Ex-Wisconsin prof uses First Amendment as defense after being fired for making porn with wife

In a closely watched First Amendment rights case, a former University of Wisconsin campus chancellor who was fired after making pornographic films with his wife argued Friday for keeping his tenured teaching position even as he faces removal for unethical behavior.Joe Gow, who had served as chancellor of UW-La Crosse for nearly 17 years, hoped to convince a personnel committee of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to recommend he be allowed to retain tenure and return to teaching communications courses.Gow has been on paid leave from his faculty position since the regents fired him as chancellor in 2023, shortly after university leaders became aware of the videos that were posted on pornographic websites.Gow’s behavior has been “unethical, hypocritical and unacceptable,” university attorney Wade Harrison told six regents who form the personnel committee on Friday.“Enough is enough,” he said.“Dr.

Joe needs to go.”A UW-La Crosse faculty committee unanimously recommended in July that Gow lose his faculty position, saying he exploited his position to generate more interest and revenue from the videos.University attorneys argued Friday that he should lose his tenured teaching position because he harmed the university’s reputation and interfered with its mission.Gow has established that he is unable to recognize his own poor judgment, university attorneys argued in filings ahead of the hearing.The regents personnel committee discussed the case behind closed doors after taking testimony Friday.

Its recommendation, also secret, will then be taken up at a meeting of the full Board of Regents as soon as next week.The case has garnered national attention both for the salaciousness of a high-profile university official making pornographic movies and publicly talking about it and the questions it raises about free speech rights.Gow argued that his videos and two e-books he and his wife, Carmen, have published about their experiences in adult films ...