Recall talk lands prof. in hot water

In the wake of the media frenzy surrounding UW Oshkosh criminal justice professor Stephen Richards, student reactions are mixed and University Police have heightened security near his classrooms on Wednesday.

Richards made comments on March 7 promoting the recall efforts against Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) during his Theories of Crime class.

The comments, recorded by a student, were recently released to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, leading Hopper to demand Richards' resignation.

"This blatant misuse of authority from Professor Stephen Richards is outrageous and should not be tolerated," Hopper said in a press release. "Professor Richards should resign immediately and I ask Chancellor Wells to investigate how many other professors on campus campaigned on state time.  Watching which students sign and don't sign the petition is the worst form of intimidation tactics and misuse of authority I have seen in the district."

Two students told the Advance-Titan that Richards has received death threats, however the University hasn't confirmed any threats, according to the University's media relations office.

Alex Hummel, UWO's associate director of news and public information, said University Police Chief Joe LeMire assigned additional security detail around Richards' classes Wednesday.

"I can't speak to death threats, but what he did tell me was that he did dispatch a University Police officer who was present around the area of Professor Richards' classes this afternoon," Hummel said. "And that was primarily to ensure that there was no disruption to class." When contacted by the Advance-Titan on Wednesday night, Richards declined to comment.

"They (the University) aren't letting me say anything," Richards said.

Hummel said Richards' claims that the University advised him against commenting on the situation weren't accurate.

The University began looking into the incident on March 9, according to a statement by Chancellor Richard Wells.  The dean of the College of Letters and Science met with Richards and students to investigate the concerns over what happened in that particular class.

On April 1, the investigation was concluded and the "agreed-upon corrective action" was implemented. According to the chancellor's statement, "classroom conditions have improved and there have been no additional complaints."

Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said these actions have no place in an academic setting.

"This incredible misuse of power by a person in a position of authority cannot be tolerated," he said in a press release. "Professor Richards used valuable class time to actively campaign to his students, over whom he has influence. The incident goes way past poor judgment – this is egregious professional misconduct."

In the recording, Richards explained the recall process to his students and told them about the ramifications of the budget repair bill.

However, Republicans claim that Richards "promotes several falsehoods" about the budget repair bill.

"Either he's purposely lying to students in an effort to provoke them to sign the petitions, or he is woefully misinformed and spreading severe inaccuracies along to students who rely on him for factual information," Jefferson said. "Teachers and college professors have a responsibility to their students and to their communities. We trust them to deliver facts and stay above the political fray – at the very least when they are at the head of a classroom."

Christopher "Rocco" Frievalt, chairman of the College Republicans at UW Oshkosh, also said the classroom isn't the proper venue for Richards to promote this political agenda.

"There is a time and place for campaigning for or against particular people," Frievalt said in a statement on behalf of the organization.  "Bringing two people from the Recall Hopper Committee into the classroom and wasting eight minutes of their time is unacceptable. Professors aren't paid by students and taxpayers to be politicking but instead to teach a particular topic, in this case criminal justice, and prepare them for the future."

Students had mixed reviews regarding the incident and were split between the dialogue being inappropriate and the dialogue being a part of the criminal justice system.

One student in the class, Sara Baldner, said the political dialogue didn't belong in the classroom.

"From Feb. 1 until the beginning of April, all we talked about was the issues surrounding Walker and him taking away collective bargaining," Baldner said. "He would talk for the full hour and a half of class time…we have just begun talking about the books we were supposed to read and I feel like I wasted $400 to take ‘Walker 101' and not the class I signed up for."

Baldner also added that she felt obligated to sign the recall petition.

"I did feel political pressure when he asked us to sign the petition," she said. "I know he said we could do it in the hall but that was after it had already gone down a row of people so he saw who was signing it and who was leaving class (to sign it)."

However, some students didn't feel pressured at all.

"I did not feel pressured to sign the petitions that were available, but this is due to my personal stance," Edward Tyrpak said. "It was made very apparent how Professor Richards felt on the topic, but there was never direct wording from him stating that we should follow his beliefs."

Even though Tyrpak said didn't feel pressured, he still thought the dialogue should've taken place elsewhere.

"I believe that he (Richards) wants to help students understand more about the world we live in and what is going on around us, but there is a time and place for that," he said. "Our tuition money is for us to learn about the classes we select to take, not to hear countless hours of information on the government of Wisconsin."