University of Wisconsin-La Crosse: Attempt to Terminate Tenured Professor for Making Pornography Outside of Work

In December 2023, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse fired Joe Gow as its Chancellor after discovering he made and posted pornographic videos with his wife in his spare time. UW-La Crosse then sought to terminate his tenured professor role in March 2024, alleging his actions rendered him unfit to teach. On June 18, FIRE urged UW-La Crosse to refrain from punishing Gow for protected extramural expression that did not affect his academic role. The next month, a faculty committee recommended UW-La Crosse fire Gow, citing negative media coverage and reputational damage to the university and finding him responsible for various minor policy violations. On July 16, FIRE again called on UW to uphold faculty First Amendment rights by allowing Gow to continue teaching. We also connected Gow with FIRE Legal Network attorney Mark Leitner for his appeal to the UW Board of Regents. 

On September 13, FIRE implored the UW System Board of Regents to reject UW-La Crosse’s recommendation to terminate Gow ahead of the Board’s September 20 hearing. The Board approved the termination recommendation on September 27.