KENOSHA, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin voted unanimously to strip former UW-LaCrosse Chancellor Joe Gow of his faculty status. The decision, by the UW system’s regents, was Gow’s last resort within the UW system to appeal his termination. He had promised to move the case into the courts if the regentswent against him. His termination was over his role in producing explicit sex videos as healthful for seniors. The termination has been seen in academic circles as a major blow to academic freedom and faculty free speech. Said Gow:
“Because this is a First Amendment case, and it’s a contemporary case, it could be a very long case. I don’t want to sound too grandiose, but it would have the implication going to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The 17-member Board of Regents met at UW-Parkside on a rotating schedule that takes the Board to campuses statewide. Gow his wife Carnen Wilson, a fellow academic and co-producer of the videos, sat in the front row. The Board met about half an hour in closed session, which is common for personnel issues, then reconvened in open meeting for the vote.