A Clear Voice: Non-PC Teacher Fired

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April 04, 2005

Non-PC Teacher Fired

I see from this AP story on CNN that while it’s difficult to get an terrorist-sympathizing plagiarist removed from a university, there’s no problem finding a reason to fire a member of a pro-Nazi group.

TEANECK, New Jersey (AP) -- An adjunct history professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University who hosts a webcast program called "White Viewpoint" has been dismissed for missing too many days of class, school officials said.
Jacques Pluss, 51, acknowledged he is a member of the National Socialist Movement, a pro-Nazi group.

University officials said Pluss was dismissed for missing too many days of a class, but Pluss said each of his three absences was excused with a doctor's note.
...
"I never mentioned my political affiliations to anyone on campus, either students or faculty," he said, adding that he was trained to bring objectivity to teaching assignments.

He was previously a tenured professor at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, from 1984 to 2000.

Natalia Galbetti, a Fairleigh Dickinson freshman from Brazil, said the anti-foreigner comments Pluss made on his Internet show were not consistent with the way he treated his students.

"He was always so nice to me," she said. "He knew that I was a foreigner. He definitely kept it out of the classroom."

It’s not that I agree at all with his political views, but if that is really the reason he was dismissed, it’s not a good enough reason.

The missing class thing doesn’t seem real firm either. Maybe it’s different in New Jersey, but I have instructors who miss way more than 3-5 days of class, and I don’t see them getting dismissed. That group certainly includes non-tenured faculty.

We’ll see if we hear anything more of this.

The Education Wonks has more, including this link to an article that includes an interview with Pluss.

I thought this point was interesting.

Pluss was teaching the History of Western Civilization this semester and was informed Monday that he was being replaced immediately, although he would be paid for the rest of the semester.

This seems suspicious. Is it common for teachers that are fired for attendance problems to be paid for the rest of the year?

In the interview with Inside Higher Ed, Pluss said that his views were consistent with the platform of the National Socialist Movement. That document, among other things, calls for stripping U.S. citizenship from anyone who is Jewish, gay or not white. The Nazi Web site also features photographs of Hitler, drawings of marching Nazi soldiers, photographs of American Nazis in their uniforms, and images of the U.S. flag.
Fairleigh Dickinson officials were not available for comment over the weekend. But John Snyder, a dean at the university, told NorthJersey.com that Pluss was dismissed for missing too many courses, not his views, which Snyder said the university only learned about this week. But Snyder was also quoted as saying that Nazi views made it impossible for Pluss to ever receive another teaching assignment.

“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.”

Yeah, they fired him for missing classes, but they'd never hire him again because of his views.

Again, I find his views disgusting; just as disgusting as the idea that the people killed on 9/11 deserved it. But since he was not expressing those views in class, there was no legitimate reason for him to be fired or to not be hired in the future because of it.

Universities are about embracing all sorts of people with all sorts of ideas, not just the ones that certain people agree with. I think Ward Churchill's ideas are disgusting too, but I don't think he should be dismissed for them. (I think he should be dismissed for academic dishonesty and plagiarism.)

Posted by illuminaria at April 4, 2005 11:46 PM

Comments

Call me crazy, but I didn't care much for one of my professors at the educational institution that Illuminaria attends, notifying the class as tensions rose and the UN failed enforce yet another resolution (this was at least a week or two in advance of "Shock and Awe"), that, "If we go to war in Iraq, there will be no class the following day as I would be too busy with war protests to be able to teach class."

True to his word, we went to war in Iraq and he was out on the street protesting on the TV news instead of in class teaching the class that we had paid him to teach.

I didn't have much of a case to complain, as my attendance was good, but less than perfect.

Don't get me wrong, he was a great professor and the course was a great course, but it frankly irritated me no end.

It also offended the daylights out of me that he wore a black armband of funereal mourning for the remainder of the semester. He likely wears it still.

What really offended me, still does, and raises serious questions of ethics, school rule violations, and legal violations. When the semester started, he had refused to give his booklist to the University Bookstore that normally stocks our textbooks. Instead, he gave us the list and sent us to this horrid little place called, "The Peace Nook", which we were told had the added benefit of being sales-tax exempt as it was a not-for-profit entity. Not only were they way way way underprepared to meet the student needs for the course materials, but the proceeds from all their sales went to fund the most horrid far-left-lunatic-insane-irresponsible-treasonous causes endorsed by this asinine fringe group. I remember walking down the school's outside mall once on my way to class just post 9-11, and being assaulted by several of their idiots trying to give me handbills and advice that the best way deal with the attack on our nation was to go, and I quote, "Hug a terrorist." It gave me much joy that these were the same type of morons that Saddam took wicked pleasure using as bomb-'retard'ants around his palaces and military posts.

I digress... Being offended by who and what they were, and by my teacher's choices/actions on this matter was not the end of things... The class in question was an in-depth look at the New Testament Bible (as well as Gnostic gospels and other such alternatives). A lot of folk in that class were those who believe in a morality established by an Almighty and Omnipotent creator that is not subject to interpretation and such. They are not 'intolerant' as so many fools claim, but instead believers in 'Absolute Truth'. Trying to live one's live by this moral code does not lead one to be particularly encouraging to alternative (and to their minds, deviant and sinful) lifestyles. As such, they also try to avoid exposure to the materials of those who do advocate and encourage such alternative lifestyles.

Kind of hard for them to do when, to navigate the store to reach the course materials you have to pass numerous displays of gay and lesbian pornography, items for practitioners of witchcraft, and other occultist beliefs. Awe, but I bet it was old news to these students. I'm just sure that they had to go to the same area to pick up materials for their Sunday School lessons, or Small Group meetings. I mean, after all, isn't a crazy fringe store like this top of the list when sending folks to procure bibles and or bible related materials? You could almost feel a spiritual battle going on between the bibles we were supposed to buy for class, and pretty much the entire rest of the store's merchandise.

Posted by: Thistledowne at April 5, 2005 05:34 AM

Thistle, you have every right to complain, regardless of your attendance. In case you haven't noticed, you are the CUSTOMER, and the
professor is a PAID SERVICE PROVIDER. You aren't ripping anyone off but yourself by not attending class.

I think the prof should hoist the lefties on their own petard - accept the reasons given on face value, and, since he was legitimately ill on those three days, as verified by medical personnel, file an ADA lawsuit, his disability being a less than stellar immune system. I'm not a fan of frivolous litigation, but sometimes the best way to fight something is to carry it to its inevitable absurdity.

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