Marquette Warrior Blogger Threatened, Harassed

John McAdams, Associate Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, is having some problems at the workplace.

Provost John Pauly, interim Arts and Sciences Dean Phil Rossi, and Political Science Department Chair Barry McCormick claim to be troubled by "ongoing potential conflicts between [McAdams'] role as Marquette professor and employee, and independent blogger-journalist."

McAdams is the author of a conservative blog, Marquette Warrior. At times for Marquette, he's an inconvenient whistleblower.

Apparently, being a Marquette employee and being critical of Marquette officials and matters related to the university can have negative consequences.

In a March 30, 2011, blog post, McAdams details being harassed by Provost John Pauly.

Pauly claimed that contacting a student, Anahi Sanchez, who was the "Marquette contact" for information regarding upcoming performances of The Vagina Monologues on campus, was inappropriate. When an e-mail from McAdams to Sanchez went unanswered, her home phone number was found at Peoplefinders.com and a call was placed. The audacity!

Instead of just placing a phone call, you'd think someone had illegally been delving into her FBI file or digging through her private medical records.

McAdams writes:

Sánchez appears to have somehow felt aggrieved, since she complained to university officials (and eventually to Pauly), not that she has been harassed, but that she did not know whether we were trying to contact her in our role as a faculty member or our role as a blogger!

Eventually, McAdams was called to a meeting with Pauly, interim Arts & Sciences Dean Phil Rossi, and Political Science Department Chair Barry McCormick to discuss his activities as a faculty member and as a blogger.

McAdams details that meeting in an April 1, 2011, blog post.

The bottom line: all three – Pauly, Rossi and McCormick – want us to entirely stop blogging about student organizations.

Pauly claimed to have no problem with our blogging about faculty and administrators, but claimed our blogging about student affairs has been out of line. How much of this was a genuine concern (some of it probably was) and how much was the result of an ideological bias from liberal administrators toward a conservative blogger (there was almost certainly some of that too) we can’t say.

Two specific instances were mentioned. First, we called the listed home number of a student, talked to (apparently) her father and left a polite message asking for a return call, explaining that we were working on a blog post about The Vagina Monologues (the student was listed as the Marquette contact on vday.org). Apparently, the student’s parents freaked. All three administrators (Pauly, Rossi and McCormick) condemned the call saying that faculty should never call the parents of students. They said that the parents should have been in Fr. Wild’s office loudly complaining about it.

We replied that we were calling the listed number of the student (and had no way of knowing that she was living with her parents), and that’s it’s standard practice for a journalist to call a potential source at home. But Pauly, Rossi and McCormick explicitly stated that we should somehow have known that the parents would freak. We were accused of merely offering “rationalizations.”

All thee insisted that we don’t have any of the prerogatives of a journalist, since the role of a professor trumps that of a faculty blogger.

The other issue raised was the fact that we had mentioned a student’s research paper, and were accused of “criticizing” it. In reality, we did not mention the student’s name, and the point of the blog post was that “‘gender studies’ has been added to ‘women’s studies’ [which] signals a move toward a homosexual emphasis, as shown by one of the papers completed by a WGST fellow this summer . . . .” The blog post was, quite simply, a comment on the fact that the Women’s and Gender Studies program has begun to slip “queer studies” into the university.

...As the meeting moved on, Rossi and McCormick became more ad hominem, Rossi accusing us of having a “blind spot,” and McCormick asserting that nobody he knew felt that our blogging about student organizations was acceptable. Since we’ve gotten multiple supporting e-mails, that says more about McCormick’s circle of friends than about what “everybody believes.”

All three implied (and sometimes stated) that we had been guilty of some violation of professional ethics, but could not explain what that would be, beyond McCormick’s “sandbox” metaphor, and the general notion that faculty should never publicly say anything negative about a student, even a student in a very public role doing something controversial.

I don't understand why the student's parents "freaked" because someone from the university called their daughter with a legitimate question. I don't get why Pauly, Rossi, and McCormick think that would be grounds to run to Fr. Wild and complain.

It seems clear to me that there is an effort to silence McAdams, not because of some alleged violation of professional ethics but because he is voicing opinions that aren't in line with what "everybody believes."

Chilling.

This is particularly disturbing given the fact that about a year ago Marquette was embroiled in the Jodi O'Brien fiasco.

Marquette faculty members wailed about free speech and their academic freedom being at risk. They vowed not to "be silent until the integrity of our university is restored."

Integrity?

Where's the integrity in coming up with some lame excuses to silence McAdams?

Last spring, they saw Marquette as a hotbed of discrimination and censorship.

They organized protests.

Where are they now? Where's the concern? Where's the outrage?

McAdams explains that his role as a blogger is not at odds with his role as a professor.

Clearly, blogging is an academic activity, protected by the canons of academic freedom. Many academics have blogs, including those in the Marquette Law School, Mark Johnson in Theology, Matt Wion in Philosophy, and Steve Byers in Journalism. National blogs run by academics include Althouse, and The Volokh Conspiracy.

Virtually all academics have a legitimate interest in public affairs, including the internal politics of the institutions where they work. And blogging is a form of publication, although admittedly more like a newspaper op-ed that an article in a scholarly journal. But academics have a right to academic freedom in writing op-eds and articles for the popular press, as Marquette’s heretical theologian Dan Maguire demonstrates with great frequency.

But university bureaucrats don’t like being criticized, and especially don’t like being criticized by those supposedly “below” them in the hierarchy.

In spite of threats and harassment, McAdams isn't backing down.

He writes:

They hung tough with the position that we should never comment on student affairs, and we were threatened by both Pauly and McCormick saying that we would “be here [in a meeting like this] again” if we persisted in blogging about the activities of student groups.

Needless to say, we will continue to blog about activities on campus, and when the actions of student organizations have substantial news interest, we will report them.

I'm extremely disappointed in the stance taken by Pauly, Rossi, and McCormick.

Their threats damage the integrity of the university.

I would hope that Marquette faculty members would rally in McAdams' defense.

I would hope that Marquette students and faculty alike would protest this assault on academic freedom.

Unfortunately, what they should do, the right thing, is probably not what they will do.

McAdams deserves the support of students, faculty, and alumni.




"We will be Warriors forever."

--BO ELLIS

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?

Marquette: 'Unfree to Embrace its Mission'

Patrick McIlheran asks: Is Marquette free to be Catholic?

He details the trend that has marked Catholic universities for decades.

Catholic institutions like Marquette have gone along with what other institutions have been doing, resulting in a transformation of their identity and an abandonment of their commitment to Catholicism.

[Jodi] O'Brien's backers say academic freedom is at risk at Marquette. Yes, but not that of scholars such as Marquette theologian Daniel Maguire, whose 2001 book "Sacred Choices" proclaimed the goodness of abortion. Rather, the freedom at risk is this: That Marquette has made itself unfree to embrace its mission as a center of Catholic understanding.

That's an excellent point.

Certainly, the school messed with O'Brien unjustly. She quit her old job on the strength of Marquette's promises; then Marquette reneged. But it also took its own duty to students and its church too lightly.

The problem isn't simply with O'Brien's work, which does not merely explore homosexual behavior but celebrates it as liberating. "She just doesn't see any use for marriage in society," said sociologist Anne Hendershott, now of King's College and for 15 years on the faculty at the Catholic University of San Diego.

Marquette could find such a scholar "useful as a far-flung pole in a spectrum of opinion," Johnson recently wrote. But it hired her as a dean, with power over hiring and tenure in departments most directly concerned with the Catholic teaching that she rejected.

What would such a hire mean? Probably, a narrowing of inquiry at Marquette. O'Brien's work conforms to the ethos reigning in secular academia, that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality, no moral angle that could arise. How, then, could Marquette's other scholars as freely explore whether there is such a moral dimension?

Secular universities theoretically are more circumscribed than Christian ones, sociologist D. Paul Sullins of Catholic University of America wrote recently, because of their undiscussed axioms on what can be studied. Christian universities can admit to both faith and reason as ways of knowing the world. They can, Baylor Unversity historian Thomas Kidd said, admit to there being an overarching purpose to everything. They can speak of God without enclosing him in quotation marks.

And they're within their rights to hire people who forward that mission.

In practice, many do not. If there's a danger to freedom at most Catholic universities, said Hendershott, it's to scholars who doubt homosexuality's rightness. "Getting a lesbian dean gives one status in the upside-down world of Catholic academia," she said. It's a sign of cool. And when, as at her old employer, a professor stages a demonstration of sex toys for some reason or other, it's validation.

"It gives you status when a bishop or a parent complains," she said. "It shows how transgressive you are."

Such pressures, she says, are strongest at Catholic universities as they strive to show how liberated they are from their church's views. But in emphatically adopting the standards of the secular world, they close themselves to re-embracing their unique role as teachers of Catholicism.

Marquette has strayed from its mission.

Embracing the standards of the secular world hasn't expanded Marquette's horizons or made it more relevant. It's actually served to limit academic freedom and narrow perspective.

A Catholic university that shuns its Catholic values isn't liberated. It's lost.

Jonathan Katz: Homophobe

Oops!

The Obama administration made a major a boo-boo when it assembled a team of scientists to solve the BP oil spill mess.

Jonathan Katz, proud homophobe, was part of the team.

After being pressured to drop Katz, he was removed from the task.

Jonathan I. Katz, a professor of astrophysics at Washington University in St. Louis, ''will no longer be involved in the [Energy] Department's efforts'' at addressing the oil spill continuing to spread in the Gulf of Mexico, a Department spokeswoman relayed on Monday night, May 17.

The news came after what the spokesperson, Stephanie Mueller, termed ''controversial writings'' – which included a ''defense of homophobia'' – spread out over the web on Monday, writings of which she said the Department was unaware when it sought his assistance.

On May 12, Energy Secretary Steven Chu ''assembled a group of top scientific experts from inside and outside of government to join in today's discussions in Houston about possible solutions,'' according to a Department news release. Katz was one of five outside scientists noted in the release. Bloomberg News reported about the group of scientists on May 14, reporting Chu ''signaled his lack of confidence in the industry experts trying to control BP Plc's leaking oil well by hand-picking a team of scientists with reputations for creative problem solving.''

Once news of the team spread, some of Katz's writings were discovered at his university website, including one titled, ''In Defense of Homophobia.'' In the essay, dated May 13, 1999, he wrote about the ''rationalist'' and the religious person's views of homosexuality.

...In response to an inquiry from Metro Weekly about whether Chu or the Energy Department was aware of Katz's additional writings before he was selected to help with the oil spill, Mueller responded, ''No, the Secretary was not aware and disagrees with them. The Department wasn't aware either.''

So Katz was removed from the team because of his writings.

He obviously is an expert in his field, but his job offer was rescinded when the Obama administration became aware of his controversial writings.

After all, it couldn't employ a raging homophobe, someone counter to its identity and mission.

Hmmm. Sound familiar?

It's kind of a reverse Jodi O'Brien - Marquette University situation.

I wonder if Katz had a contract.

Jerome Listecki Comments on Jodi O'Brien (Video)

FOX 6 News interview with Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki:

 

Jodi O'Brien: The Contract

Marquette faculty and students and "outside interested parties" have been very vocal in their objections to the rescinding of the deanship of the College of Arts and Sciences to Jodi O'Brien.

There have been plenty of protests. The media are doing their part to keep the story alive.

(How do they find time to cover the Marquette story? It's amazing given all the reports on dirty restaurants and speeding cars there are to do.)

Last night, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:

O'Brien says she had signed contract with Marquette

Seattle University professor Jodi O’Brien signed and mailed a contract, accepting a deanship at Marquette University and learned nearly two weeks later that the university was withdrawing the offer, according to an interview O'Brien gave to the Seattle University student paper.

In an interview published Wednesday, O'Brien said she was excited about the offer to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette and that she had no idea that there were concerns about her candidacy. Both Seattle University and Marquette are Jesuit institutions.

“I think the president [of Marquette] is responding to people who are concerned with what I represent,” O’Brien told The Seattle University Spectator. “I do not think the opinion of those people represents Marquette as a university.”

...O'Brien mailed an acceptance of the Marquette deanship April 20 and Marquette University President Robert A. Wild told her on May 2 that the offer would be withdrawn, according to the newspaper.

...When asked whether she was considering legal action against Marquette, O'Brien told the student paper: “I’m in conversation with the university about the best next steps. My hope is that the situation can become an opportunity for institutional learning.”

She also said Wild told her he was concerned that if she took the job, there would be “too much distraction from people external to the university who did not support my appointment."

That sounds like O'Brien wants money.

If a contract was breached, and that appears to be the case if O'Brien's claims are accurate, then there are grounds for legal action.

Fine. Threaten to sue and reach a settlement. Get your money and lots of attention.

Way to go, Marquette! This is a major screw-up.

However, in the long run, whatever price Marquette has to pay to make O'Brien go away, I think the university will lose far less both in terms of support from alumni and the recruitment of new students.

Marquette touts its Catholic identity as a recruiting angle. It ought to deliver.

This is not to say that there isn't diversity and academic freedom at the university. But values, particularly in high profile leadership positions, do matter. An individual with extremely controversial writings is not an appropriate candidate for a deanship.

O'Brien's sexual orientation is irrelevant. As I've said before, if a heterosexual's academic writings were similar to O'Brien's, that person would not be an appropriate choice to head the College of Arts and Sciences.

This is very troubling:

Go to the online comments accompanying the Journal Sentinel articles on the O'Brien mess. The Catholic bashing is rampant. Not Marquette bashing. CATHOLIC bashing.

I think Catholics should take note of how we are being portrayed by "Marquette's" critics.

Marquette isn't bearing the brunt of the criticism. Catholics are.

That just may be the most offensive aspect of this entire matter.

All the cries for alleged tolerance coming from these bigots are laughable.

Jodi O'Brien, Archbishop Listecki, and Marquette

The Marquette University - Jodi O'Brien saga continues.

Milwaukee media are really loving this story.

The controversial O'Brien and MU's controversial rescinding of its offer of the deanship of the College of Arts and Sciences to O'Brien now has additional high profile players in the mix.

The media are drooling.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki and the judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee separately raised red flags over Marquette's hiring of a Seattle University professor as Arts and Sciences dean.

Listecki called Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild about the university's offer to Jodi O'Brien after receiving calls from clergy and lay leaders, the archbishop's spokeswoman said.

Also expressing concerns about O'Brien's appointment was Father Paul Hartmann, the archdiocese's judicial vicar. Hartmann sent a March 3 letter to the chair of the search committee that said the gender studies professor "pursues subject matter that seems destined to actually create dichotomies and cause tensions (if not contradictions) with Marquette's Catholic mission and identity."

In the letter, obtained Tuesday by the Journal Sentinel, Hartmann referenced O'Brien but didn't name her.

The comments from Listecki's spokeswoman and Hartmann's letter are the first public indications that archdiocese leaders raised concerns about O'Brien.

At a listening session with about 400 students Tuesday evening, Wild said the university's decision to rescind the offer to O'Brien was "not about donor or outside influence," but he added that "there is a variety of input from outside the university" on the hiring of high-level positions.

Pressed about the role of Listecki, if any, in the decision, Wild said the archbishop "can speak for himself."

So what's the problem?

Listecki and archdiocese leaders should express their concerns.

I don't see anything wrong with that at all. They should be commended for doing their jobs.

The Journal Sentinel has the PDF of Fr. Hartmann's letter.

...Hartmann, who did not provide the letter to the Journal Sentinel, said he wrote of his concerns about all three of the finalists, in part because they lacked backgrounds in theology or philosophy.

"I was speaking from the position that this is an opportunity that should not be missed.  . . .  An opportunity for Marquette to continue to pursue a strong and clear Catholic identity," said Hartmann, president of Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School and a canon lawyer who teaches part time at Marquette's law school.

...While Marquette and the archdiocese acknowledged for the first time on Tuesday that Wild and Listecki talked about O'Brien's appointment, Marquette spokeswoman Mary Pat Pfeil emphasized in an e-mail Tuesday that the decisions regarding the appointment were made only by Marquette officials.

That letter is no smoking gun. What's the big deal about the Archbishop or other church officials weighing in on O'Brien?

I don't see that as inappropriate in any way.

Marquette is a Catholic university located in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The Journal Sentinel and other Milwaukee media outlets just won't ease up on their attacks.

Tuesday evening, the mood at the listening session with students was tense, with some students walking out of the meeting after reading statements demanding Wild's immediate resignation and requesting that the university offer the job again to O'Brien. Some said they would never donate money to the university while others said they would be proud alumni.

"It's disheartening. We came here for answers and are left with nothing," said Henry Thomas, a senior and former Marquette student president.

Senior Micaela Robb-McGrath said she was glad she attended the session.

"Because of this discussion I realize the sensitivity of the issue and what I do take from this is that the university will heal itself," said Robb-McGrath.

Students asked Wild why the offer was rescinded but he declined to comment, repeating that it was a "personnel matter." Though he did not give additional details about O'Brien's application and the selection process, Wild said he's confident Marquette can move past the controversy.

Students have the right to read statements demanding that Fr. Wild resign immediately.

Nonetheless, I think those remarks are completely out of line.

The man is being vilified for making the right decision according to Canon Law.

Moreover, as Fr. Wild has said repeatedly, many gays and lesbians are part of the Marquette family. Gay and lesbian individuals have been honored by Marquette University.

It's O'Brien's writings that are the issue here.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: I assume that if O'Brien were heterosexual her writings would serve to disqualify her, not necessarily to teach at Marquette but to be the dean of the university's largest college. In other words, her personal sexual preferences aren't the problem.

Granted, offering a job to an unsuitable candidate is not a proud moment for Marquette. It was a terrible mistake.

But I've had enough of the Catholic bashing. I'm sick of the flogging of Fr. Wild, and now leaders in the Archdiocese.

Enough.

This is a real gut check for Marquette and the Catholic community.

Let the healing begin for all involved.
____________________

FOX 6 News video.

 

Jodi O'Brien, Marquette, and a 'Legal Situation'

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Marquette University will be holding listening sessions "after job offer to lesbian scholar rescinded."

On May 6, the JS just called Jodi O'Brien a lesbian in its headline. Now, she's a "lesbian scholar."

Maybe next O'Brien will be a "lesbian genius."

But I digress. About the listening sessions--

Marquette University leaders will hold listening sessions with students and faculty next week in an effort to quell criticism after abruptly cutting ties to a lesbian gender studies scholar who had accepted an offer to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Word spread among student government leaders and others on campus Friday that the university had scheduled a listening session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms. When asked about those details, a university spokeswoman said the school plans to hold a session for the university community and one for faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, but hasn't nailed down details. Friday was the last day of classes for the semester for Marquette students, but some students will be around until the May 23 commencement.

Undergraduates have finals. There will be many more students besides graduating seniors still on campus.

I assume students will have their priorities in order and be studying for finals instead of attending a listening session, but the Journal Sentinel makes it sound as if the meetings were scheduled when few students would be around.

Obviously, that's misleading.

Jodi O'Brien, a professor and department chair at Seattle University - which, like Marquette, is Jesuit - had visited Milwaukee to look for a house after she was offered the College of Arts and Sciences position. However, the school pulled the offer this week, citing published works from O'Brien "relating to Catholic mission and identity."

Some students and professors protested Thursday, saying that the topics of her academic writings, which include sociological studies of vignettes on gay and lesbian sex, were clear before O'Brien was offered the post.

A university spokeswoman had scheduled an interview between President Father Robert A. Wild and a Journal Sentinel reporter and editorial writer Friday, but later canceled the meeting, saying this was now a legal situation.

"Now a legal situation."

That's the news here.

Is O'Brien going to sue Marquette?

That's wonderful.

Jodi O'Brien and Marquette University

Jodi O'Brien was offered the position to be Marquette University's new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences.

That offer was rescinded.

The headline of the story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Marquette on hot seat for rescinding job offer to lesbian."

I detect a not too subtle bias there. Marquette, a private institution, is being condemned for discrimination based on sexual orientation.

(Even the New York Times ran a more balanced headline: "Marquette Rescinds Offer to Sociologist.")

From Sharif Durhams and Katelyn Ferral of the Journal Sentinel:

Marquette University has pulled an offer to hire a new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences from a lesbian who has written scholarly works on gender and sexual orientation, a move that is sparking criticism from faculty and a protest by students.

A university spokeswoman said the decision to withdraw an offer to hire Seattle University professor Jodi O'Brien wasn't about her sexual orientation or the quality of her scholarship. It did have to do with some of O'Brien's published writings "relating to Catholic mission and identity," Marquette spokeswoman Mary Pat Pfeil said.

"This was a decision based on a totality of factors, specifically related to the fit for the candidate to the college," she said in an interview.

In the end, the Jesuit school determined O'Brien was not an "acceptable candidate for permanent appointment," Pfeil said in a statement released Thursday afternoon by the university.

"At this time, the only comment I can offer is to confirm that I was offered the position of Dean and I accepted it, but there was an intercession by the President before my appointment was announced officially," O'Brien said in an e-mail Thursday evening. "I'm stunned and disappointed."

Several faculty members said the decision raised concerns about academic freedom and the university leadership's discomfort with the subject of O'Brien's published work - including a sociological study of vignettes on lesbian sex - rather than any issues of quality.

Psychology professor Stephen Franzoi, who served on a search committee for the post, said faculty members forwarded two candidates to Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild and Provost John Pauly. In their recommendation, committee members warned Wild and Pauly not to pick O'Brien if the university was not willing to support her if her sexual orientation or if her scholarship were criticized, Franzoi said.

Nancy E. Snow, a philosophy professor, helped O'Brien hunt for houses in Shorewood last month. She said the discussion of O'Brien's work is a smokescreen.

She sent an e-mail to several faculty members saying that she suspects donors criticized the hire and that Wild feared losing their support.

"This is a travesty that will have long-term impact for our ability to retain and hire high quality faculty," Snow said. "It's a public disgrace and an embarrassment."

Pfeil said she didn't know of a donor threatening to pull a donation from Marquette because of the hire.

About 100 students, some carrying signs, protested the decision in front of Marquette's Alumni Memorial Union, blocking part of Wisconsin Ave. on Thursday afternoon just before an award dinner for Marquette faculty. Some faculty members wore pink and lavender clothing and flowers in protest.

Margaret Steele, a doctoral student in philosophy department, said the decision "was made behind closed doors and very quietly" and seemed to be a "violation of MU values."

...Pfeil maintained that Wild has a well-deserved reputation of being inclusive of gays and lesbians, and that Marquette has made notable strides in the area of diversity in the past decade.

"We have on our faculty and staff individuals of various faiths, ages, ethnicity and sexual orientation," she said. "These differences help us to promote a culture of learning, appreciation and understanding."

Dr. John McAdams, Associate Professor of Political Science at Marquette, has been following this story on his blog, Marquette Warrior.

He has published portions of an e-mail from Marquette President Father Robert A. Wild and Provost John Pauly. It was sent to Arts and Sciences faculty yesterday, explaining the decision not to hire O'Brien.

McAdams also links to the university's press release on the matter.

I agree with McAdams' assessment of the situation. He writes, "It’s not just a fiasco. It’s two or three fiascos piled on top of one another."

There have been major fiascoes before at Marquette.

Two words: "The Gold."

That one was about Marquette's identity, too; but in a much more superficial way.

This one goes to the soul of the university.

McAdams points out:

If Jodi O’Brien is not qualified to be Dean of Arts & Sciences at Marquette, she should never have made it to the short list, much less been offered the position.

Thus, if Marquette really wants to hire only Deans who are consistent with the “mission” of the university, they should take the trouble to appoint a committee that believes in that mission.

And if they feel the need to overturn the recommendation of the committee they appoint, they should do it early on (which they have the right to do, because the committee is merely making a “recommendation”).

There's no question that this is embarrassingly messy.

The sloppiness in the decision-making process was really inexcusable.

It never should have reached this point. The terrible awkwardness of rescinding the offer to O'Brien could have been avoided.

The New York Times reports:

The Rev. Robert A. Wild, the Marquette president, denied in an interview that the decision to revoke the offer was based on the candidate’s sexual orientation. Instead, Father Wild said, the decision came after he and other university leaders read academic writings by the candidate.

“We found some strongly negative statements about marriage and family,” Father Wild said.

Dr. O’Brien’s 12-page curriculum vitae includes many articles and book chapters on topics like “Queer Christian Identities,” “Queer Christian Social Movements” and same-sex marriage.

Clearly, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences holds a very prominent leadership role. Finding someone to fill the position has been an arduous task. O'Brien not only made the short list of candidates, she was actually offered to be Marquette's new dean.

According to Roman Catholic Canon Law, a "Catholic" university is required to be committed to Catholic doctrine.

Canon 810 reads:

The authority competent according to the statutes has the duty to make provision so that teachers are appointed in Catholic universities who besides their scientific and pedagogical qualifications are outstanding in integrity of doctrine and probity of life and that they are removed from their function when the lack these requirements.

If O'Brien's statements proved problematic, that should have been debated and determined much sooner in the process, meaning BEFORE she was offered the job.

I question how committed Marquette is to its mission and Catholic identity. I wonder if faculty and administrators truly understand the university's mission and their responsibility in carrying it out.

Are expectations clear and consistent? What's accepted as an appropriate balance when it comes to the expression of individual freedom and shared Catholic values?

Is Marquette's Catholic identity window-dressing, in the background, low on the list of priorities, not necessarily something to be practiced and fully embraced?

Is Marquette's purpose for the greater glory of God? Really?

I think some soul-searching is in order.
___________________

More:

Wild, critics react after Marquette University pulls job offer to lesbian