Glendale Prof Still Standing By

Glendale Community College’s Walter Kehowski was set to present his case before a faculty appeal hearing this week, but that hearing has been postponed.

Kehowski is the math professor whose spring semester was cut short this year when Glendale put him on paid administrative leave and then decided to fire him—pending a Board of Trustees vote—because he sent an e-mail to the college community containing George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1789 and a link to a citation on Pat Buchanan’s blog. As Sam has skillfully explained at length, Kehowski’s e-mail may have offended some or even reminded them that he had sent some biting e-mails in past years, but his e-mail was protected expression and nothing about it warranted the most extreme punishment the college could muster.

Kehowski filed an appeal of his dismissal and a hearing before a panel of faculty members was scheduled for June 5. Procedure states that the faculty committee will evaluate the dismissal and make recommendations to Rufus Glasper, Chancellor of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), which oversees Glendale. Glasper will then present the faculty panel’s evaluation to the MCCCD Board of Trustees.

The appeal hearing is now scheduled to go forth some time in July, giving FIRE, the media, and the public, which has passionately and vociferously come to Kehowski’s defense, another month to continue to petition MCCCD to treat Kehowski fairly.