linfield university controversy

Regardless, I asked for and received his resignation from the Board.. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. But no such corollary exists for faculty and students should not be subject to such a bizarre policy. Pollack-Pelzner said he hopes Linfield puts its energy toward building a safer and more supportive community for everyone instead of focusing its energy on him. Both students and faculty members have repeatedly called on Baca to step down over Linfields handling of sexual misconduct reports by students against David Jubb, a former trustee who is facing a criminal trial. The Oregon Board of Rabbis called on Dr. Davis and Mr. Baca to resign. Linfield University locations: McMinnville Campus 900 SE Baker Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128 503-883-2200. It is exciting to be part of Linfield during this time of evolution and progress, and I look forward to working with faculty, staff, administration and the Linfield community as we design and begin our new strategic planning process, Carmody said in a statement. Durch Klicken auf Alle akzeptieren erklren Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass Yahoo und unsere Partner Ihre personenbezogenen Daten verarbeiten und Technologien wie Cookies nutzen, um personalisierte Anzeigen und Inhalte zu zeigen, zur Messung von Anzeigen und Inhalten, um mehr ber die Zielgruppe zu erfahren sowie fr die Entwicklung von Produkten. The outside investigator found the faculty members report to be substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence, but said that it did not rise to the level of violating Linfields harassment or Title IX policy. Its overwhelming, its destabilizing its an attack on the values of higher education that I have worked so hard with colleagues to uphold, he said. He said he would leave if my departure would benefit the university.. statement last year from the Executive Committee of the universitys board of trustees. I am honored to serve this great institution as Interim Chair. Jackson B. Miller, a communication arts professor, criticized both statements,. Condemnation from parents, alumni and a national educational organization followed almost immediately after Linfield University fired tenured English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner in a rare. Linfield has pushed back on this criticism, saying it investigated the most recent complaints in question and no university policies were found to have been violated. In fact, there is one felony charge against Jubb, along with seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor in Oregon. (JTA) In the latest developments in an ongoing controversy at Linfield University over the firing of a tenured Jewish professor who accused the school of antisemitism, a report from the local branch of the NAACP found that the Oregon schools president was subjected to racism at the school. But Pollack-Pelzner told JTA that theres a real issue of institutional racism at Linfield and said that allegations against white members of the board had never been investigated, while allegations against Black members had been. In addition, the schools president, Miles K. Davis, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that he had in fact made a comment about the size of Jewish noses to Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, the professor who was fired this week. Tensions reached a high on Tuesday when the university fired Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a Shakespeare scholar and tenured professor of English who had served on the board of trustees and had spoken out about the accusations of anti-Semitism and sexual misconduct. Regarding the Listservs, Linfields vice president for finance and administration wrote to faculty and staff members over the weekend to say that based on the request of many faculty we are pausing access to global and college/school emails lists due to the use of these lists to send unsolicited messages. Even mass emails about the general education revision are paused, and Linfield requests that all broad correspondence be vetted and distributed by the vice presidents office. Linfield - Nursing alumni go on to earn a starting salary of $47,300. Kerry Carmody, the boards vice chair, was named interim chair, effective Oct.1. OPBs critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. former faculty member Daniel Pollack-Pelzner brought to light allegations. Reportedly, campus security had entered faculty offices and removed posters in support of Pollack-Pelzner.. The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. A lawyer hired by the university substantiated Dr. Friedmans claim that Dr. Davis had put his hands on her arms but found that the conduct had not violated Linfields anti-harassment and sexual harassment policy. If you face retaliation over protected speech, reach out to FIRE to learn more about how we can protect your rights. As the controversy has dragged on, Mr. Baca, the board chairman, has tried to reassure students and others on campus who have protested the handling of the sexual misconduct accusations, writing. Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212. In another account, a faculty member accused Linfield President Davis of misconduct. Dr. Tompkins remembered slightly different wording. Im trying to figure out what my options are. Joe Wilferth, dean of arts and sciences, also wrote to faculty members to say, In my experience over the last seven months, what has been written and shared in these various outlets, even on university e-mail lists, only serves to exacerbate what is arguably an already-hostile work environment., The boards executive committee recently endorsed a deans proposal that the campus engage in mediation to facilitate a culture of understanding and mutual respect that leads to university-wide cooperation and collaboration including the articulation of standards related to professional responsibilities and an institutional code of conduct., Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, professor of English, underscored the university's desire to adopt a code of conduct and she sees it as an "egregious violation of academic freedom.Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, another professor of English who has criticized the university publicly, wrote on Twitter, So, in response to allegations of misconduct, @LinfieldUniv has shut down student comments on Instagram, censored critical posts on Facebook, and suspended campus email lists. The refusal to take this action, and the defiant tone within these messages about the possibility of even considering such a step, perpetuates an image of Linfield as an organization that is not adequately addressing sexual misconduct allegations, Miller wrote. The Linfield Curriculum The core general-education courses teach critical thinking and communication skills and provide a rich, broad experience. Last month, the faculty of arts and sciences took a vote of no confidence in Dr. Davis and Mr. Baca and urged them to resign in a resolution that condemned intolerance, discrimination and retaliation. In February 2019 after a faculty-trustee dinner, Jubb is accused of sexually abusing student-trustee AnnaMarie Motis as the two waited for a ride in the lobby of Michelbook Country Club and then at a McMinnville bar where trustees had gone for after-dinner drinks. The most serious of the sexual misconduct allegations involved a trustee, David Jubb, who resigned in June 2019 and was charged in an indictment last May with one count of felony sexual abuse and seven counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse. MSE News. Pollack-Pelzner whose case has become a cause celebre among American academics did not agree to speak with the NAACP for its investigation, and the report does not substantively address his termination or his allegations, relying instead on the independent investigation that could not substantiate them. WiMSE Partners to Help Invisible Homeless - January 26, 2023. With Linfield . Throughout a controversy that has resulted in two separate no-confidence votes, Davis and the board that supports him have behaved like petty tyrants, altering the colleges governance structure, suspending mass faculty emails, and insisting that all broad correspondence be vetted by the vice president of finance and administration. That is our challenge and our charge.. The university exists as a powerful reminder that threats to academic freedom often come not from ideologues but from administrators who fear criticism and have no business running a university. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. His recent Twitter posting is just the latest salvo in an effort that has caused harm to the university and our community.. Last year, controversy broke out again after a viral column in JCU's student newspaper posited that the show represented "the deviant entertainment of misguided young people." The column prompted widespread debate about free speech and LGBTQ inclusivity on campus, as well as an administrative investigation into the author of the critical column. Academic freedom and freedom of inquiry are values to which Linfield University subscribes., But Linfields despotic administration has effectively renounced this statement in favor of a pithier one: Snitches get stitches.. Learn with FIRE provides learners with the opportunity to take courses on a wide range of topics, including free speech and due process, designed by our expert staff. Dr. Bull served in numerous capacities and was a leader in opening new career paths for women in the corporate and educational fields. It could hardly be clearer. The Chronicle conducted interviews with Linfields dissembling leadership as they frantically grasp for any credible explanation for why they terminated a tenured faculty member with no process a severance so quick that the professor learned of his termination because he got an auto-response from his own email address explaining that Daniel Pollack-Pelzner is no longer an employee of Linfield University.. Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education. Colleen Flaherty April 19, 2021 (Daniel Pollack-Pelzner/Twitter) (JTA) In the latest developments in an ongoing controversy at Linfield University over the firing of a tenured Jewish professor who accused the school of anti-Semitism, a report from the. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Allegations of Anti-Semitism at Linfield The university's ongoing sexual misconduct scandal involving trustees is a two-headed monster, now that one faculty trustee says he faced anti-Semitism for pushing for reform. According to the Chronicle: In an interview, Agre-Kippenhan said that Pollack-Pelzner had been fired from the university under his status as an employee, not as a tenured professor, and that the faculty handbook needed to be revised because many of the provisions in it were not entirely useful.. When he sent an email to himself as a test, he received, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, an auto-reply, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner is no longer an employee of Linfield University. A Linfield University spokesperson explains that Pollack-Pelzner was let go for circulating unspecified false statements, for an equally unspecified failure to comply with university policies, and generally being insubordinate.. frequently responds to hate and anti-Semitism on college campuses, rarely is that anti-Semitism or hatred perpetrated by a president of a university or other leadership.. That was related to complaints of misconduct about former board member David Jubb, who was indicted last year on multiple counts of sexual abuse some of those counts relating to a female Linfield student who filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 against Jubb. In response, he said, Mr. Baca, the board chairman, accused me a Jewish trustee of harboring a secret agenda to grab power.. Linfield University canceled faculty Listservs over the weekend, sparking faculty cries of censorship. Review Beyond the Classroom Academic Opportunities Learning at Linfield spans well beyond the traditional classroom setting. The president said he was unaware of the guidelines, hadnt seen the most recent version of the faculty handbook, didnt know who had updated it, and didnt believe it had been approved by the administration. Student Life Linfield President Davis responded Friday to the ADLs letter. It . Linfield President Miles Davis said in a responding letter that the professors tweets were part of a smear campaign against university administration. Students and alumni have condemned the firing, and more than 1,000 professors from the United States, Canada and other countries have signed a letter saying the universitys action could eviscerate the foundational principles of both free speech and of faculty governance on university campuses., They have fired the whistle-blower, said Jamie Friedman, an associate professor of English, who had accused Dr. Davis and another trustee of touching her inappropriately at university events. Pollack-Pelzner goes on to relate a strange comment President Davis made, presumably to indicate Daviss opposition to anti-Semitism. When he sent an email to the account from his personal email, he received an automatic response saying he no longer worked at the school. Based on that investigation, the NAACP criticized the ADL and Oregon Board of Rabbis for calling on Davis to resign. reporting from Linfields student newspaper The Linfield Review. gave support to his account of racial bias, releasing a report that praised Dr. Daviss leadership and said he had been subjected to unfair personal attacks because of his race. The university, which has about 1,900 students and 139 faculty members, maintains an affiliation with the American Baptist Churches U.S.A. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner lost his post a month after he had outlined multiple accusations of anti-Semitism and sexual misconduct by university leaders in a statement on Twitter. Baca said he met at length with Motis when she raised her complaint in 2019 and he banned Jubb from attending the next board meeting while he began a process to remove him as trustee. Linfield served as Dean of Women from 1921 to 1928, and sat on the Board of Directors from 1922 to her death in 1940. I havent seen any indication that people in positions of power at Linfield want to hold themselves accountable., Other organizations have also come out in Pollack-Pelzners defense. (Linfield students, on the other hand, are subject to the noblesse oblige and whims of Davis: The student handbook has a get-out-of-policy-free card for Davis, granting him the prerogative of total authority to act without consultation with any other person or conduct board to suspend or expel any student that Davis feels is acting contrary and dangerous to the university. Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. Linfields administration does not get to pick and choose between the policies it has and the policies it wishes it had. There is a jury trial scheduled for that case in November. Police, security agencies advise Jews to be on alert ahead of planned National Day of Hate on Shabbat, American citizen killed in latest West Bank shooting amid escalating violence, This Orthodox Jewish model made history at New York Fashion Week. Dr. Friedman said she had also reported that another trustee, Norman Nixon, a former member of the Los Angeles Lakers, touched her thigh during a university dinner and asked if there was a Mr. 4d. Dave decided it was in Linfields best interest that he step down and allow new leaders to come to the forefront, Linfield spokesperson Scott Nelson said in a statement. The controversies have played out for months in a federal lawsuit filed by a student, through public statements from faculty members and leaders, student protests, and votes of no confidence. So eight criminal charges total, not all of them felonies. Davis invited the NAACP to investigate whether he was subject to racist treatment after he was accused both of antisemitism as well as sexual assault. Now