Academic Freedom and Tenure: Linfield University (Oregon)

This report concerns actions taken by Linfield University to terminate Dr. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a tenured professor of English with ten years of full-time service. The Linfield administration has fully acknowledged that it declined to afford Professor Pollack-Pelzner a dismissal procedure. It has also stated that it dismissed Professor Pollack-Pelzner for cause. The investigating committee benefited from a wealth of documentation regarding this case, which received extensive coverage in both local and national media. On April 14, 2021, prior to a vote of no-confidence in the institution's leadership by the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and two weeks before his dismissal, Professor Pollack-Pelzner emailed his colleagues a detailed summary of his interactions with the administration and governing board, which was subsequently shared with news outlets. President Davis and other Linfield officials issued statements and granted press interviews regarding their action against Professor Pollack-Pelzner. On July 12, 2021, Professor Pollack-Pelzner's attorney submitted a lawsuit in Oregon circuit court that incorporates a detailed chronology of events. The account of Professor Pollack-Pelzner's dismissal and the narrative are based on these sources as well as on the investigating committee's interviews. [The text of this report was written in the first instance by the members of the investigating committee.]