MADISON, Wis. — The top official at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has taken the first steps toward firing a faculty member who was previously fired as chancellor over his fledgling porn career.
Former Chancellor Joe Gow said Wednesday that interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan filed three charges against him on March 29, accusing him of unethical conduct, failing to cooperate with an investigation and using UW-La Crosse computers to produce pornographic material.
Gow declined to share a letter from Morgan detailing the allegations, saying he did not want to appear as if he was trying to play his case in the media.
But he said the ethics charge may be related to his writings in two pornographic e-books. He declined to go into details. The charge of failure to cooperate stems from his refusal to speak with an outside law firm that is investigating the case without an attorney, he said. He denied using UW equipment or state dollars to produce pornography.
Spokespeople for UW-La Crosse did not respond Wednesday to emails seeking comment and details about the allegations. Mark Pitsch, a spokesman for the UW System, declined to comment.
Gow said he has requested a hearing before a faculty committee, which is his right under state law. The committee would recommend to the Board of Regents, the governing body of the UW System, whether he can keep his backup job as a tenured communications professor. The board will ultimately decide whether he will stay on.
The regents fired Gow as chancellor in December after learning that he and his wife, former UW-La Crosse professor Carmen Wilson, were producing and starring in pornographic videos. They also wrote two e-books titled “Monogamy with Benefits: How Porn Enriches Our Relationship” and “Married with Benefits – Our Real Adventures in the Adult Industry” under pseudonyms.
Gow planned to retire at the end of the 2024 spring semester and transition to a role teaching communications courses. But UW System President Jay Rothman postponed that until his tenure could be reviewed.
Gow has maintained that he and his wife produced the pornographic material on their own time. He maintains that the videos and books never mentioned UW-La Crosse or his role at the university and that the regents violated his right to free speech when they fired him.
The faculty committee hearing has yet to be scheduled, Gow said, but he is eager to clear his name. Students have told him that they think he is a great person and that they would like to take his courses, he said.
“It’s really hard to be treated like a criminal when you haven’t done anything wrong,” Gow said. “I’m really curious how the government is going to prove that I did something wrong.”