people. But in an interview with The Chronicle, Davis confirmed that he had indeed made the comment about Jewish and Arab noses, which he said had been informed by the time hed spent in the Middle East. The Zestimate for this Townhouse is $559,300, which has decreased by $54,929 in the last 30 days.The Rent Zestimate for this Townhouse is $3,499/mo, which has decreased by $247/mo in the last 30 days. Linfield University is affiliated with American Baptist Churches, USA. The two statements are the latest developments in a controversy that has roiled the McMinnville campus for months. Zestimate Home Value: $439,900. The reports only reference to the allegations of antisemitism comes in a rebuttal to the Jewish organizations that demanded Davis resignation. Editors Note: This story has been updated to include information about investigations of sexual harassment at Linfield, based on summaries provided to OPB after the story originally published. He said Pollack-Pelzners firing was a personnel issue that Im not a party to and I have no opinion one way or the other about it., Pollack-Pelzners firing has led to an outcry among professors worldwide. [11] ( JTA) Linfield University, a small school in Oregon, has fired a Jewish professor who accused the university president of making antisemitic remarks. It is a small institution with an enrollment of 340 undergraduate students. That concession is damning for Davis and Linfields claim that Pollack-Pelzners allegation is defamatory. At issue is Pollack-Pelzners unwelcome insistence that this same board take more seriously the documented mishandling of a case of trustee sexual misconduct, as well as additional similar allegations. Pollack-Pelzner said he believed the antisemitism was partly in response to his asking the school to do more to address allegations of sexual assault. Elan Ganeles, American killed in West Bank attack, remembered for his wit and friendship, As Orthodox Union and other Jewish groups condemn settler rampage, many avoid mentioning Benjamin Netanyahu, Planned Day of Hate against Jews passes by with packed synagogues and no violence, Red Sox exec Chaim Bloom says hes received antisemitism over teams woes, Jewish comedian Modi Rosenfeld says he still has plenty of Orthodox fans after opening up about being gay, ESPNs Jeff Passan opens up on his Hebrew school upbringing, interviewing Sandy Koufax and Jewish baseball history. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Dr. Pollack-Pelzner said he had taken the letter as a personal attack, adding that he had been ordered not to talk about sexual misconduct outside of executive session and had then been banned from attending the sessions and finally fired after speaking out on Twitter. Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. Portland Campus 2900 NE 132nd Ave Portland, Oregon 97230 971-369-4100. eCampus Online and Continuing Education (OCE) Online degrees and certificates 503-883-2200 Link to home page . Instead, he said, it was the result of Pollack-Pelzners having made a number of statements that were blatantly false. The example he cited is the professors stating, in a recent email to Linfield faculty members, that Jubb, the former trustee, faced eight felony counts. The fact that Linfield violated its own policies is so clear that President Davis can only assert that the handbook, which was revised as recently as 2020 and is almost certainly contractually binding, is woefully out of date. As more than one reporter has observed, the employee handbook, which Davis asserts is a better guide, refers readers to the very appendix in which the procedures Linfield failed to follow are set forth. On Thursday, he recalled discussing the physical characteristics of Jews and Arabs and making the point that this portrayal of Shylock with the hook nose is just ludicrous.. Linfields faculty handbook requires a lengthy process, including two formal hearings, before a professor with tenure can be fired procedures that have not been followed in this case. All rights reserved (About Us). One faculty trustee also accused board members of anti-Semitism, and the arts and sciences faculty voted overwhelmingly that it has no confidence in President Miles Davis or David Baca, board chair. Jubb has pleaded not guilty to the charges. That is exactly what FIRE is telling Davis and the institution he currently leads. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,283 (fall 2021), its setting is rural, and the campus size is 189 acres. Her gift included real estate in Spokane, Washington, valued at $250,000 (a sum worth nearly $4 million in 2020). Some professors may be uncomfortable with the changes he has made as the universitys first Black president, he said. As Linfield adapts to meet the needs of a new generation of students and the demands of a quickly evolving world of higher education, the Board also has to adapt and change. Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The Save Our Linfield nonprofit has raised more than $10,000 for a legal defense fund for . The university faces growing calls for the resignation of that president, Miles K. Davis, and the chairman of its board of trustees amid accusations that they made offensive comments about Jews and that Dr. Davis and three other board members had engaged in various forms of misconduct with female professors and students. 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