When asked whether the faculty-handbook procedures had been followed in Pollack-Pelzners firing, Davis said that the handbook had not been updated and that there are a number of things in that handbook that are not valid. The handbook says Fall 2020" on its title page, and the most recent update was in January of this year. As for whether he faces eight felony charges or one felony charge and seven misdemeanors, the remark is substantially true: He does, in fact, face eight criminal charges. The firing, previously reported by The Oregonian, has added to the extraordinary turmoil at Linfield, which was founded in 1858 as a Baptist college and offers liberal arts, business and nursing programs. Kerry Carmody, the board's vice chair, was named . said Dr. Davis had contacted it last month with concerns about racial bias. The handbook was last updated in January of this year, according to the Chronicle. Linfield University locations: McMinnville Campus 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 503-883-2200. (JTA) Criticism is mounting over the firing of a Jewish professor who accused his Oregon universitys leadership of making antisemitic comments, with the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League joining calls for the president of the school to resign. Promising to be open about budget cuts, he quoted a former professor of his who used to make the analogy, You dont send the Jews to the shower with soap, Dr. Linder said. Joe Wilferth, dean of arts and sciences, also wrote to faculty members to say, In my experience over the last seven months, what has been written and shared in these various outlets, even on university e-mail lists, only serves to exacerbate what is arguably an already-hostile work environment., The boards executive committee recently endorsed a deans proposal that the campus engage in mediation to facilitate a culture of understanding and mutual respect that leads to university-wide cooperation and collaboration including the articulation of standards related to professional responsibilities and an institutional code of conduct., Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, professor of English, underscored the university's desire to adopt a code of conduct and she sees it as an "egregious violation of academic freedom.Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, another professor of English who has criticized the university publicly, wrote on Twitter, So, in response to allegations of misconduct, @LinfieldUniv has shut down student comments on Instagram, censored critical posts on Facebook, and suspended campus email lists. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. A group of Stanford faculty are publicly objecting to a campus harm reporting system they say chills campus speech. Pioneer Hall is seen through the signature oak trees at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., Tuesday, May 21, 2019. That concession is damning for Davis and Linfields claim that Pollack-Pelzners allegation is defamatory. No competent university leader could credibly believe that tenured faculty are at-will employees. The Chronicle conducted interviews with Linfields dissembling leadership as they frantically grasp for any credible explanation for why they terminated a tenured faculty member with no process a severance so quick that the professor learned of his termination because he got an auto-response from his own email address explaining that Daniel Pollack-Pelzner is no longer an employee of Linfield University.. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. I dont know how anybody could feel safe in this environment., Linfield University Fires Professor Who Spoke Out About Misconduct Cases, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/us/Linfield-university-professor-fired.html. If Baca isnt going to step down, he should at least apologize for the tone of his statement, Miller wrote Friday in an email to Linfield faculty. 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,. Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212. It could hardly be clearer. 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. Last year, Linfields faculty assembly voted it had no confidence in Baca, specifically in his ability to handle sexual harassment reporting, according to reporting from Linfields student newspaper The Linfield Review. Across the country, colleges and universities have been wrestling with allegations of sexual misconduct, racial discrimination and anti-Semitism. 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. As the fallout continues over Linfield Universitys summary termination of a tenured professor with no process whatsoever the Chronicle of Higher Educations new story on the controversy is a must-read. An open letter signed by more than 1,800 professors says that Linfield denied Pollack-Pelzner due process. It said that he had been called divisive, intimidating, combative, aggressive, disrespectful and abusive, which the report called coded racist language. 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 ADL, the report says, failed to conduct any independent investigation, preferring to simply believe the complaint despite the fact the University had already conducted an independent review. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Linfield - Nursing is a private university located in Portland, Oregon. Linfield University. 