By james art The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted unanimously to remove former UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow from his faculty position on Sept. 27 for making pornographic videos with his wife, according to WKOW.
Gow was previously fired from his position as chancellor in June 2023, following the initial revelation of his pornographic activities, when a faculty committee voted 5-0 to recommend Gow’s termination after a hearing that assessed the consequences of his actions, according to WKOW.
According to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Academic freedom and the First Amendment are not the same thing, so an employee’s contract can have guidelines limiting certain activities, said UW-Madison law professor Anuj Desai.
“When you become an employee, you have a contract with the employer,” Desai said. “And sometimes that contract has written terms and … sometimes there are contractual terms that aren’t written down — they’re just assumed.”
Those written parts are called express terms of employment, while implied terms are implied, Desai said.
According to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression press releasefiring Gow would violate the First Amendment — which, FIRE said, protects the right of educators to create pornography.
The Board of Regents reaffirmed its commitment to the principle of academic freedom, emphasizing that it allows faculty members to speak both as scholars and as private citizens without receiving discipline from the university, according to Regency Policy Paper 4-21.
“The question of whether a staff member could create pornography in their spare time would not be in the terms of employment of an ordinary faculty member, whether expressly or impliedly,” Desai said.
According to the Board of Regents’ policy document, academic freedom comes with the responsibility to comply with professional regulations and obligations.
Universities must strike a balance between providing a platform for open dialogue while maintaining standards of professional conduct, according to the policy document.
“If you’re being punished for something that you did completely off the job, and which both parties agree was off the job, that’s different from punishing you for something you’re going to claim is part of your scientific program.” Desai said.
Gow’s case raises important questions about the extent to which personal actions, even those done outside of work hours, can affect professional standing and institutional reputation, Desai said.
Gow responded to his termination and said he intended to sue the university for violating his right to free speech, according to Spectrum news.
“The people who fired me today are not a ‘Board of Regents,’ they are a ‘Board of Hypocrites,'” Gow said in a statement from Spectrum News.