The College Fix

A spokesperson for the small Mississippi college says the accusations are inaccurate

Campus rights advocates are speaking out in defense of a Millsaps College professor who was terminated allegedly for sending a post-election email to students mourning “this racist fascist country.”

However, a spokesperson for the small Mississippi college said reports accusing the college of mishandling the situation are inaccurate.

James Bowley, (pictured) a politics and religion professor, was fired Jan. 14, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He taught at the private liberal arts college for 22 years.

His expulsion came after being placed on administrative leave in November for sharing “personal opinions with [his] students” regarding the election of Donald Trump. Bowley had sent an email to the three students in his “Abortion and Religion” class, saying they would not be meeting that day to “mourn and process this racist and fascist country,” documents published by FIRE show.

A senior program officer for campus rights advocacy at FIRE told The College Fix that Millsaps must be held accountable because Bowley was not given proper due process.

“It is important for FIRE to advocate for professors like Bowley so we can try to hold colleges and universities accountable – if they promise free expression, then they need to stand by that promise and protect it,” Haley Gluhanich said in a recent email.

Gluhanich said it is integral for academic institutions to treat their faculty fairly, especially in cases involving free expression.

“We also want to ensure institutions are affording their faculty members due process throughout any disciplinary process, including providing the opportunity to defend oneself against the alleged offense and not receiving a punishment (like administrative leave) before a hearing,” she told The Fix. 

In a letter to the college in December, FIRE accused the institution of negligence for “due process and deviation from its commitment to free expression” in placing Bowley on leave.

Responding, a Millsaps spokesperson told The Fix that FIRE’s report of the situation is inaccurate.

The college is “committed to providing a safe and supportive campus for all,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. However, Millsaps will not “publicly disclose information” about its employees to respect “established employment policies.”

“A Pennsylvania-based advocacy group has nevertheless published an article concerning a private employment matter at Millsaps,” the spokesperson stated. “The article contains multiple inaccuracies.

“And because Millsaps does not disclose information about individual employment matters for privacy and confidentiality reasons, the article is based on incomplete information. Millsaps will continue to address all employment matters appropriately and respectfully,” the spokesperson said.

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However, Gluhanich told The Fix that FIRE included a privacy waiver that was “signed by Bowley” and enabled the “college to speak with us about the matter.”

She said Millsaps was not willing to “engage with anything we had written (or correct any inaccuracies)” that the Mississippi institution said they had made.

Additionally, a campus grievance committee recommended Bowley be reinstated “immediately” after finding that “Millsaps couldn’t identify a single policy that Bowley had violated,” according to FIRE’s report.

Bowley also has received support from students, faculty, and alumni. Over 100 of the 600 students at the college signed a petition to restore him to his position, according to FIRE.

Meanwhile, Chance Layton, a spokesperson for the National Association of Scholars, said he supports the professor’s academic freedom, although he would have liked to have seen Bowley choose a smarter approach than his work email to communicate his personal opinions.

“… Bowley’s speech didn’t prevent the speech of others. Of course, because of his position, it could be argued that his statement could cause students pause when speaking on sensitive topics, and that is ‘harmful;’ perhaps,” Layton told The Fix in a recent email. “But we would err on the side of caution.”

Unlike pro-Palestinian protesters who block classroom doors or shout down speakers, the professor’s statements are “protected by academic freedom,” he said.

Layton said firing Bowley was a poor decision and the college may have to fare with legal battles. He said a better solution would have been to encourage an open forum involving the entire community to evaluate the weight of Bowley’s email.

“A small liberal arts college or university would probably best avoid lawsuits, considering struggling finances in that section of the market,” Layton said.

“The college should have chosen a reasonable punishment for the infraction, which in this case was disrupting a community built on intellectual freedom via the wrong forum. Such discussions should occur with students and other members of the community able to engage directly with Bowley’s statement,” he told The Fix.

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IMAGE: Millsaps College/YouTube

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