MADISON, Wis.—Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman justified the recent firing of UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, who posted adult videos with his wife on their Only Fans account, by calling his actions “abhorrent.”
Rothman — a retired corporate attorney with no advanced academic studies beyond his law degree — and UW System Board of Regents President Karen Walsh issued statements last week regarding the Board of Regents’ unanimous decision to terminate Gow.
“Upon my recommendation, the UW Board of Regents today terminated Dr. Joe Gow from his position as chancellor of UW-La Crosse effective immediately,” Rothman wrote. “In recent days, we learned of specific conduct by Dr. Gow that has subjected the university to significant reputational harm. His actions were abhorrent.”
Rothman said he also filed a formal complaint asking to review Gow’s status as a tenured faculty member and engaged a law firm “to undertake a fulsome investigation of the matter.”
UW System Regent President Karen Walsh said Gow’s adult videos showed “a reckless disregard for the role he was entrusted with at UW-La Crosse to serve students, faculty and staff, and the campus community.
“The outrage over his behavior is evidenced by the unanimous vote by the UW Board of Regents to terminate him as chancellor,” she added, noting the members of the Board were “alarmed and disgusted” by Gow’s OnlyFans videos.
‘There Are and Must Be Limits”
On Friday, Rothman issued another statement claiming Gow “served at the pleasure of the Board of Regents and is not entitled to any specific process” regarding his actions or the termination.
“Good judgment requires that there are and must be limits on what is said or done by the individuals entrusted to lead our universities,” Rothman explained. “We expect our chancellors, as the leaders of these great institutions, to be role models for our students, staff, and faculty as well for the communities we are privileged to serve.”
Gow argued that the regents had overreacted and that the termination violates his freedom of speech, the local Fox affiliate reported.
In 2018, Gow was denied a pay raise by the previous UW president after he invited noted performer and veteran sex educator Nina Hartley to campus.
Conservative publications have been clamoring for Gow to be disciplined and stripped of his tenure.
The Murdoch family owned New York Post published an editorial Saturday calling his posting adult videos on Only Fans part of “a rot in higher education” which “runs wide and deep.”
The Post editorial board said Gow “enjoyed the frisson of being a prominent figure in education who dabbled in smut,” and described his campus invitation to Hartley — a feminist sex educator with decades of experience in public sexual health, and a registered nurse who holds an honorary doctorate degree from San Francisco’s Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality — as “exactly the kind of coy but in-your-face behavior weirdos with respectable public personae engage in.”
Main Image: Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman