McAdams Appeals Marquette Suspension

With one court ruling against him, John McAdams, the conservative Marquette professor suspended for criticizing a graduate assistant who would not allow her students to express disagreement with same sex marriage, is taking his case to the next level. “The Supreme Court of Wisconsin agreed Monday, Jan. 22 to hear the case of a former Marquette University professor vs. the university,” Kate DeLong reported for Fox 6 in Milwaukee. “John McAdams sued after he was suspended for criticizing a graduate student in his blog in 2014. The graduate student was recorded instructing a class — telling another student that he could not express his disagreement with same-sex marriage in her theory of ethics class because doing so would be homophobic and offensive.”

“The suit alleges the university illegally suspended McAdams in fall 2014 and officials made the decision to terminate his tenure and fire him from Marquette.” Marquette’s response was, predictably, bring it on:

“Marquette University welcomes yet another chance to address the issue of John McAdams’ mistreatment of our former graduate student in court. In January 2016, Marquette’s 7-member Faculty Hearing Committee unanimously concluded that he violated his core obligations as a tenured professor when he used his blog needlessly and recklessly to harm our student. In May 2017, a Milwaukee County judge issued a 33-page decision dismissing all claims against Marquette University.”

The university statement approvingly quoted from that judge’s decision: “Academic freedom does not mean that a faculty member can harass, threaten, intimidate, ridicule, or impose his or her views on students.” But wouldn’t that apply to the grad student as well?

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