Laura Kipnis (see poem) is “cleared” of “wrongdoing.”
Oh thank you, thank you, Northwestern attorneys, for exonerating Kipnis from having written something that offended someone.
Good news for your struggling profession, no? Now that we know how easy it is for American professors to get hauled up on charges, all you have to do is advertise in campus newspapers. Have you ever been offended by one of your professors? Contact us NOW.
June 1st, 2015 at 4:05PM
This was a “contract hit”, right? Somebody was out to “get” Ms. Kipnis? Am I sort of guessing okay?
Don’t know much about this except for the UD mention, but wouldn’t a well-argued rebuttal be the right way of handling thoughts you think are misguided? These quasi-juridical charges seem to me very bad mojo at a university.
June 1st, 2015 at 8:07PM
@Jack/OH, same thing happened to my alma mater, University of San Francisco, when I was a stumbling undergrad back in the 80’s. USF is Jesuit, and some classes debated the merits of Liberation Theology. Upset more than a few, including a handful of students, and the Vatican, which deemed that a catholic uni isn’t the place to debate dogma. USF response? Pound sand, the school is autonomous, we have growing numbers of foreign, non catholic students, who could care less what the Vatican thinks. If you don’t like to have your thinking challenged, plenty of other catholic unis which would love to have yass. Blew over relatively quickly….
June 2nd, 2015 at 1:54AM
Actually it’s not over yet. Your thanks might be premature. The “victims” can appeal, and then complain to the Dept. of Education.
The real question is whether Northwestern had much of a choice other than to investigate, in the light of the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX.
June 2nd, 2015 at 2:28AM
AYY: It’s interesting to read what a professor who also got swept up in this says: