Was Fairleigh Dickinson University adjunct professor Jacques Pluss dismissed for failing to show up for class or for his political views?
Armando presumed the latter in a front-page post last week, The Limits of Academic Freedom, which reported Pluss's claims that he had been dismissed for his neo-Nazi views and affiliations. But commenters took Armando to task for failing to acknowledge the university's explanation that Pluss had been dismissed for missing too many classes. If true, that meant that Pluss was simply a slacker trying to claim persecution after the fact.
Subsequent reporting suggests that Pluss's political views may have more to do with his dismissal than the university first acknowledged--as I'll explain on the flip.
From
northjersey.com:
Officials at FDU, however, said Pluss was replaced because of the missed classes, about "four or five" this semester, but he won't be allowed to return because of his views. They say his Nazi affiliations and white supremacist viewpoints didn't come to light until after he was told not to return to class. Pluss has taught at FDU's Teaneck campus since 2002. He formerly was a tenured professor at William Paterson University in Wayne.
"As they say in the Midwest, we were snookered,'' said John Snyder, dean of FDU's university college.
"It's not politics, it's hate mongering,'' Snyder said. "It's just hatred directed at the very students he taught. His position would be untenable on the basis of student welfare. It's our job to see to it that students are treated with respect and security."
Snyder said Pluss was informed on March 21 that he was relieved of his teaching duties, but would be paid for the remainder of his contract through the end of the school year. The arrangement was made on the advice of the university's legal department, Snyder said.
[snip]
Pluss said he believes that his political views had been discussed, and denounced, at a faculty meeting earlier on the day he was relieved of his course. But Snyder insisted the decision was made based on the professor's attendance, and said he knew nothing of the faculty meeting.
[snip]
[Pluss] said he missed class only three times this semester and had called in to his department, as required, before each absence.
This new report, I want to emphasize, hardly proves Pluss's allegation that he was dismissed for his views rather than his absences. But it is noteworthy that his political views were apparently aired at a faculty meeting prior to his firing--which the Dean does not deny, though he claims that he was unaware of it.
Personally, I'm also inclined to think that Pluss's views may not have been irrelevant when the Dean--although maintaining that the absences were the reason--says things like "we were snookered" (which, by the way, I thought was more an Anglicism than a Midwestern expression). Note also that the university now seems to have reduced the number of alleged absences from six to "four or five," while Pluss says it was three.
For what it's worth, I thought last week, and continue to think, that Armando was wrong to suggest that an instructor should be fired for political views and associations outside the classroom that don't impinge on his/her teaching. But Armando's skepticism about the university's explanation may have been more on the mark than some acknowledged.
Another report, which seems mostly to repeat what was in the student paper and on northjersey.com, is here:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/04/04/nazi
Update [2005-4-4 14:35:18 by Hprof]: - A bit more, c/o www.nj.com:
"He was dismissed because of excessive, unexcused, un-made-up absences," said John Snyder, dean of Fairleigh Dickinson's University College.
Pluss missed four or five days this semester, Snyder said.
But the professor said he missed three days, one because he had bronchitis and two for a severe gastrointestinal ailment. Each was excused with a doctor's note and no one ever notified him his absences were a problem, said Pluss, 51.
[snip]
Pluss, who has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson since 2002, hired an attorney and is considering a lawsuit.
[snip]
The professor said he was careful to keep his views secret on campus. School officials said they never got any complaints about Pluss and his student evaluations were excellent.
"I never mentioned my political affiliations to anyone on campus, either students or faculty," Pluss said. "I was trained one should bring as much objectivity to any class one teaches."
Campus officials met with the 39 students in Pluss' "History of Western Civilization II" class Thursday. All said they were shocked their professor was a member of a pro-Nazi group.
"They said his political beliefs did not slip into his teaching," said Snyder, the Fairleigh Dickinson dean.
School officials are looking for another professor to continue teaching Pluss' class. The replacement adjunct they hired quit after one week because she did not want to deal with the controversy, Snyder said.