University of Wisconsin spent over $130K on investigation into chancellor who made porn
The University of Wisconsin spent over $130,000 on an investigation into one of its own chancellors who made porn.
The University of Wisconsin spent over $130,000 on an investigation into one of its own chancellors who made porn.
Documents obtained by The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression show that a total of $133,365 was spent on a law firm that investigated Former University of Wisconsin–La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, who was also a member of its faculty.
The invoice obtained by FIRE was dated May 3 and detailed that Kansas City-based Husch Blackwell was given the pricy contract to investigate “certain allegations of misconduct” against Gow.
Gow was fired by the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents in September by a unanimous vote, according to MPR News.
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.”
[RELATED: University fires former chancellor who remained as professor despite making porn]
”How wrong we were,” he added.
Zach Greenberg, FIRE’s Faculty Legal Defense Counsel told Campus Reform that the money spent on the law firm was wasteful.
“Professor Gow’s pornography remains protected by the First Amendment and should never have prompted a misconduct investigation. Wisconsin taxpayers should be outraged that their money is being wasted on witch-hunts. Even $1 is too much to spend on censorship,” Greenberg said.
Campus Reform reached out to the University of Wisconsin for comment.
