Marquette Suspends Professor Who Criticized TA Over Gay-Marriage Discussion

John McAdams, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University who has been at the center of a controversy over his criticism of how a teaching assistant handled the the topic of gay marriage in a class discussion, has been suspended without pay through the fall-2016 semester, reports The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The terms of the suspension also stipulate that Mr. McAdams must admit he was wrong within two weeks if he is to be reinstated.

The controversy began in 2014, when Mr. McAdams wrote a post on his personal blog criticizing a teaching assistant, Cheryl Abbate, for limiting free speech on gay marriage by “using a tactic typical among liberals now.” The following year, Mr. McAdams wrote in a blog post that Marquette had moved to fire him. Now, in what appears to be Marquette’s final decision in the case, the Roman Catholic university is choosing to suspend him for 13 months.

Marquette’s president, Michael R. Lovell, made the decision based on the recommendation of a faculty committee that reviewed the case. He said in an email to the university that the decision had been “guided by Marquette University’s values and is solely based on Professor McAdams’s actions, and not political or ideological views expressed in his blog,” according to the newspaper.

Mr. McAdams declined the newspaper’s request for comment.