A debate coach for Fort Hays State University, in Kansas, is under review by the institution after he swore at officials and mooned judges at a tournament earlier this year, in an incident that was recorded and uploaded to YouTube.
The coach, William Shanahan III, a professor of communication, got into a shouting match with a judge—and at one point briefly dropped his pants—during the national tournament of the Cross Examination Debate Association, which was held in Kansas this spring. A video recording of the incident was posted to YouTube last week, drawing thousands of views, attention from the national news media, and calls to the university from alumni and others demanding that it fire the professor for his behavior.
"Fort Hays State University does not condone such behavior or the language Bill uses in that video," said Larry Gould, the university's provost, in an interview on Wednesday. "His appointment is under consideration here. We're investigating at this point, and we want to make sure everybody's rights are protected."
The dispute at the tournament began after each team was given the opportunity to strike one judge from the panel during a quarterfinal match. The Fort Hays team was accused of turning down the only African-American judge because of her race. Mr. Shanahan's team denied a racial motive, arguing that its request was made for competitive reasons because the judge had been tough on the team in the past.
The video, which has been replayed on television stations and CNN, shows a chaotic scene in a hotel ballroom. Mr. Shanahan, who is barefoot and wearing short pants with his shirttail out, is seen running across the front of the room and gesturing with his head and hands before briefly dropping his pants.
Later, when someone criticizes Mr. Shanahan's behavior during the incident, he replies that he was just trying to make his point.
"Sometimes people care so much that it bubbles over," he says in the video. "I'm not ashamed of my behavior. I don't think I'm acting immaturely. I think I'm showing how much I care about everybody in this room."
Mr. Shanahan could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Viewed as a Nonconformist
Mr. Gould, the Fort Hayes State provost, said that Mr. Shanahan has become known for his intensity and animated style during his 13 years as a debate coach at the university, where he once led the team to a national championship.
"He is very much a nonconformist—some people like him and some people don't," he said.
But Mr. Gould said that the professor had never before displayed such extreme behavior. "I'm concerned about the anger," he said.
Mr. Shanahan may not have faced an investigation at the university had the video not become public. No one complained to officials there until after the video hit YouTube. "You wouldn't have seen this five or six years ago," Mr. Gould said.
But officials for the debate association said they began an investigation before the video went public because someone filed a complaint against Mr. Shanahan's behavior soon after the tournament.
"I've been involved in college debate since 1990, and I've never seen anything quite like that," said Gordon W. Stables, a vice president for the debate association and the director of debate at the University of Southern California.
He said that race can be a contentious issue in competitive debate, much as it is in other areas of higher education. "There's not enough diversity in colleges in general, and we suffer from that."
But he was quick to paint the scene as one the association did not condone.
"We're deeply disappointed in the entire incident, and we really don't think it represents the pedagogical approach that we try to embody."
