Law prof and DEI critic stripped of teaching amid employment proceedings
Earlier this year, Professor Scott Gerber says he was marched out of class by campus police and told to sign a separation agreement.
While proceedings are still pending, Richard Vedder reports that Gerber has been removed from his course offerings.
Scott Gerber, a constitutional law professor who was escorted by police out of his Ohio Northern University classroom in what he describes as a “Kafka”-like scene, has been removed from teaching classes while his dispute with the administration continues, Dr. Richard Vedder wrote in a post for the James G. Martin Center on Oct. 11.
Campus Reform previously reported that Gerber was suddenly approached in his classroom by campus security and local police who escorted him to the dean’s office back in April.
Gerber claims that he was then told to sign a separation agreement or face dismissal proceedings. No justification was given, he maintains, besides “collegiality.”
[RELATED: CUNY students call law prof ‘racist’ for supporting free speech]
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Gerber recounts how he had been a stalwart critic of the school’s “diversity, belonging, and inclusion” initiatives, publicly objecting to the agenda in TV appearances, newspaper op-eds, and through the school’s faculty governance body.
For example, Gerber recalls requesting that ONU address viewpoint diversity in their DEI initiative, to which the school allegedly responded that such a topic was “not part of our diversity, belonging and inclusion plan.”
As Vedder writes for the James G. Martin Center, Gerber is a prolific and well-respected legal scholar, having presented at schools like Harvard and Columbia. He is also the author of First Principles: The Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas.
As Campus Reform previously reported, Gerber’s legal team maintains that the ONU administration has yet to provide any basis for its actions against the professor.
Speaking about an August hearing, Gerber’s attorney Robert Shibley told Campus Reform, “From the beginning, Dr. Gerber has maintained that he has done nothing to warrant his removal as a tenured professor, and that the charges against him were based on his expression of legitimate concerns and opinions that are protected by both whistleblower law and academic freedom.”
“No evidence to contradict this emerged at the hearing. Nor was any evidence presented that would explain, let alone justify, Dr. Gerber’s summary suspension and banishment from campus with only three weeks left in the semester,” Shibley said.
Campus Reform also reported how, according to Gerber, ONU Law School Dean Charles H. Rose III allegedly defamed a student who had contributed to Gerber’s legal defense via GoFundMe while at an end-of-year barbecue.
[RELATED: Profs slam DEI in Wall Street Journal]
According to Vedder, “the latest major act came when a student (!) informed Gerber that his constitutional law course for this fall would not be taught by him. The administration didn’t even have the decency to tell Gerber directly that he’s been stripped of courses he’s taught for years.”
In response to a request for comment, Executive Director of Communications Dave Kielmeyer told Campus Reform, “Ohio Northern University continues to follow its process for the dismissal of a tenured faculty member for cause. The University will have no further comment at this time.”
Campus Reform reached out to Scott Gerber for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
