Letter of Support for Abbate from Marquette Dept Chairs
The heads of several departments in Marquette University’s Klingler College of Arts and Sciences met about the Abbate case and have written a letter to their administration, below, which they invite other members of the Marquette University community to sign by posting their names in the comments. (Note: such “signings” will be the only comments allowed on this post.)
The following department chairs in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences deplore the recent treatment of a Philosophy graduate student by Political Science Professor John McAdams on his Marquette Warrior blog. We support Ms. Abbate and deeply regret that she has experienced harassment and intimidation as a direct result of Prof. McAdams’s actions.
Prof. McAdams’s actions—which have been reported in local and national media outlets—have harmed the personal reputation of a young scholar as well as the academic reputation of Marquette University. They have negatively affected campus climate, especially as it relates to gender and sexual orientation. And they have led members of the Marquette community to alter their behavior out of fear of becoming the subject of one of his attacks.
Perhaps worst of all, Prof. McAdams has betrayed his role as a faculty member by pitting one set of students against another, by claiming the protection of academic freedom while trying to deny it to others, and by exploiting current political issues to promote his personal agenda. This is clearly in violation of this passage from the Academic Freedom section of Marquette’s Faculty Handbook:
“The college or university teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When he/she speaks or writes as a citizen, he/she should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but his/her special position in the civil community imposes special obligations. As a man/woman of learning and an educational officer, he/she should remember that the public may judge his/her profession and institution by his/her utterances. Hence, he/she should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that he/she is not an institutional spokesperson.”
Prof. McAdams has ignored both the spirit and the letter of this statement and has failed to meet the standards we aspire to as faculty, as well as the broader ethical principles that guide Marquette’s mission as a Jesuit, Catholic institution.
Other members of the Marquette University community are invited to join us by “signing” this letter in the comment section.
Lowell Barrington, Political Science
Nancy Snow, Philosophy
James Marten, History
Jane Peterson, Social and Cultural Sciences
Krista Ratcliffe, English
John Grych, Psychology
Anne Pasero, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Robert Masson, Theology
Kimberly S. Engels
Marquette University
P.h. D. Candidate/Lecturer
Department of Philosophy
James South
Assoc. Prof. of Philosophy
Marquette University
Jessica Adkins
Marquette University, BA ’11, MA ’14
Susanne Foster
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Marquette University
Nicholas Zettel
Marquette University
Arts & Sciences ’06, ’08
Dr. Michael J. Monahan
Associate Professor
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Gregory Trotter
Ph.D. Student
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Shaun Miller
Ph. D. Student/Lecturer
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Dr. Melissa Shew
Former VAP in Philosophy at Marquette (2007-2012)
Owen Goldin
Department of Philosophy
Marquette University
Jennifer Soerensen
PhD student/Lecturer
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Dana Fritz
PhD Student/Teaching Assistant
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Andrew T. Vink
MA History of Philosophy ’12
MA Systematic Theology ’15
Marquette University
Assist Professor
Social and Cultural Sciences
Marquette University
Isn’t it time that our dean, our provost, and our president live up to their leadership positions and adequately address this latest incident, which is simply the most recent example of this faculty member’s deeply problematic conduct toward both students and fellow faculty members on Marquette’s campus?
