A statement released Thursday by the state and local chapters of the American Association of University Professors criticizing the University of Colorado over its handling of issues in the philosophy department also sheds new light on the suspension and banishment from campus of associate professor Dan Kaufman.
In early March, students in Kaufman’s “Introduction to Philosophy” course said they watched as their professor was escorted out of the building by campus police.
An email from philosophy chairman Andy Cowell alerted the faculty that Kaufman had been banned from campus and placed on administrative leave. In the email, Cowell instructed faculty members to call police if they saw Kaufman on campus.
Both Kaufman and university administrators have been quiet about the reason for Kaufman’s suspension, which came a little more than a month after the university administration released an independent report that found sexual harassment and bullying within the philosophy department.
There was no indication that Kaufman’s suspension was connected to the alleged sexual harassment referred to in the report.
Kaufman declined to comment for this story.
CU spokesman Ryan Huff said the university cannot comment on personnel matters.
The association’s statement provides new details about Kaufman’s suspension based on an interview with the professor and a letter sent to him by Provost Russ Moore.
According to the statement, a total of six university police officers were involved the day Kaufman was suspended and barred from campus.
Two met Kaufman outside the classroom of his introductory philosophy class inside the Hale Science Building, and then escorted him, along with Cowell, to the office of Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in Old Main.
Once there, Kaufman was met by four additional police officers. He was informed by Moore that he was suspended indefinitely, according to the statement, and told he would be arrested if he returned to campus.
According to the statement, Kaufman had notified Cowell of an accommodation he had been granted under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
During a follow-up discussion, Cowell asked Kaufman about suicide, according to the statement.
“Kaufman made a ‘philosopher’s joke’ that alluded to a standard philosophy textbook conundrum: He wouldn’t kill himself, he was sure Cowell wouldn’t kill him, and he wouldn’t kill Cowell, unless Cowell were truly evil, like Adolf Hitler,” according to the statement.
Though Cowell did not take this statement as a direct threat, according to the statement, Moore wrote in a letter to Kaufman that “the campus” found the remarks to be profoundly troubling and completely unacceptable “even as a joke.”
The statement’s authors criticize the handling of Kaufman’s suspension, a punishment which they write is second only to dismissal.
The statement also points out that though Kaufman was suspended on March 4, the letter from Moore informing him of his punishment was dated Feb. 28, four days earlier.
According to the statement, this time lapse was intended to embarrass Kaufman in front of his students and the campus community.
“As with other actions ordered by Leigh and Moore described in this report, the police apprehension of Professor Kaufman created maximum humiliation,” according to the statement.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Sarah Kuta at 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta.
