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May 2023

DEI Brings Kafka to My Law School Ohio Northern University is trying to banish me for lack of ‘collegiality’ but won’t say what I’ve done. By Scott Gerber

https://www.wsj.com/articles/dei-brings-kafka-to-my-law-school-ohio-tenure-collegiality-viewpoint-discipline-102d62b8?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

Franz Kafka’s “The Trial” tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested, prosecuted and killed by an inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader. I’m Josef K.

Around 1 p.m. on Friday, April 14, Ohio Northern University campus security officers entered my classroom with my students present and escorted me to the dean’s office. Armed town police followed me down the hall. My students appeared shocked and frightened. I know I was. I was immediately barred from teaching, banished from campus, and told that if I didn’t sign a separation agreement and release of claims by April 21, ONU would commence dismissal proceedings against me. The grounds: “Collegiality.” The specifics: None.

Josef K. never learns what he’s alleged to have done wrong. The offenses I’ve allegedly committed haven’t been revealed to me, either. But I have an educated guess.