Ed de St. Aubin
Associate Professor and
Assistant Chair, Psychology
Marquette University
Traci Phillipson
PhD candidate, Philosophy
Marquette University
Margaret Nettesheim Hoffmann
Ph.D Student/Teaching Assistant
Department of History
Marquette University
Master of Arts, Marquette, 2013
Michele Weber
PhD Student/ Teaching Assistant
History Department
Marquette University
Thomas Bouril
Masters Student (2016) / Teaching Assistant
Department of History
Marquette University
Heather Hlavka
Assistant Professor
Social and Cultural Sciences
Michael McCarthy
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Dept of Social and Cultural Sciences
Marquette University
PhD candidate
Marquette University Philosophy Department
Debra Oswald
Associate Professor, Psychology
Marquette University
Astrida Kaugars
Associate Professor, Psychology
Marquette University
Brian Kenna
Ph.D. Candidate, English
Marquette University
Andrea Shultice
MA in Global History, Marquette University 2014
TA for History Department from 2012-2014
PhD candidate and instructor, philosophy
Marquette University (2009-2014)
Ashley Meddaugh
Masters Student/Teaching Assistant
History Department
Marquette University
Stephen M. Saunders, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Clinical Training
Department of Psychology
Marquette University
PhD Student, Philosophy
Marquette University
Marquette ’12
Doctoral Fellow, Philosophy & Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
Sharon Chubbuck
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Educational Policy and Leadership
College of Education
Marquette University
Andrew Mountin
Marquette ’11
MA in Global History, 2015
History Department
Marquette University
Aaron Hyams
PH.d. Candidate/TA
History Department
Michael Wierzbicki
Associate Professor of Psychology
Marquette University
Briana Erhard
Social Welfare & Justice/Peace Studies
Marquette University ‘15
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Daughter MU grad (Engineering, 1947), Mom of MU grad (English, 2009)
Professor
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Heather R. Mohr
Masters Student, (2015)
Teaching Assistant
Department of History
Marquette University
Anne Samata
M.A. Student, Philosophy
Marquette University
PhD. Candidate, Philosophy
Lecturer
Marquette University
Linda L Mohr
Granddaughter of MU Medical School Alum (1927)
Daughter of MU Alumni(1958)and MU Medical School (1962)
Mother of MU Masters Student/Teaching Assistant Department of History (2015)
Associate Professor, Department of English
Director, University Honors Program
Marquette ’86
Gretchen Niswonger
MA, Philosophy
Marquette University
2009
Claire Marshall
Masters Student (2015)
Teaching Assistant
History Department
Marquette University
It is a matter of great concern that not only Prof.McAdams, but also an assortment of journalists, chose to dramatize their opposition to what is a currently controversial question at the national level through the use of a second hand report on the activities of a graduate student instructor. No matter what one’s stand on this issue, one should realize that it is a highly sensitive one (as Ms. Abbate did, although rather clumsily, in her assumption that opposition to gay marriange is necessarily the equivalent of harassment). Sensitive issues should be treated with care. (This does not mean that time for their treatment must be allowed in an already crowded academic course.)
What is most shocking is that neither Prof. McAdams nor the journalists seemed to realize that academic freedom and freedom of the press each depend for their merit on the transmission of properly informed opinion (which would call for more thorough investigation of the incident than can be supplied by an irate student who attempts to use a tape without permission). Academic freedom certainly cannot be a cloak for misrepresentation, defamation, and bullying. In view of its stated values, the University must not be publicly silent ont this issue.
I appreciate your perspective and hope that you and others on the faculty are successful in your efforts to restore a truly liberal arts culture in a faithful Catholic university.
Administrative Assistant
MU Dept. of Foreign Languages & Literatures
Donna Engelmann
Professor and Chair, Philosophy
Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI
Marquette University Philosophy PhD 1993
Josh Del Colle
BA Anthropology
Marquette University
Arts and Sciences 14′
William Clark Wolf
PhD Student
Department of Philosophy
Marquette University
Anthony Lozito
M.A. Student, Philosophy
Marquette University
PhD candidate Philosophy
Marquette University
PhD candidate Philosophy
Marquette University
PhD Candidate Philosophy
Marquette University
Ph.D. Student/Lecturer
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Department of Social and Cultural Sciences
Marquette University
Ph.D. candidate
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
PhD Candidate and Instructor
Philosophy Department
Marquette University
Current Student, ’17
Sociology Major
Marquette University
Student in Professor Abbate’s class section.
Phd candidate, Theology
Marquette University
MA International Affairs, Marquette University 2012
Philosophy PhD, Marquette University, ’93
Marquette University
Arts & Sciences BA, Political Science ’95
Marquette University
Doctoral Candidate, Philosophy