In defense of Joe Gow

The actions of UW-La Crosse’s chancellor may have been ill-advised, but they are not ‘abhorrent’

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Okay. Alright. I get it. The UW had to fire Joe Gow. But could they spare us all the moralizing and clucking? 

Up until last Wednesday, Gow was the longest-serving current UW chancellor. At La Crosse, Gow was well-liked and widely recognized as the force behind making his campus one of the most dynamic in the system. 

Turns out he also likes sex. He and his wife have been a little too forthcoming about that. They apparently, acting under pseudonyms, have a kind of cooking-porn show. They start in the kitchen and finish in the bedroom...with guests. But you have to be a premium subscriber to go beyond the recipes. 

I agree that this is bad form for a person in Gow's position and I can see why Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and the UW Regents had to act. But we're talking consenting adults here. This is not the crime of the century, people. I suspect that if this were, Sweden say, the outrage would be that all of the content wasn't free. 

But this is America where the politically correct left comes full circle to join with the prudish conservative church ladies in Calvinistic witch hunts. After four centuries we still can't shake the Pilgrims. 

“In recent days, we learned of specific conduct by Dr. Gow that has subjected the university to significant reputational harm," Rothman is quoted as saying in a Wisconsin State Journal story. "His actions were abhorrent.”

That's over the top. Gow's actions were ill-advised, for sure. But abhorrent? Please. It was on a UW campus that protestors, most probably students, chanted "Glory to the martyrs," in support of Hamas after the terrorist group slaughtered civilians and took hostages in an unprovoked attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Now, that was abhorrent. That is reputational harm. 

Piling on, Regents President Karen Walsh sniffed, “The outrage over his behavior is evidenced by the unanimous vote by the UW Board of Regents to terminate him as chancellor. We are alarmed, and disgusted, by his actions, which were wholly and undeniably inconsistent with his role as chancellor.”

Inconsistent with his role I get. But "outrage," "alarmed," "disgusted"? Oh, c'mon. 

Rothman has indicated that he will now go after Gow's tenure as a professor. It's one thing to dismiss him from his high-profile job over this, but it's wholly inappropriate to end his tenure. Gow claims that this is about the First Amendment and his rights of free speech. In regard to his role as chancellor I don't think he has a case. He should have known better. Actions have consequences. But as regards his role as a faculty member, I can't see how this thing is relevant. As long as it's legal he can do what he wants on his own time. 

And if that means combining his passion for cooking with his passion for, well, passion, that's nobody's business but his own...and his viewers. 

Dave Cieslewicz is a Madison- and Upper Peninsula-based writer who served as mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011. You can read more of his work at Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos.