The chancellor of a state university in Wisconsin was fired this week after posting pornographic videos with his wife online.
The University of Wisconsin Board unanimously decided to dismiss the chancellor, Joe Gow, who had led the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse since 2007. Carmen Wilson, Gow’s wife, was also removed from her unpaid position as associate to the chancellor.
Gow and Wilson said Thursday they believe they were fired over the videos, which included sex scenes together and with others under the username Sexy Happy Couple. Both said they felt it was wrong for the university to punish them over the videos, arguing that doing so infringes on their free speech rights. Gow, 63, said he and his wife, 56, have made videos together for years but had decided recently to make them publicly available on porn sites. They said they never mentioned the university or their jobs in the videos.
Jay Rothman, the president of the University of Wisconsin System, said Gow had caused the university “significant reputational harm.” He said the current plan was for Gow, who is also a tenured professor of communication, to return to his faculty role following a paid administrative leave. A law firm will investigate the matter.
In 2004, the US Supreme Court unanimously decided a case about a police officer who had been fired for selling a pornographic video of himself. In the case, the court ruled that the officer’s First Amendment right had not been violated. The court said that while public employees have a right to speak on matters of public concern, a pornographic video did not fall into that category.