Making porn videos 'shouldn't cost me tenure': ousted university chancellor

Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, who was fired for producing and appearing in pornographic videos, now argues that he shouldn’t lose tenure.

A December 27, 2023 statement from University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said that Gow was terminated following a unanimous vote by the UW Board of Regents.

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

His firing came after it was revealed that Gow made and published pornographic material with his wife. The couple posted the content on X, porn websites, and had a YouTube channel called “Sexy Healthy Cooking.”

[RELATED: University chancellor ousted for making ‘abhorrent’ porn videos]

In an op-ed published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Gow now argues that his tenure shouldn’t be stripped after the debacle, noting that the videos received millions of views.

”For about a decade, my wife, Carmen Wilson (also an academic), and I had used our vacation time to secretly record a series of sex scenes with adult-industry professionals,” Gow wrote. “We made 18 of them in all, and we also published two books (using pen names) about our experiences. Late last year, after I had announced I was stepping down from my administrative position at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse to focus on my faculty role, we thought it would be interesting to see how a few of our scenes might be received on popular adult websites. We uploaded five of them (featuring just the two of us). Knowing those platforms host millions of videos, we doubted anyone would pay much attention.”

”How wrong we were,” he added.

Gow wrote that he never anticipated the videos to surge in popularity like they did.

After Gow was fired, Rothman announced the beginning of a challenge to his tenure position in communication studies.

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Interim UW-La Crosse Chancellor Betsy Morgan alleged that Gow failed to cooperate with the investigation, participated in unethical and potentially illegal conduct, and violation of information use technologies, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

A public hearing must be held before Gow is stripped of tenure.

”I  understand why UW leaders didn’t want me to continue as chancellor, but I am puzzled by their determination to keep me from returning to the classroom. After all, these are the same people who, at a board meeting held just weeks before my firing, energetically affirmed the importance of promoting free speech on our campuses,” Gow wrote, defending his actions on First Amendment grounds.

”If only the Wisconsin regents and system president could lighten up, too. Laugh at us if you want to. Call us strange. But please don’t try to suppress the vital conversations we’re starting,” he said.