Professor Stephen Richards - UW Oshkosh

This is no surprise, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing.
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Professor Stephen Richards used class time to encourage his students to sign petitions to recall State Senator Randy Hopper.

This is how your tax dollars are being spent - funding a Leftist professor's political activities as he abuses his position of authority.

Richards is a criminal justice professor.

He seems to be challenged when it comes to understanding matters of justice.

From the Republican Party of Wisconsin:

A recording released by the Republican Party of Wisconsin exposes University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Professor Stephen Richards using class time to actively campaign for the recall of State Senator Randy Hopper, encouraging his students to sign recall petitions offered by circulators present in his classroom.

In the tape, recorded during a criminal justice class, Richards can be heard encouraging a female student to sign the recall petition even though she thinks she lives outside the district, and instructing students to sign using their campus address instead of their parents’ home address. He also tells students to look for petition circulators all around campus and “in the bars.”

...In the recording, Richards openly discusses his involvement in the recall effort, detailing organizational meetings he has attended, and using the term “we” to describe recall organizers.

As the Professor discusses the various reasons he supports the recall efforts, he promotes several falsehoods about the effects of the budget repair bill, saying at one point “It will be a lot less, um, rewarding to be in law enforcement, because they're gonna cut all the police unions."

"Either he’s purposely lying to students in an effort to provoke them to sign the petitions, or he is woefully misinformed and spreading severe inaccuracies along to students who rely on him for factual information,” says [Mark] Jefferson, [Executive Director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin]. “Teachers and college professors have a responsibility to their students and to their communities. We trust them to deliver facts and stay above the political fray - at the very least when they are at the head of a classroom. This Professor has seriously failed his students. One has to wonder if this is an isolated incident or a more common occurrence in our state's classrooms."

The Oshkosh Northwestern reports:

Sen. Randy Hopper called for an investigation into the political activity of college professors along with the resignation of a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh faculty member who encouraged his students during class to sign a petition to recall the Republican lawmaker.

The state GOP, college Republican groups and several lawmakers immediately demanded accountability for UWO criminal justice professor Stephen Richards Tuesday after a conservative radio host broadcast a candid recording of Richards encouraging students on March 7 to sign a petition to recall Hopper, R-Fond du Lac.

“Quite frankly, nothing short of this professor resigning will be adequate for the students and the parents of UW-Oshkosh,” Hopper said.

...The UWO professor’s actions raise more questions about irregularities in the recall petition process, Hopper said, calling the issue a “misuse of authority” that should not be tolerated.

“People send their kids to school to be educated not indoctrinated, and this professor took state-funded time to make a political stand,” he said.

One of Richards’ students made the audio recording and later released it to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, a spokesperson said. Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes of Milwuakee-based WTMJ-AM (620) broadcast the recording Tuesday with Senate President Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, demanding an explanation from the university.

UWO Chancellor Richard Wells issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying the issue was investigated after students complained, and corrective action as taken by the end of March. Students have since reported classroom conditions improved, according to the statement.

Kudos to the student for recording Richards' completely unacceptable behavior and busting the guy.

Richards has shamed the university.

"Corrective action" was taken.

Right.

Like what? A warning not to gather signatures during class?

If Richards is willing to do something as blatantly wrong as using class time to round up signatures to recall Randy Hopper, I'm sure he allows his political views to color his "teaching" on a regular basis.

Richards got caught this time, but I don't think his is an isolated case. This sort of misconduct permeates public institutions.

It's wrong.

Listen to the audio here.

Richards should not be talking about recalling Governor Scott Walker or shilling for unions.

He's lying to his students. This guy is a disgrace.

Sickening.

I also question the fact that Stephen Richards, a convicted felon, is a tenured professor at UW Oshkosh.

A jury convicted him of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

In 1984, Richards began serving a nine-year sentence. By the time he was released on parole three years later, he had been housed in nine federal prisons.

Richards isn't the only felon in the Public Affairs Department at Oshkosh.

Richards' colleague, Assistant Professor Michael Lenza, was convicted of MURDER.

From 1977 to 1990, Lenza served time in Missouri’s State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, also called “The Walls.” He was convicted of murder in 1975 after confessing to killing his first wife and mother-in-law, putting his mother-in-law’s body in a barrel and throwing the barrel into the Mississippi River.

