Last week Linfield professor and faculty trustee Daniel Pollack-Pelzner tweeted that he faced antisemitic comments after he reported that multiple members of the universitys Board of Trustees had been accused of sexual misconduct by students and faculty over the past year. Pollack-Pelzner goes on to relate a strange comment President Davis made, presumably to indicate Daviss opposition to anti-Semitism. This coded language plays off racist and toxic stereotypes with a long history in this country.. Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan are reviving it. Linfield University announced Tuesday that the chair of its Board of Trustees, David Baca, has stepped down from the leadership post after four years, including a tumultuous last several months at the private college in McMinnville. Finally, the President said that people like me were destroying [Linfield] from within and could only show loyalty by accepting the teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, Pollack-Pelzner tweeted. 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. 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In February 2019 after a faculty-trustee dinner, Jubb is accused of sexually abusing student-trustee AnnaMarie Motis as the two waited for a ride in the lobby of Michelbook Country Club and then at a McMinnville bar where trustees had gone for after-dinner drinks. But in an interview with The Chronicle, Davis confirmed that he had indeed made the comment about Jewish and Arab noses, which he said had been informed by the time hed spent in the Middle East. According to the Chronicle: In an interview, Agre-Kippenhan said that Pollack-Pelzner had been fired from the university under his status as an employee, not as a tenured professor, and that the faculty handbook needed to be revised because many of the provisions in it were not entirely useful.. It has even pitted the N.A.A.C.P., which has cited racial bias in the accusations against Dr. Davis, against the Anti-Defamation League, which has joined in calls for Dr. Daviss resignation. 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. So to Speak podcast transcript: What is academic freedom? 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. Review Beyond the Classroom Academic Opportunities Learning at Linfield spans well beyond the traditional classroom setting. That includes the dismissal of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, which occurred in the middle of a Zoom meeting at Linfield University without him being granted any hearing or due process. And because of the incompetent despotism of some of its leaders, Linfield is now a national story. Linfield University locations: McMinnville Campus 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 503-883-2200. He said he would leave if my departure would benefit the university.. A Linfield graduate, who agreed to be identified by her initials A.K., told the newspaper in May that the school failed to intervene as promised after she reported in 2018 that Jubb allegedly groped her and two other students after drinking too much at a bar following a senior achievement dinner on campus in 2017. MSE News. 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. This shouldnt be hard to understand. Condemnation from parents, alumni and a national educational organization followed almost immediately after Linfield University fired tenured English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner in a rare. In an interview on Thursday, Dr. Davis said that while he doesnt recall the comments he made that day, he doesnt use the phrase anymore and added, Im sorry if I said something that offended them at that time.. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. 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. The university faces growing calls for the resignation of that president, Miles K. Davis, and the chairman of its board of trustees amid accusations that they made offensive comments about Jews and that Dr. Davis and three other board members had engaged in various forms of misconduct with female professors and students. We strive for an inclusive and welcoming campus for our students and employees.. A petition protesting the firing has now been signed by hundreds of other faculty members across the country and around the world. "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. 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. The university exists as a powerful reminder that threats to academic freedom often come not from ideologues but from administrators who fear criticism and have no business running a university. It is a small institution with an enrollment of 340 undergraduate students. 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.. That lawsuit is still pending. Photo by Daniel Hurst, courtesy of Linfield College LC-LC-. statement last year from the Executive Committee of the universitys board of trustees. When he sent an email to the account from his personal email, he received an automatic response saying he no longer worked at the school. frequently responds to hate and anti-Semitism on college campuses, rarely is that anti-Semitism or hatred perpetrated by a president of a university or other leadership.. The State College of Florida Bradenton requested a traveling art exhibition to remove pieces with the words diversity, inclusion, justice, and equality. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. 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. 8011 Linfield Way, Atlanta, GA is a townhome home that contains 2,413 sq ft and was built in 2020. Linfield University is affiliated with American Baptist Churches, USA. As described in a federal lawsuit, Linfield board chair David Baca told trustees in June 2019 that veteran trustee David Jubb was resigning "due to health concerns,'' when he actually was facing sexual abuse allegations. Linfield fires prof who raised sexual harassment, antisemitism allegations By Rob Manning (OPB) April 27, 2021 6:58 p.m. Please enter your email address. The only major offered is Nursing. 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. His termination, the letter says, threatens to set a precedent that will eviscerate the foundational principles of both free speech and of faculty governance on university campuses., Miles K. Davis, Linfield University's president, denies saying anything antisemitic. 510 Walnut St. | Suite 1250 Pollack-Pelzner said he hopes Linfield puts its energy toward building a safer and more supportive community for everyone instead of focusing its energy on him. Linfield University locations: McMinnville Campus 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 503-883-2200. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Pollack-Pelzner said he doesnt know what his next steps will be, and that he isnt sure how he could persuade the administration to follow the guidelines in the handbook. She singled out Baca for criticism, saying the schools general counsel told her that Baca gave his word that David Jubb would never have contact with students again or be allowed at events that served alcohol.. But Davis should resign for firing Pollack-Pelzner, allegedly for cause. Offices on the Portland and McMinnville campuses will be closed from Dec. 23 - Jan. 2 so employees can enjoy a much-deserved rest this holiday season. Its been such a blow and its so overwhelming, he said. Welcome to Linfield University Discover a community where acceptance is an unbreakable promise and being uncommon is the norm. Pollack-Pelzner goes on to relate a strange . 