University calls for dismissal of former Chancellor Joe Gow over pornography

A hearing was held Friday to determine the fate of Joseph Gow, a professor and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse who was fired from his post for leading a secret second life and appearing in explicit porn videos online. But this may not be the end of a saga that has drawn national attention. Gow told the Sun that if the university hearing does not go in his favor, he will have “no choice” but to file suit.

Mr Gow, who was fired as chancellor last year but has so far retained his tenured professorship, has been fighting to keep his job for months, claiming his behavior – including making porn videos with his wife for OnlyFans, running a YouTube channel for cooking vegan dishes with porn stars and publishing two books about his sex life – is protected free speech. School leaders expressed concern and disgust when they learned of his behavior in December – and a faculty committee unanimously recommended in July that he be removed from his professorship. The professorship's protections, as the Sun noted in previous reports, mean the university must show “cause” for his dismissal.

In order to legally rid itself of Mr. Gow, the university accused him of various disciplinary violations that would not be covered by a permanent position. The university concluded that Mr. Gow violated school rules by referring to his university job in his porn videos, hiring “sex workers” within an hour of campus, and creating a conflict of interest when he invited a “sex worker,” porn star Nina Hartley (65), to speak on campus.

“For someone who previously served as chancellor, Dr. Gow's conduct was unethical, hypocritical and unacceptable,” Wade Harrison, attorney for the UW System, said in his testimony. “It is time to bring this matter to a close. The University of Wisconsin LaCrosse has respectfully requested that Dr. Gow's employment be terminated for cause. Enough is enough. Dr. Joe must go.”

Mr Harrison said the former chancellor “simply cannot be trusted”, especially in a classroom, and suggested Mr Gow simply wanted “big media exposure” and “great marketing opportunities for his cooking and adult content”.

The brief hearing on Friday, which Mr. Gow said lasted less than an hour and did not feature a single question from the committee, was called by the UW System's Board of Regents, whose secret recommendation will be presented to the full board for consideration at a future meeting – which could be as early as Thursday.

He says the brevity of the hearing and the lack of questions suggested to him that the committee may have gone into the hearing “with an opinion already made up.”

“My lawyer says we have a proper lawsuit if it doesn't go in my favor,” he says of the full panel's upcoming decision. “And I think given the way I was treated today, where they said he was not honest and unethical and all these false allegations, I would have no choice but to file a lawsuit and take full advantage of that.”

For months, Mr Gow has insisted that the issue is about free speech and academic freedom. Before the hearing, he told The Sun that he and his wife maintain their YouTube account, “Sexy Happy Couple,” where they cook while clothed, as well as their sexually explicit OnlyFans account. The OnlyFans content is an income the couple will rely on should he lose his permanent job and salary.

“It's sad that the UW System's lawyers don't really want to get involved in the real First Amendment debate about the books and videos,” he said after the hearing. “And I think it's even worse that the board of directors, which supposedly stands up for free speech, isn't willing to talk about it either.”

Mr. Gow was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which insists that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “firmly protects a wide range of colorful, controversial and provocative speech.”

“Public universities cannot violate the First Amendment just to save face or appease donors,” FIRE's legal counsel Zach Greenberg said in a statement provided to The Sun ahead of the hearing. “Professors must be free to express their opinions outside of work hours, even if their words offend others. Firing tenured professors because of what they say outside of work hours would restrict academic freedom across the country.”