Wisconsin university chancellor fired over pornographic videos

A US university chancellor has been fired after it emerged that he and his wife had appeared in pornographic videos that were posted online.

Joe Gow was dismissed as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse because of “specific conduct…that has subjected the university to significant reputational harm”, said Jay Rothman, president of the University of Wisconsin System.

The university system’s statement did not specify what the conduct was, but Dr Gow told the Associated Press that regents had discovered that he and his wife, former La Crosse professor Carmen Wilson, had been producing and appearing in pornographic videos.

Dr Gow, who had led the campus since 2007, had already announced his intention to step down at end of the academic year and transition into a faculty role, but Mr Rothman said that he had asked La Crosse provost Betsy Morgan – who has been appointed acting chancellor – to review Dr Gow’s tenured status. Professor Wilson was also removed from her unpaid position as associate to the chancellor.

“In recent days, we learned of specific conduct by Dr Gow that has subjected the university to significant reputational harm. His actions were abhorrent,” Mr Rothman said.

Dr Gow had appeared alongside his wife on a YouTube channel called “Sexy Healthy Cooking”, in which they cooked meals alongside porn actors. But the emergence of a series of videos posted under the username Sexy Happy Couple, including sex scenes together and with others, prompted the university system to act.

Dr Gow told the Associated Press that he was considering filing a lawsuit over his dismissal, claiming his free speech rights had been violated and maintaining that he had never mentioned the university or his job in any of the videos.

“My wife and I live in a country where we have a First Amendment,” he said. “We’re dealing with consensual adult sexuality. The regents are overreacting. They’re certainly not adhering to their own commitment to free speech or the First Amendment.”

Dr Gow had attracted heavy criticism in 2018 when he invited Nina Hartley, a porn star turned sex educator, to speak at the campus. He was warned by system heads that the decision had put La Crosse’s funding at risk and was denied a pay rise that year, later personally reimbursing the university for her $5,000 (£3,925) appearance fee.

However, Dr Gow was unrepentant, telling Times Higher Education that the university had “a very clear policy on freedom of expression and what I did was entirely consistent with that”, contrasting the “not hurtful” talk with the insults to various minority groups dished out by right-wing activists Ben Shapiro and Milo Yiannopoulos during their campus tours.

Karen Walsh, president of the Wisconsin system’s Board of Regents, said: “Joe Gow has shown 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 behaviour 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.”

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com