Professor's Firing Should Be Rescinded

Dr. Daniel J. Pollack-Pelzner, professor of English and Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies with ten years of service at Linfield University, has advised the AAUP that his tenured appointment was terminated after he publicly criticized the governing board for its handling of alleged sexual misconduct among its members and accused the university president of having made anti-Semitic remarks. This suggests that the termination was based on considerations that violated his academic freedom.

An action to dismiss a tenured professor without the administration's having first demonstrated adequacy of cause is in violation of principles established by the AAUP and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and endorsed by more than two hundred other groups in higher education. 

These and other AAUP principles are in fact incorporated into the Linfield University faculty handbook, so the administration's action against Professor Pollack-Pelzner was evidently taken in flagrant violation, not only of AAUP-recommended standards, but of the institution's own regulations.

In a letter sent today to Linfield president Miles K. Davis, we urge in strongest terms that he immediately rescind the notice of dismissal issued to Professor Pollack-Pelzner and reinstate him to his academic and other responsibilities, and that any subsequent action be consistent with the cited principles and standards.

Read the letter and the response to President Davis.