LACROSSE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse’s recent chancellor, Joe Gow, called it disappointing that he was fired in December for sex books and videos. “It’s very disappointing that it is clearly not only UW-L but the leadership of the UW system is so opposed to free speech and free expression,” Gow said at a public hearing. “When they say all the time ‘Oh we’re all about free speech, free expression,’ clearly in this case they’re not.” The hearing was at the Omni Center arena in suburban Onalaska. The issue was whether Gow should be allowed to retire a tenured faculty position, as is standard practice for retired chancellors. Months before the UW regents learned about the sex guides that Gow and his wife were producihg, he had announced his plan to retire this spring.
“Happy Sex Couple.” The videos were structured on Gow and wife, Carmen Wilson, share the kitchen joys of cooking together. They had a rotating support cast of established sex performers of their acquaintance. In this promotional image it’s Lauren Phillips in red. The “happy sex couple,” as Gow and Wilson called themselves, then would retreat by themselves to a bedroom formulaically for joys of a carnally explicit sort. Their stated purpose: To sexuality for peoplemofnallages. Gow is in his 60s, Wilson her 50s.
Regents: Gow knowingly went too far
At the adversarial hearing in Onalaska, te UW university system attorney, Wade Harrison, said tat Gow must have realized the sex books and video were unacceptable because, he alleged, they were cloaked in anonymity. “Dr. Gow just doesn’t get it,” Harrison told a judging panel. “His conduct was premeditated.” Gow was on notice as early as 2018 that his association with the porn industry was a breach. It was “clear insubordination,” Harrison said. In 2018 Gow had invited a porn actress to speak on campus as a demonstration of the university as a welcome place for free expression and dialogue. UW system leaders in Madison frowned with dissatisfaction at the time but took no action against Gow. The sex books came later under but their authorship was anonymous. I the subsequent videos, Gow and his wife were identified only as “a professional couple,” although anyone who knew them would recognize them. Even so, until this December, when UW regents fired Gow, nobody in Madison or LaCrosse had made any connection, at least not publicly.
Regents: Gow embarrassed UW
Harrison claimed that the reputation of UW-LaCrosse and the whole UW system had been sullied. Gow acknowledged that some donors and others may have expressed concern, but he countered that others –including students, faculty and the LaCrosse community — thought his removal, coming only six months before his scheduled retirement, was an “egregious overreaction.” Denying him the usual courtesy of a faculty position was excessive. As chancellor, Gow was earning $272,000. As a senior professor on the communications faculty, his salary would be in the upper $100,000s. Further, the regents have discussed denying him a $300,000 benefits package.
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An unusual public hearing
The university usually deals secretly with personnel issues, ostensibly to protect the person being reviewed. Gow, however, insisted bat that the hearing be public. – a signal of self-confidence that he has an earned right and contractual to a faculty position. The panel’s post-hearing deliberations, however, will be closed – like a jury’s deliberations. Whether the their findings are reported publicy or not — and in what detail – hasn’t been made clear.
What next?
A five-member faculty review panel conducted the two days of hearings. The chair, history professor Anne Galbraith, said a decision will be made “as soon as practicable.” The decision will be a written report delivered to Gow and interim chancellor Betsy Morgan. An odd dynamic: Morgan was a vice chancellor under Gow. She turned against him when the UW system’s regents decided to fire him. Morgan emerged from the chaos being appointed by the regents as interim chancellor. If the faculty panel finds in favor of Gow, Morgan could choose to accept it in deference to the widely accepted principle of faculty governance. If the faculty panel decides against Gow, Morgan could pass the recommendation on to the regents in Madison to decide