A professor who was suspended in 2014 after he called out a graduate student by name on his blog appears poised to get his job back.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday morning sided with John McAdams, a political-science professor at Marquette University, who argued that his actions were protected by his contractually guaranteed academic freedom.
The court reversed and remanded a decision by a circuit court that had sided with the university. The justices told the lower court to enter judgment in favor of McAdams and determine damages.
“The undisputed facts show that the university breached its contract with Dr. McAdams when it suspended him for engaging in activity protected by the contract’s guarantee of academic freedom,” states the ruling, written by Justice Daniel Kelly.
McAdams in November 2014 wrote a blog post in which he criticized a graduate-student instructor who he believed was intolerant of an undergraduate’s opposition to gay marriage during a class discussion. He linked to the graduate student’s personal blog and sent the post to Campus Reform, a conservative website that highlights perceived liberal bias in higher education. The graduate student received hateful messages and ended up leaving the university.
The case was being watched nationally by colleges and professors as an indicator of how academic freedom should be balanced with faculty members’ other responsibilities to their university community.
In a statement, Marquette said it would comply with the terms of the decision, but it rejected the argument that the case was about academic freedom.
“The professor used his personal blog to mock a student teacher, intentionally exposing her name and contact information to a hostile audience that sent her vile and threatening messages,” Marquette’s statement says. “To us, it was always clear that the professor’s behavior crossed the line. This was affirmed by a seven-member panel of the professor’s peers, and by a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge. However, in light of today’s decision, Marquette will work with its faculty to re-examine its policies, with the goal of providing every assurance possible that this never happens again.”
McAdams’s lawyer, Rick Essenberg, said the circuit court was bound by the Supreme Court’s ruling, meaning that McAdams should be back at Marquette soon. “It means he can start working on his syllabus,” Essenberg said.
Vimal Patel covers graduate education. Follow him on Twitter @vimalpatel232, or write to him at vimal.patel@chronicle.com.
Update (7/6/2018, 4:22 p.m.): This article has been updated with comment from John McAdams’s lawyer.
