The president of the University of WisconsinLa Crosse was fired over pornographic videos he made with his wife. A decision that the couple does not accept: they protect themselves behind the First Amendment, Joe Gow and Carmen Wilson criticize the university's decision, calling it a meaningless “punishment” because the videos showed a couple and did not incite violence or exploitation.
The University of Wisconsin Board voted unanimously to remove Gow, president since 2007. “We are disturbed and outraged by his actions,” the board said in a statement, without specifically mentioning the videos. However, many students expressed solidarity online and on campus with Gow, considered one of the University of WisconsinLa Crosse's top presidents and professors.. “He was a normal citizen when he made the videos. “I didn’t like that he was punished,” said one student, describing Gow as very popular at the college. “He was there for everyone. He walked around campus on his skateboard and greeted everyone,” he said. “Getting fired for something as stupid as pornography is ridiculous,” added a former university student. In videos posted on their YouTube channel @SexyHappyCouple, the dean and his wife never mentioned their relationship with the University of WisconsinLa Crosse, and for more explicit content they always consulted their OnlyFans and PornHub accounts.
“We have a program called 'Sexy and Healthy Kitchen' where, while we cook, we interview other actors in the porn industry and try to give them a “human face that they wouldn't otherwise have in their work,” Gow explained New York teams. With the dismissal, the university “violated its policies on academic freedom and freedom of expression. “They don’t seem to understand that the First Amendment will be crucial in this situation,” he added. In conservative media, the Gow case is fueling debate about whether American universities have become too liberal. Indeed, what happened at the University of Wisconsin is being compared to the scandals at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, which were brought down by criticism of antiSemitism on campuses and the war in Gaza. The three cases seem unrelated, but they share “the important task of educating young people,” they are characterized by a “clear lack of morality,” and they are attacks the New York Post editorial team the “three faces of the same narcissistic nihilism.”