How absolute is tenure? Can a tenured Professor express any opinion & still be safe?

[Shagnasty]

@astro

I think your problem was the word “grope” which strongly implies non-consensual activity. If you want to say “playfully fondle” it might be less objectionable.

I hereby nominate you as my editor. I keep writing phrases that people micro-focus on and it gets me into trouble over and over. I will use your terminology.

[pulykamell]

@Reno Nevada

When I was at Northwestern University, one of the professors was a Holocaust denier. There was a pretty constant effort to get him fired, but since he had tenure, it was unsuccessful.

That said, his field was Electronic Engineering, at which he was apparently an excellent teacher (I never took any of his classes), so it wasn’t like he was a History or Political Science professor.

So that is one data point.

Ah, yes, Arthur Butz. The university’s position with him was that he’s allowed to write or think whatever he wants, so long as he doesn’t say anything about the Holocaust in class.

[MandaJo]

@CapnPitt

Dating or having sex with students is considered OK in the legalities, but is really, really, really, frowned upon. That is, of course, provided that it’s consensual and the student has reached the age of majority. I think it’s pretty obvious that the power disparity is the big problem, along with potential grading conflicts of interest. I think most universities have a rule saying that you can’t “have relations” with someone you have grading authority over. In other words, he/she should not take any of your classes. Clearly, this doesn’t always happen, but the university always, rightly, tries to cover its butt.

The reason it’s considered OK in the legalities is because you really can’t keep two consenting adults from having a relationship, at whatever level. Again, it’s frowned upon, but not verboten.

ETA: I should say all of the above is just my knowledge from a few institutions. YMMV.

It’s also very different when it’s grad student/professor–the only time I’ve seen that really frowned on was when it was the particular student’s adviser. I’ve known any number of professors married to former grad students in their university.

[CapnPitt]

@Manda JO

It’s also very different when it’s grad student/professor–the only time I’ve seen that really frowned on was when it was the particular student’s adviser. I’ve known any number of professors married to former grad students in their university.

Agreed.

[WoodenTaco]

@pulykamell

Ah, yes, Arthur Butz. The university’s position with him was that he’s allowed to write or think whatever he wants, so long as he doesn’t say anything about the Holocaust in class.

He’s still at NU. It’s still a somewhat contentious issue, but the University appears to have fairly permanently decided that intellectual freedom is more important than silencing repulsive views.