassment and sexual harassment policy. 510 Walnut St. | Suite 1250 You are now subscribed to FIRE Updates. 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! Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212. But my fellow trustees, who are very familiar with the events, have urged me to remain as Chairman. It said that he had been called divisive, intimidating, combative, aggressive, disrespectful and abusive, which the report called coded racist language. But Davis should resign for firing Pollack-Pelzner, allegedly for cause. Based on that investigation, the NAACP criticized the ADL and Oregon Board of Rabbis for calling on Davis to resign. This is purportedly an example as Linfield said in response to media inquiries of the conduct that is harmful to the university that necessitated Pollack-Pelzners immediate termination, but its not clear what the universitys interest is at all. The FIRE Legal Network is a nationwide group of attorneys to whom we refer cases when counsel is necessary and the matter at issue falls outside the scope of FIREs mission or ability to assist. If this were to be credited, Davis Linfields president for the last three years either did not know that Linfield had guidelines for terminating tenured faculty members, believes that the university has replaced those policies, or believes that the current policies were implemented without his administrations approval. He said that as an African-American man, he understands the need for education, training and community engagement on matters of discrimination and intolerance.. The Anti-Defamation League and Oregon Board of Rabbis also asked him to resign. The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to Linfield Universitys Board of Trustees on Thursday expressing disappointment and concern over claims of antisemitism chronicled in a professors social media posts. He also insisted that the remark was part of an academic discussion and wasnt meant to be offensive. All rights reserved (About Us). Linfield is inventing policies on the fly to justify its retaliation against a tenured faculty member. In another account, a faculty member accused Linfield President Davis of misconduct. If your rights are in jeopardy, get in touch with us: thefire.org/alarm. statement last year from the Executive Committee of the universitys board of trustees. FIRE defends the rights of students and faculty members no matter their views at public and private universities and colleges in the United States. As Linfield adapts to meet the needs of a new generation of students and the demands of a quickly evolving world of higher education, the Board also has to adapt and change. Linfield University locations: McMinnville Campus 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 503-883-2200. Now people. Linfield has fired Pollack-Pelzner both as a punishment for his publicly holding the University responsible and as a warning to every other member of the faculty, the letter says. 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. The fact that Linfield violated its own policies is so clear that President Davis can only assert that the handbook, which was revised as recently as 2020 and is almost certainly contractually binding, is woefully out of date. As more than one reporter has observed, the employee handbook, which Davis asserts is a better guide, refers readers to the very appendix in which the procedures Linfield failed to follow are set forth. According to The Oregonian, the university has hosed down sidewalk-chalk messages supporting Pelzner, threatening the students who wrote them with fines, and has torn down flyers criticizing his termination. He said racial bias might be a factor in the accusations. reporting from Linfields student newspaper The Linfield Review. Instead, he said, it was the result of Pollack-Pelzners having made a number of statements that were blatantly false. The example he cited is the professors stating, in a recent email to Linfield faculty members, that Jubb, the former trustee, faced eight felony counts. I think its incredulous that so many hurtful and disturbing and inappropriate comments have been made, Miri Cypers, the ADLs Pacific Northwest regional director, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. All Ive been trying to do for the last two years is to get Linfield leadership to follow its own policies. David Baca, the embattled chair of Linfield Universitys board of trustees, said he offered to resign after a faculty vote of no confidence in late May over his handling of sexual abuse allegations against another trustee, but other trustees convinced him to stay on. That failure led to sexual abuse allegations against trustee David Jubb stemming from a 2019 encounter between Jubb and a student-trustee at a bar after a faculty-trustee dinner. No competent university leader could credibly believe that tenured faculty are at-will employees. But he pushed back hard on the allegations surfaced recently by Pollack-Pelzner. Carmody has been on the board since 2008. Pioneer Hall is seen through the signature oak trees at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. 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. By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org. He said the university had ordered Mr. Jubb to stop fraternizing with students after he was first accused of misconduct in 2018. Reginald Richardson, the president of the local NAACP chapter, told JTA that he trusted the independent investigation of the antisemitism claims, and that Pollack-Pelzners firing was outside the scope of the NAACP report. 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. Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. On Thursday, Pollack-Pelzner told JTA that he learned he was fired only when he discovered he was locked out of his work email. 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. And theres been a total lack of accountability on the part of the school to take responsibility for whats happened and to engage in an honest conversation.. These are real issues that Linfield has to deal with, and I understand the impulse to blame the messenger and claim that the harm is in the act of reporting rather than whats being reported, but Im hopeful that if we continue to shed a light on these abuses of power that that will allow us eventually to be able to rebuild and heal, Pollack-Pelzner said. 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. Linfield University, a liberal arts college in Oregon, claims repeatedly in its faculty handbook to honor academic freedom. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. The AAUP released the report of an investigating committee on the dismissal of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured English professor and endowed chair in Shakespeare studies at Linfield University in Oregon. Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern. Linfield - Nursing is a private university located in Portland, Oregon. I am honored to serve this great institution as Interim Chair. Pollack-Pelzners tweets stated that he was censored by the board in meetings. 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. Pollack-Pelzner whose case has become a cause celebre among American academics did not agree to speak with the NAACP for its investigation, and the report does not substantively address his termination or his allegations, relying instead on the independent investigation that could not substantiate them. ( JTA) Linfield University, a small school in Oregon, has fired a Jewish professor who accused the university president of making antisemitic remarks. The most serious of the sexual misconduct allegations involved a trustee, David Jubb, who resigned in June 2019 and was charged in an indictment last May with one count of felony sexual abuse and seven counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse. former faculty member Daniel Pollack-Pelzner brought to light allegations. 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). Check out our library of resources to get started on your First Amendment journey! If this is what Linfield wants its faculty standards to look like, one would not need to look far to see how it will be abused.). As described in a federal lawsuit, Linfield board chair David Baca told trustees in June 2019 that veteran trustee David Jubb was resigning "due to health concerns,'' when he actually was facing sexual abuse allegations. 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. In an effort to squelch criticism, the colleges administrators caught the attention of major defenders of academic freedom, as well as the Anti-Defamation League. 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. In order to mitigate the harm caused by discrimination, or even the perception of discrimination, it is important that Linfield University thoroughly investigate the allegations raised, Cypers wrote. Linfield President Davis said in a statement that Carmody has the experience and enthusiasm to lead Linfield through this period of transformation and growth., He continued: He will bring fresh ideas and perspectives and shares our commitment to re-envisioning learning, challenging students to explore greater possibilities and building a welcoming and supportive community.. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. But that order was not strictly enforced, and Mr. Jubb was accused of sexual misconduct again in 2019, at an event Mr. Baca attended, he said. 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.. Pollack-Pelzner said he believed the antisemitism was partly in response to his asking the school to do more to address allegations of sexual assault. An open letter signed by more than 1,800 professors says that Linfield denied Pollack-Pelzner due process. Obviously, a university need not convene a unanimous jury before stopping ongoing physical violence. Linfield by-laws require a lengthy process including multiple hearings, which did not happen in Pollack-Pelzners case. 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 employee handbook every page of which is stamped Revised December 2020 (by Finance & Administration) expressly refers to the faculty handbook and specifically cites the faculty handbooks appendix laying out the procedural mechanisms for disciplinary action involving tenured faculty. They have recklessly exposed the university to a lawsuit. That lawsuit is still pending. And the Anti-Defamation Leagues Pacific Northwest office urged Dr. Davis to consider stepping down. 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. Davis is Linfields first Black president, and the report said that since 1970, no Black people have been elected as faculty trustee or faculty executive chair. With Linfield . It becomes an echo chamber that I have to spend my time defending, as opposed to looking at the scope of my lifes work, he said. Agre-Kippenhans theory that Linfield can do an end-run around faculty members due process protections by simply firing them as employees is almost clever. When he sent an email to the account from his personal email, he received an automatic response saying he no longer worked at the school. Here, you'll find full details on how to place either request. Davis said he didnt remember Pollack-Pelzners mentioning he was Jewish. Jewish and Arab noses, he explained, are actually around the same size. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. So which is it? And as for whether this handbook had been approved by Linfields administration? Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. Baca has been on the board for13 years. As I understand it from the documents we reviewed, the allegations of antisemitic comments were investigated by the university, so that was litigated and resolved, he said. 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. With their support, I will continue to lead the Board to the best of my ability and serve the university I love, he wrote in a statement the university released last week. Be a part of it! 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. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,283 (fall 2021), its setting is rural, and the campus size is 189 acres. 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 handbook needs to be revised or it was never approved? 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, Mr. Baca wrote. Linfield fires prof who raised sexual harassment, antisemitism allegations By Rob Manning (OPB) April 27, 2021 6:58 p.m. (Linfield students, on the other hand, are subject to the noblesse oblige and whims of Davis: The student handbook has a get-out-of-policy-free card for Davis, granting him the prerogative of total authority to act without consultation with any other person or conduct board to suspend or expel any student that Davis feels is acting contrary and dangerous to the university. 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