Linfield University Fires Professor who Spoke Out against Sexual Misconduct, Raised Allegations against President

Linfield University on Tuesday fired English professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, a public advocate for students and faculty who had complained about alleged sexual abuse by board trustees.

Pollack-Pelzner, 41, also earlier this month accused university President Miles K. Davis of making anti-Semitic comments to fend off criticism of how the school handled those sexual abuse complaints. Pollack-Pelzner first shared the allegations on a Twitter thread this month.

The university’s human resources manager summoned Pollack-Pelzner to a 4 p.m. mandatory meeting Tuesday and divulged little about the session, saying only that it regarded his “employment,” according to emails shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

An hour later, the school confirmed it had fired Pollack-Pelzner “for cause,” describing him as “insubordinate” and having “interfered with the university’s administration of its responsibilities.”

Pollack-Pelzner said he’s consulting a lawyer and declined comment.

The university said in a statement that the tenured Shakespeare studies professor, who also served as a faculty trustee, had “engaged in conduct that is harmful to the university; deliberately violated instructions to preserve the attorney-client privilege with respect to information that was entrusted to him in a position of trust and confidence; deliberately circulated false statements about the university, its employees and its board; refused to comply with university policies and, in doing so, has been insubordinate and interfered with the university’s administration of its responsibilities.”

The firing wasn’t in retaliation for Pollack-Pelzner speaking out against the president or board chair but for his “propagated false and defamatory statements,” university spokesman Scott Nelson said by email.