UW-La Crosse faculty committee votes to fire former chancellor Joe Gow after porn videos

A faculty committee has recommended firing former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse chancellor Joe Gow from his teaching position after he was found to be making online porn videos.

In a letter dated Thursday, the committee of five faculty members voted unanimously to recommend Gow’s dismissal for unethical conduct. 

The charges brought by the university related to pornographic videos created by Gow and his wife, Carmen Wilson. The couple also published several books under pseudonyms and produced a podcast.

Following the discovery of the videos in December, Gow was abruptly fired from the chancellor position by the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

Gow has argued that creating the adult content is protected by free speech rights and that it was a private enterprise he did outside of his work with the university. He made the argument to the committee during a hearing opened to the public in June, while also claiming that university officials fabricated charges related to the misuse of university computers.

But the faculty committee said in their report that Gow’s “most serious misconduct” was his response to the discovery of his videos and his firing as chancellor. Committee members wrote that Gow’s response “has affected UWL and the rights of its other employees.”

“Once a faculty member publishes provocative content and is recognized in it as the public face of the university, he must choose whether to respond in a way that supports the best interests of the university, as his employer, or capitalize on the controversy,” committee members wrote in a letter. “Gow clearly chose the latter path, exploiting his role as a UWL faculty member (and former UWL chancellor) to generate additional interest in, views of and revenue from his pornographic content for his own benefit.”

The committee members wrote that Gow continuing in his faculty position would also mean his continued benefit from “the conflict of interest he has created by placing himself in the public eye, in opposition to UWL’s interests, for his private gain.”

In an interview with WPR, Gow called the committee’s report “disappointing”. He said he had no regrets about his response to his removal as chancellor, saying it was “very unfortunate that people who say that they support free speech and free expression are clearly hypocrites.”

“The fact that the attention got drawn to our books and videos, that’s not our fault,” Gow said. “That’s the fault of the Board of Regents for firing me so publicly.”

The committee also voted unanimously that the university had cause to sanction Gow for violating university policies related to computer use. Members voted 4-1 that the university had cause to sanction Gow for violating a directive from former interim chancellor Betsy Morgan to cooperate with investigators. The committee recommended suspension and a reprimand for these charges.

The committee’s recommendation goes to new UW-La Crosse Chancellor James Beeby, who will decide whether to forward it to the UW Board of Regents. Speaking with reporters on Monday, Beeby declined to comment on Gow’s case, calling it a personnel issue, but said “it will go through the process that it needs to go through and we’ll see what happens.”

Gow told WPR he believes the case will go before the Board of Regents and said he and Wilson were looking forward to making their case in another hearing.