Jodi O'Brien, Marquette: Settlement

The Jodi O'Brien - Marquette University saga is over, at least in terms of the legal wrangling.

I suspect that many at the university and others interested in the case aren't ready to let bygones be bygones.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Marquette University announced Wednesday that it had reached what it called a "mutually acceptable resolution" with Seattle University professor Jodi O'Brien regarding a decision to rescind an offer to be dean of the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

In a letter sent to the Marquette community, Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild wrote that, in reaching this resolution, "we have apologized to Dr. O'Brien for the way in which this was handled and for the upset and unwanted attention that we have caused to this outstanding teacher and scholar. We have also extended our gratitude for the graciousness with which she has addressed the situation these past six weeks."

Read the letter here.

..."I have received hundreds of messages, including many from local Catholics, expressing dismay at the University's decision to suddenly cancel my hire," O'Brien said in a statement. "This support has inspired me to work toward an agreement that acknowledges the pain and damage to the Marquette community as well as to myself."

Marquette spokesman Mary Pat Pfeil would not say whether a financial payment was involved in the settlement, but a Marquette source knowledgeable about the deliberations leading up to the settlement said Wild told the Board of Trustees that the school would take a "financial hit."

Pfeil said the university was considering research projects, conferences, courses and service learning projects exploring the topics of Catholic identity and gender and sexuality issues, and details about some of these projects might come out when the fall semester nears. Pfeil would not say whether the settlement requires Marquette to explore any of these issues.

O'Brien said: "I appreciate the responsiveness of the Marquette representatives to suggestions regarding a legacy of community betterment, including research and education regarding issues of gender and sexuality."

It's not at all unusual for the specifics of a settlement to be confidential.

That's as it should be. Privacy is one of the incentives to settle out of court and avoid messy litigation.

However, it's only natural for one to wonder how much Marquette paid out to O'Brien. I assume it was a very costly mistake for Marquette. O'Brien's monetary gain is the students' loss. Oh, well.

Some lessons don't come cheap.

It disturbs me that Marquette was so careless in its hiring procedures. Remember that this isn't about O'Brien's sexual orientation. It's about her extremist, controversial writings. A heterosexual with a similar body of work in opposition to the Catholic Church would have also been a poor choice to be dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

I still wonder if Marquette faculty and students would have passionately protested the breaking of a contract with an academician promoting white supremacy. Would they have cried foul in terms of academic freedom if a deanship regrettably had been offered to a defender of slavery?

Would the same people complaining about Archbishop Listecki for giving his opinion on the hiring of O'Brien complain if Listecki voiced his objection to the hiring of a white supremacist?

My point: Is the upset at Marquette, the upset that's sure to linger, really about academic freedom?