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. The local ADL representative did not respond to a call for comment on Friday. Regarding the Listservs, Linfields vice president for finance and administration wrote to faculty and staff members over the weekend to say that based on the request of many faculty we are pausing access to global and college/school emails lists due to the use of these lists to send unsolicited messages. Even mass emails about the general education revision are paused, and Linfield requests that all broad correspondence be vetted and distributed by the vice presidents office. We . In addition, the schools president, Miles K. Davis, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that he had in fact made a comment about the size of Jewish noses to Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, the professor who was fired this week. 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. 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. The American Association of University professors has joined the effort, assailing the reckless and dangerous termination as a clear violation of the core principles of academic freedom and tenure.. Davis also noted that two of the trustees who were accused of sexual misconduct are African-American. The Oregon Board of Rabbis called on Dr. Davis and Mr. Baca to resign. Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education. 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. But Davis should resign for firing Pollack-Pelzner, allegedly for cause. One faculty trustee also accused board members of anti-Semitism, and the arts and sciences faculty voted overwhelmingly that it has no confidence in President Miles Davis or David Baca, board chair. But rarely have the three collided at the highest levels of leadership, as they have at Linfield University, a small, historically Baptist college in Oregons wine country, which celebrated the appointment of its first Black president in 2018. 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. Tenure and contracts are not Calvinball. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. Linfield has extensive and robust programs to educate and train students, faculty and staff on matters of discrimination, sexual harassment and misconduct, and intolerance, Davis wrote. 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. He wrote that he went to the bar because he wanted to keep a watch.. 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. But then theres also, maybe, a reaction to who is bringing the change., Dr. Davis said he was particularly stung by the claims of anti-Semitism, calling it the thing that bothers me the most. Last year, he denied making the remark about Jewish noses, and an investigator hired by the university called it a he said, he said situation that could not be substantiated. Pioneer Hall on the Linfield University campus in McMinnville, Ore. [11] He said he would leave if my departure would benefit the university.. "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. 8025 Linfield Way #1, Atlanta GA, is a Townhouse home that contains 2509 sq ft and was built in 2020.It contains 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. No competent university leader could credibly believe that tenured faculty are at-will employees. Lost your password? So to Speak podcast transcript: What is academic freedom? The university respects that individuals are free to express their opinions on social media, but that doesnt make them accurate, Nelson said. 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 . Students as well as fellow academics are also protesting the decision by Linfield University, a Baptist-affiliated school with some 2,000 students, to fire Daniel Pollack-Pelzner. Davis stated that none of the allegations in Pollack-Pelzners tweets are recent and that they were all initially raised nearly a year ago. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. U of California Bans Fully Online Degrees, ChatGPT can help students and faculty with ADHD (opinion), Students Hold Protests of Connecticut College President, The English Degree Is Great Job Preparation | Just Visiting, University of California system bans fully online degrees, Advice for how colleges can avoid or end toxic work cultures (opinion), Hear this: a guide to writing an academic English listening test, Introduce coaching principles into your work in four easy steps, How to create university-wide timetables using free, open-source software, Supervising neurodiverse postgraduate researchers, Its worth rethinking how we engage graduates they can be teaching gold, President mulls firing complainers after end to Faculty Senate, Provost makes bestiality joke, reacting to concern for LGBTQ faculty, New gallon drinking trend takes off at college campuses, A professor's job is endangered for teaching about race, Frustrated DEI staff are leaving their jobs, Making space for students in class during troubled times (opinion), GW, Already Accused of Antisemitism, Called Anti-Palestinian, Advocacy group survey: Faculty fear backlash for free speech, Supreme Court Justices Skeptical of Debt Relief, New College of Florida Trustees Ax DEI Office, D.C. Higher Ed Leaders Propose Gun Violence Solutions, NYC Comptroller Urges Yeshiva U to Recognize LGBTQ Group, Ore. Lawmaker Seeks Sexual Misconduct Survey for All Colleges, New Report on the Resilience of Puerto Rican Universities. 