Republican justices on the Wisconsin
supreme court ruled yesterday that Marquette violated its contract with Prof.
John McAdams, a far-right wing faculty member who turned his mob of followers on
a Ph.D. student, Cheryl Abbate.
Ms. Abbate had shut-down a class
discussion where a student expressed homophobic opinions in class. McAdams took
up the cause of the “free speech” student, who recorded the class
discussion—clearly, an effort by the student to ignite controversy.
McAdams launched an unrelenting
crusade against Abbate. On his blog, McAdams “doxed” her, providing personal
identifying information to make it easy for others to harass her.
Vicious right-wingers threatened her
with rape, called her a “c*nt,” and harassed her to the point where she felt
unsafe. Abbate dyed her hair and retreated from campus life. Her classes were moved to an undisclosed location to keep her safe. Security guards were posted outside her
classroom. She left the university and resumed her educational career in
Colorado.
While researching academic freedom
court cases, I spoke to Abbate. She confirmed the published reports of this torrent of online abuse.
The case represents the
emerging Republican notion of free speech. This view is led by President Trump,
who under the guise of attacking political correctness, regularly tweets deeply
personal attacks-- some of them connoting violence, others racism.
A dissenting opinion criticized the majority
for sanitizing the dark facts of the case: “McAdams
threatened a Marquette student, the vice president for student affairs, a university
provost, and a Dean that he would "raise hell" on his blog if they
acted in a manner inconsistent with McAdams' wishes. McAdams pointedly told a
Dean to "be careful" because "you don't want to be on my
blog." Why would McAdams make such threats if he did not know what would
happen to those whose names were published?”
McAdams' case was based on a contract
that guaranteed him free speech, not the First Amendment.
Marquette said that “free speech cannot be used to launch personal attacks on its students.” The university added that the case “has never been about academic freedom or a professor’s political views. Had the professor published the same blog without the student-teacher’s name or contact information, he would not have been disciplined. Marquette has been, and always will be, committed to academic freedom.” The university said it will take steps to ensure that such a situation never happens again.
Marquette said that “free speech cannot be used to launch personal attacks on its students.” The university added that the case “has never been about academic freedom or a professor’s political views. Had the professor published the same blog without the student-teacher’s name or contact information, he would not have been disciplined. Marquette has been, and always will be, committed to academic freedom.” The university said it will take steps to ensure that such a situation never happens again.
The full opinion can be read here, https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=215236.
PHOTO CREDIT: Book Cover for J.G. Daniel, Hate or Be Hated
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