MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher is siding with Marquette University in the school’s long-running battle with a tenured professor over a controversial blog post.
The ruling says that Marquette had the legal right to take action against professor John McAdams. His blog named a graduate student-instructor and criticized how she handled a confrontation with a student.
Cheryl Abbate refused to allow a student to oppose gay marriage in an ethics class. McAdams’ went after how she did it on his politically conservative blog. She was heard telling the student that she would not tolerate homophobic comments in her class in a recording that the student secretly made.
McAdams was suspended by school administrators. In an attempt to settle the case Marquette offered to reinstate McAdams if he publicly apologized. He has refused, saying the university’s demands amount to “compelled speech” and violate his academic freedom.
The court ruling says “academic freedom does not mean a faculty member can harass, threaten, intimidate, ridicule.”
The MetroSource news wire contributed to this report.