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. Allegations of anti-Semitism, sexual misconduct and racial discrimination have led to turmoil on the small Oregon campus. The Oregonian/OregonLive generally doesnt identify alleged victims of sexual abuse but Motis said she wanted to be named after filing a lawsuit against the school. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner also said that Dr. Davis had made a comment in 2018 about measuring the size of Jewish noses when the professor had mentioned that he was teaching The Merchant of Venice, which features Shylock, a character often criticized as an anti-Semitic stereotype. But affording a faculty member some kind of process before imposing any disciplinary action Davis wants? Colleen Flaherty April 19, 2021 (Daniel Pollack-Pelzner/Twitter) 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 of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found itself at the center of a national controversy in May, when news broke that the UNC board of trustees diverted from the normal tenure process and declined to consider tenure for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, despite a faculty recommendation that she be hired with tenure. Linfield University is affiliated with American Baptist Churches, USA. ( JTA) Linfield University, a small school in Oregon, has fired a Jewish professor who accused the university president of making antisemitic remarks. In his recent statement, Baca said his email to trustees announcing Jubbs resignation was supposed to be a private note., For those who expected me to publicly denounce Mr. Jubb, I would remind them that there had not been an investigation and there were no findings. 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. 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. In his first detailed statement on the complaints, Baca wrote that he regretted, that we did not strictly enforce an order that Mr. Jubb refrain from fraternizing with students during the evening when the second incident allegedly took place., He said he realized too late that a mistake had been made in allowing Mr. Jubb to attend the bar gathering after the faculty/trustee dinner. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. Be a part of it! Pollack-Pelzner and two other professors accused Davis of making antisemitic comments about Jewish noses and the Holocaust, but Davis denied the allegations. The Linfield Curriculum The core general-education courses teach critical thinking and communication skills and provide a rich, broad experience. 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. Linfield by-laws require a lengthy process including multiple hearings, which did not happen in Pollack-Pelzners case. Daviss answer is wildly implausible on its face and incomprehensibly at odds with the basic conception of tenure. Fr nhere Informationen zur Nutzung Ihrer Daten lesen Sie bitte unsere Datenschutzerklrung und Cookie-Richtlinie. The governing council of a national academic association this week voted to censure Linfield University over the abrupt firing of tenured English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, an advocate. How Oregon researchers are testing 3D printing to reconstruct bone. 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. He acknowledged the university still has work to do, particularly surrounding implicit bias and microaggressions. He continued: What I want is for Linfield to be a place where everyone feels that they can report whats happened to them without fear of harassment or retaliation and that we can have the education and the community commitment we need to prevent these abuses from happening in the first place.. Throughout a controversy that has resulted in two separate no-confidence votes, Davis and the board that supports him have behaved like petty tyrants, altering the colleges governance structure, suspending mass faculty emails, and insisting that all broad correspondence be vetted by the vice president of finance and administration. There will be a trial and the facts will be determined by a jury. I havent seen any indication that people in positions of power at Linfield want to hold themselves accountable., Other organizations have also come out in Pollack-Pelzners defense. I promised my students and colleagues that I would heed their concerns and make sure that people in positions of power would not violate their power, he said. Jubb has pleaded not guilty to the charges. This coded language plays off racist and toxic stereotypes with a long history in this country.. The reports only reference to the allegations of antisemitism comes in a rebuttal to the Jewish organizations that demanded Davis resignation. That is our challenge and our charge.. The Office of Alumni Engagement Melrose Hall 503-883-2547 alumni@linfield.edu Meet our team His recent Twitter posting is just the latest salvo in an effort that has caused harm to the university and our community.. U of California Bans Fully Online Degrees, ChatGPT can help students and faculty with ADHD (opinion), Students Hold Protests of Connecticut College President, The English Degree Is Great Job Preparation | Just Visiting, University of California system bans fully online degrees, Advice for how colleges can avoid or end toxic work cultures (opinion), Hear this: a guide to writing an academic