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. How Oregon researchers are testing 3D printing to reconstruct bone. No. Nor is this a policy that somehow escaped the administrations approval: It has been in Linfields faculty handbook since at least 2013. The outside investigator found the faculty members report to be substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence, but said that it did not rise to the level of violating Linfields harassment or Title IX policy. Linfield University is a private institution that was founded in 1858. Pollack-Pelzner whose case has become a cause celebre among American academics did not agree to speak with the NAACP for its investigation, and the report does not substantively address his termination or his allegations, relying instead on the independent investigation that could not substantiate them. Linfield University canceled faculty Listservs over the weekend, sparking faculty cries of censorship. Last year, controversy broke out again after a viral column in JCU's student newspaper posited that the show represented "the deviant entertainment of misguided young people." The column prompted widespread debate about free speech and LGBTQ inclusivity on campus, as well as an administrative investigation into the author of the critical column. Davis said the university initiated internal and external investigations of each incident and found no support for the claims in Pollack-Pelzners posts. Faculty supported the motion 88 to 18. 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. The boards executive committee has repeatedly expressed its confidence in Davis and Baca, and the board is poised to vote at its next meeting to eliminate the voting faculty trustee seat and add nonvoting faculty members. It . The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured. Mr. Bacas open letter also took aim at Dr. Pollack-Pelzner, saying it is shameful that a faculty trustee has spread misinformation about the sexual misconduct cases. But the committee disclosed that a faculty member in February accused one trustee of inappropriate touching of the shoulder and another trustee of inappropriate touching of the leg. The committee didnt name the trustees and said an outside investigator is looking into the complaint. Linfield University. Some professors may be uncomfortable with the changes he has made as the universitys first Black president, he said. 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. Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. Dr. Davis said those accusations and others were being rehashed by professors unhappy with his restructuring of the university after years of declining enrollment. Rabbi Eve Posen, president of the Oregon Board of Rabbis, told JTA that the Oregon Board of Rabbis is interested and would be more than happy to work with the NAACP, but did not elaborate. But Pollack-Pelzner told JTA that theres a real issue of institutional racism at Linfield and said that allegations against white members of the board had never been investigated, while allegations against Black members had been. He told the Chronicle that his comment had been informed by his time in the Middle East. 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. At Linfield, the report says, deeply-held resistance to Black leadership and culture fueled the ferocity of resistance to organization change. The report also said that Davis had not had time to build a rapport with the faculty and staff at Linfield because he needed to make changes quickly. Linfield - Nursing is a private university located in Portland, Oregon. Philadelphia, PA 19106. Do these folks really think theyre going to win a social media war against Generation Z?, Trey PetersonWood, a recent Linfield graduate, said Monday that the more Linfield attempts to censor and silence advocates for accountability, the more damage they are causing to this great institution that has the potential to be a leader in the age of what oppressors call cancel culture, but in reality, its the age of accountability.. 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. Although he is stepping down as chair, Baca will still serve on the board. So which is it? If the NAACP would like to talk with me I would be happy to speak, he said, but he noted that the group had not responded to a list of questions he and several other professors had sent them about the investigation. Its hard to see the universitys interest in protecting the reputation of a former trustee, much less one who resigned (for health reasons, the university said) after allegedly sexually assaulting a student. Theres a reaction to change, he said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Obviously, a university need not convene a unanimous jury before stopping ongoing physical violence. Several professors have of late used mass emails or publicly criticized the university for what they describe as Linfield's poor handling of several sexual misconduct complaints involving members of the Board of Trustees. We believe we have taken the necessary and appropriate steps and are committed to do the work to engage in a process of healing, he wrote. The professor said he tried notifying his bosses about sexual harassment. Nelson said outside law firms, internal investigators and the universitys human resources office investigated and found no evidence to support the claims of antisemitic comments Pollack-Pelzner laid out in his posts. Based on that investigation, the NAACP criticized the ADL and Oregon Board of Rabbis for calling on Davis to resign. 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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. 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. Its overwhelming, its destabilizing its an attack on the values of higher education that I have worked so hard with colleagues to uphold, he said. A group of Stanford faculty are publicly objecting to a campus harm reporting system they say chills campus speech. But, for Davis, the minutiae of process are important for others: So what did Pollack-Pelzner do to merit his dismissal? 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. College faculty overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in Baca on May 26, finding he failed to protect students after receiving a complaint in 2018 from a graduate who accused Jubb of sexually abusing her and two of her friends the prior year. The AAUP released the report of an investigating committee on the dismissal of Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured English professor and endowed chair in Shakespeare studies at Linfield University in Oregon. (Courtesy of Linfield University). 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. Tenure and contracts are not Calvinball. 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. 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. That is exactly what FIRE is telling Davis and the institution he currently leads. 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. Until then, it may be unwise in defending against accusations that the university mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct to summarily terminate a tenured faculty member because he got the number of felony sexual assault counts wrong. Pollack-Pelzner and two other professors accused Davis of making antisemitic comments about Jewish noses and the Holocaust, but Davis denied the allegations. Jackson B. Miller, a communication arts professor, criticized both statements, saying they discounted legitimate concerns raised by some about sexual misconduct. Tensions reached a high on Tuesday when the university fired Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a Shakespeare scholar and tenured professor of English who had served on the board of trustees and had spoken out about the accusations of anti-Semitism and sexual misconduct. The boards vice-chair, Kerry Carmody, will become interim chair on Oct. 1. Earlier this week, Linfield University fired a tenured professor who had spoken out about allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as antisemitism, against university leaders. Linfield University has agreed to pay just over $1 million to settle a whistleblower suit filed by tenured English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, who accused the university of firing him. 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. Research Reveals Thermal Instability of Solar Cells but Offers a Bright Path Forward - February 14, 2023. As FIRE detailed yesterday, Linfield Universitys senior leadership abruptly terminated Daniel Pollack-Pelzner after he criticized the universitys handling of sexual assault and harassment allegations against board members, and alleged that Linfield president Miles K. Davis had made a remark about Jewish noses. Davis has, until now, denied that claim. 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.