Lenza says he had a happy childhood while growing up in St. Louis County. In fact, he credits his family for their unconditional love and for never giving up on him. He says he never could have made it through his incarceration without their support.

Although he refuses to speak of the murders (partly because he feels that while he can defend his actions, his victims cannot), Lenza says that when people are in their late teens and early 20s they don’t understand consequences and outcomes the way they do in later years.

“Things seem impossible, overwhelming. You don’t have a long-term view,” he says. He adds that his incarceration showed him the downside of violence.

“My years at Missouri Eastern Penitentiary, The Walls, which is one of the most violent societies in America, certainly showed me the futility in violence in solving issues. You have to find other ways,” he says.

Good Lord!

Lenza is a staunch advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. His wife of 12 years, Sherry Lenza, is no less steadfast in her views. “Executions don’t deter; they just brutalize the population,” she says.

Since his release from prison, Lenza has completed college, married, begun pursuing doctoral degrees and become a father. As Lenza takes his son, Michael Jesse, from his wife’s arms so she can answer the telephone, he says that “peace is its own truth” and today is a different day.

While he knows his past will always be part of his life, Mike Lenza concentrates on where he is now. “It’s not like you totally leave that behind,” he says. “It’s been almost 30 years. A lot changes in 30 years.”

Of course, Lenza opposes the death penalty.

Lenza was convicted of MURDERING his wife and mother-in-law.

If I were Sherry, Lenza wife #2, I would be a little nervous.

I also don't think that Lenza belongs in the classroom.
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UPDATE: Apparently, Richards didn't learn his lesson, in spite of UW Oshkosh taking "corrective action."

Charlie Sykes posts an e-mail he received from a student in Stephen Richards' class:

Hey Charlie,

I'm sitting in Dr. (I use that term loosely) Richards' class as I'm writing this. Just wanted to let you know that instead of apologizing for his actions and everything that has come out in the last couple days, he scolded us. He started by telling us that he has had a police escort all day due to death threats. He then proceeded to tell us that it is illegal to record a professor without his/her permission. He stated that "anyone has any smart phones or recording devices, to turn them off or leave." He then proceeded to tell us that he could have charged those students with some sort of BS crime and had us arrested and kicked out of school. His rant has been going on for the better part of 20 minutes now and isn't showing any signs of slowing down or stopping. Just like his political rants which take place multiple times per week, this is the kind of crap that disrupts our opportunity to learn at an institution of higher education.

I don't see the need to be scolded because this idiot finally got busted. As a criminal justice student graduating in May, this guy is a disgrace to me and the rest of the students in the program.

Just a heads up that absolutely nothing has changed since the "corrective action" that was handed down from Chancellor Wells. The guy is a joke and doesn't deserve his position.

Thanks for getting this story on the air. The CJ students really appreciate that our story is finally being heard.

Bottom line: "NOTHING HAS CHANGED."
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UPDATE, May 6, 2011: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh releases Stephen Richards' disciplinary record; professor encouraged students to sign Randy Hopper recall petition during class

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh officials said today they will not ask a professor who encouraged his students to sign a recall petition to resign, nor will they conduct a full investigation into the on-campus political activity of faculty as requested by some state lawmakers.

State Sen. Randy Hopper, Senate President Mike Ellis and the Republican Party of Wisconsin demanded the investigation and resignation of UWO Criminal Justice Professor Stephen Richards after an anonymous student released an audio recording on Tuesday of Richards urging his class in March to sign a petition to recall Hopper.

UWO Chancellor Richard Wells said during a Friday afternoon press conference that he respects the senators, but “we don’t always have to agree.”

UWO is standing by Richards.

I suppose that's because Richards is on the same page politically as UWO officials.

He's safe and he knows it. That's probably why he runs political rallies out of his classroom.

Here's the Statement of Professor Stephen Richards regarding comments of March 7

I would like to once again apologize to my students for not showing more restraint in the classroom. I regret that I crossed the line when I failed to comply completely with UW System policy concerning political discussion in the classroom. I am sorry that this may have tarnished the reputation of the university community. I wish all my students continued success in their studies.

Professor Stephen C. Richards

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

After "I wish all my students continued success in their studies," I think Richards left out "if they agree with me politically and do all they can to get Republican state senators and Scott Walker recalled."

Richards' apology seems extremely forced.

UW Oshkosh has made documents relating to Richards available online after a public records request by the Oshkosh Northwestern.