English listening test, Introduce coaching principles into your work in four easy steps, How to create university-wide timetables using free, open-source software, Supervising neurodiverse postgraduate researchers, Its worth rethinking how we engage graduates they can be teaching gold, President mulls firing complainers after end to Faculty Senate, Provost makes bestiality joke, reacting to concern for LGBTQ faculty, New gallon drinking trend takes off at college campuses, A professor's job is endangered for teaching about race, Frustrated DEI staff are leaving their jobs, Making space for students in class during troubled times (opinion), GW, Already Accused of Antisemitism, Called Anti-Palestinian, Advocacy group survey: Faculty fear backlash for free speech, Supreme Court Justices Skeptical of Debt Relief, New College of Florida Trustees Ax DEI Office, D.C. Higher Ed Leaders Propose Gun Violence Solutions, NYC Comptroller Urges Yeshiva U to Recognize LGBTQ Group, Ore. Lawmaker Seeks Sexual Misconduct Survey for All Colleges, New Report on the Resilience of Puerto Rican Universities. Linfield served as Dean of Women from 1921 to 1928, and sat on the Board of Directors from 1922 to her death in 1940. Welcome to Linfield University Discover a community where acceptance is an unbreakable promise and being uncommon is the norm. WiMSE Partners to Help Invisible Homeless - January 26, 2023. All rights reserved (About Us). That is exactly what FIRE is telling Davis and the institution he currently leads. Explore the scintillating March 2023 issue of Commentary. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner, who was hired by the university in 2010 and has written about theater and the arts as a contributor for The New York Times, said he had been fired without a hearing or any of the other due process protections normally granted to tenured faculty members. Miles K. Davis, president of Linfield University, a long-ingrained American response to look away, The fallout across industries has been swift. The NAACP report, published Friday and sent to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, says Davis was treated unfairly due to racism at the school. (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 anti-Semitism, a report from the. 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.. The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. And as for whether this handbook had been approved by Linfields administration? Zestimate Home Value: $439,900. We've also seen the firings of two faculty members at Collin College for criticizing their administration about their COVID-19 reopening plans, . With Linfield . He told the Chronicle that his comment had been informed by his time in the Middle East. Please enter your email address. Police, security agencies advise Jews to be on alert ahead of planned National Day of Hate on Shabbat, American citizen killed in latest West Bank shooting amid escalating violence, This Orthodox Jewish model made history at New York Fashion Week. The university said he had vigorously denied the allegations. former faculty member Daniel Pollack-Pelzner brought to light allegations. Klicken Sie auf Einstellungen verwalten um weitere Informationen zu erhalten und Ihre Einstellungen zu verwalten. If your rights are in jeopardy, get in touch with us: thefire.org/alarm. MSE News. Jubb has pleaded not guilty to sex abuse charges. 510 Walnut St. | Suite 1250 Linfield University President Miles K. Davis on Friday rebuffed calls to resign and defended this week's abrupt firing of an English professor who criticized him. 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. Im trying to figure out what my options are. Last week Linfield professor and faculty trustee Daniel Pollack-Pelzner tweeted that he faced antisemitic comments after he reported that multiple members of the university's Board of Trustees. 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. Allegations of Anti-Semitism at Linfield The university's ongoing sexual misconduct scandal involving trustees is a two-headed monster, now that one faculty trustee says he faced anti-Semitism for pushing for reform. Linfield is inventing policies on the fly to justify its retaliation against a tenured faculty member. Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The Rent Zestimate for this home is $3,499/mo, which has decreased by $500/mo in the last 30 days. 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. Davis said he didnt remember Pollack-Pelzners mentioning he was Jewish. Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive, told the newspaper in May that the school failed to intervene as promised, Jubb is accused of sexually abusing student-trustee AnnaMarie Motis. 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. Linfield stands against xenophobia, racism, antisemitism and sexual misconduct in all forms.. In a related case, Linfield faces a whistle-blower lawsuit from a former professor, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, who says he was fired for standing up to the board about sexual misconduct and discrimination. 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.). On Thursday, Pollack-Pelzner told JTA that he learned he was fired only when he discovered he was locked out of his work email. Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. 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.