Towson University issued a statement today in which its provost, Marcia G. Welsh, defended the institution’s decision to fire an adjunct art professor for characterizing himself as “a nigger on the corporate plantation” in discussing his employment rights during a class. Ms. Walsh’s statement contradicts assertions by the adjunct professor, Allen Zaruba, that he had used the racist term as part of an academic discussion. The statement says: “Towson University strongly supports and upholds academic freedom in the classroom and across our learning community; however, such patently offensive language on the part of university employees will not be tolerated and does not reflect our value system.”
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16 Responses to Towson U. Defends Firing of Adjunct Who Used Racist Term to Describe His Status
willismg - March 3, 2010 at 2:58 pm
What value system…? This place is one step up from a correspondence school.
fullprof99 - March 3, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Oh, right, Towson State has never heard this expression before and is shocked, shocked to be characterized as the plantation by one of the toilers. The proper response would have been, “Ww know you don’t like your status here, but would you please lay off these kinds of comments in class? They just make everyone’s day more difficult. Please don’t do it again.” Firing a person on this basis is stupid.
llanorealist - March 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Perhaps most surprising about this event is the institution’s lack of understanding of language and the process of linking sound to cultural meaning. All languages have words that stun, outrage and offend. Such words often have a double meaning: the literal one and the analygous one. The wonderful thing about language is that variations in use help emphasize and clarify statements. The use of such words in the classroom as one way to make a point may or will offend some or many people. But on the other hand to state, “such patently offensive language on the part of university employees will mot be tolerated…” is a clear threat that Towson staff need to be on the watch for words that the administration does not like. What are the patently offensive words? Do they change through time? Are there people who can use them in the academic context and others who cannot? Can students use them? Which adminstrator can preapprove words for use? Or do we all know what words are patently offensive?
jameswilliams - March 3, 2010 at 4:00 pm
What a shame that there is no means of retaliating professionally against Towson for this outrageous action. The school should be blacklisted. Ooops! Is that word also verboten?
dr_redrum - March 3, 2010 at 4:13 pm
So Marcia, you bite the hand that feeds you and they fire you. This comes as a surprise to you?Seems like one of the former adjunct faculty at Towson isn’t too bright. If you felt you were being treated like a nigger why didn’t you quit and go where you’d be treated better? Or don’t niggers do that?
juanflores - March 3, 2010 at 4:16 pm
What would have happened had Zaruba been a Black man?
thirtyeyes - March 3, 2010 at 4:35 pm
I guess that answers the question: “Do you have to be black to use the N word?”
speterfreund - March 3, 2010 at 4:48 pm
If one reads Provost Welsh’s statement carefully, it becomes apparent that the so-called consultation between the department chair and the provost was the occasion of the latter’s issuing a ukase. Given the situation, the enlightened resolution would have been to call Mr. Zaruba on the carpet, tell him that a repetition of such behavior would be grounds for termination, and to have him post an apology for his lapse of judgment on the course site, as well as making that apology live in class.While it is true that what Zaruba said is not protected by the AAUP’s 1940 statement on academic freedom, neither does it–or and any other action associated with it–rise to the level of hate speech. The closest analog is using profanity in the classroom, not that the N-word is profanity, except when used as racially charged invective.
22011344 - March 3, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Do they burn books at Towson State?? [I assume they have books in the library.] When did they burn Randall Kennedy’s book, “N—–: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” (Random House, 2003)? How about H. Rap Brown’s autobiography, “Die, N—–, Die”? Suppose Joseph Conrad’s short novel “The N—– of the Narcissus” was committed to the flames before WWI? I suppose Randall Kennedy would not be qualified to teach at Towson State.
sociprof - March 4, 2010 at 7:25 am
We lack information about this teacher’s history at Towson, including his use of inflammatory language. Perhaps the administration was responding not only to this single, highly publicized use of an offensive term, but to the adjunct’s use of the classroom as a pulpit for airing personal grievances that belong in department meetings or discussions with Human Resources. As a student and later as a junior faculty member, I’ve been subject to such rantings myself. It is not simply the language that is offensive, but the misuse of student’s and colleagues time.
lee77 - March 4, 2010 at 8:50 am
RE: #7 yes, blacks are allowed to use the n word with impunity. As well as some other words as Imus found to his cost.
dw3380 - March 4, 2010 at 8:57 am
The professor should have known better. If you are not an African American person you can not use the N-word in the presence of African American people. It is simply not cool man.
prof313 - March 4, 2010 at 9:22 am
#10 hits what is the crux of the matter. If Towson is like most schools, adjuncts are unable to air their grievances at faculty meetings because they are not invited to those meetings. Likewise, Human Resource departments are quick to remind adjuncts that they are at will employees. While professor Zaruba’s choice of words may have been unfortunate, the sentiment is right on.
cwinton - March 4, 2010 at 9:32 am
Towson (I hesitate to term it a university) is seeking to defend an indefensible position. Interestingly, the provost’s statement starts off quite lamely by blaming the victim. Apparently this one statement by the instructor is her entire reason for firing him. Wow. It strikes me that Towson is badly in need of a sea change. It evidently has some rather incompetent academic administrators it needs to replace towards regaining its credibility as an institution of higher learning.
towsonprof - March 4, 2010 at 3:52 pm
As a tenure-track faculty member at Towson University, the nature of some of the responses to this article are disturbing. First, I would think that most — if not all — university faculty would understand that decisions made by administration often do NOT reflect the positions of faculty. There are often intense disagreements between the approaches recommended by faculty and the choices made by administration. It is therefore disturbing to read comments suggesting that the decision made in an unusual and sensitive situation reflects the “nature” of Towson University and all those who work there.In specific response to those who “hesitate to call [Towson] a university” or claim that it is “one step up from a correspondance school”, this is a disparaging and unfair representation of the more than 20,000 students and hundreds of faculty here. Although Towson University proudly considers itself a teaching institution, our faculty also make consistent and significant contributions to research in their fields. We were also recently one of 125 institutions honored for ‘exemplary service’ to U.S. communities. The responsibilities — to our students, our disciplines and our community — are taken very seriously.Whether or not you believe the decision made by Towson University was misguided — and it may well have been — my history at this school suggests that it was likely made in order to maintain a safe and supportive environment for our students to learn. If, in an effort to promote student learning, Mr. Zaruba experienced a lapse in judgement, I would hope that we could extend the same consideration to administration…that they perhaps experienced a lapse in judgement in an effort to protect our students.
gengidashiell - March 9, 2010 at 9:20 am
I concur with #15 – it’s amusing to me that academics choose to attack the credibility of the entire institution by calling it a step above a correspondence school or something other than a University. Decisions are made, for better or for worse, by administration, who change as the world changes. It’s unfair to attack the entire school.I’ll go a step farther; its about as immature as a 3rd grader who just got hit ‘out’ in kick ball walking away saying ‘stupid game’. It’s a strike of a coward hiding behind a pseudonym.I’m adjunct faculty at Towson, and frankly, I won’t comment on the overall issue except to say this:(a) I have no idea what else has happened with this prof (brava, #10), and(b) I’m an at will employee at an at will university in an at will employment state. I can effectively be let go for millions of things.Towson (and other unis in MD) afford a great deal of academic freedom, that has to be said. What surprises me is that in the wake of all of the John Mayer claptrap someone would be…thoughtless enough to use this term. (And even if this prof doesn’t know who John Mayer is, his students do, the nation does, and that nerve is still raw) That made national news, and should have been enough to give anyone pause.