Newsletter

April 2014

Victory for academic freedom: Jury rules UNC-Wilmington retaliated against conservative professor

Leah Barkoukis

A
jury in North Carolina on Thursday found that the University of North
Carolina-Wilmington retaliated against criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams for
his political and social views.

Adams, a Townhall columnist, explained last year that despite his track record
of success at the university in terms of teaching, research and service, he was
denied a promotion to full professor because of the views he advanced in his
opinion columns. He described the promotion process as being “replete with
procedural irregularities and with direct criticism of [his] columns and [his]
beliefs.”

The
ACLJ, who represented Adams along with Alliance Defending Freedom attorney
Travis Barham, explains further:

When Dr. Adams submitted his application for full professor, university
officials rejected it through the use of a completely-fabricated promotion
standard, passed along false and misleading information about his academic
record, explicitly considered the content of his protected speech in promotion
documents, and – incredibly – allowed a professor who’d filed a false criminal
complaint against Dr. Adams to cast a vote against his application.

“[N]o individual loses his ability to speak as a private citizen by virtue of
public employment,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit
wrote in 2011. “Adams’ columns addressed topics such as academic freedom, civil
rights, campus culture, sex, feminism, abortion, homosexuality, religion, and
morality. Such topics plainly touched on issues of public, rather than private,
concern.”

The
university hired Adams, a former atheist, in 1993 as an assistant professor, and
promoted him to associate professor in 1998. The “campaign of academic
persecution that culminated in his denial of promotion to full professor” began
when he converted to Christianity in 2000, which greatly influenced his views on
social and political issues.

“We
are grateful that the jury today reaffirmed the fundamental principle
that universities are a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face
retaliation for having a different view than university officials,” Barham said.

“The jury saw what we have long known to be true about the wrong done to Dr.
Adams,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “The verdict is a powerful
message for academic freedom and free speech at America’s public universities.”

Update:
According to the ACLJ, the verdict was only for liability. The judge will later
decide Adams’ relief.

Townhall, March 20, 2014.