{"id":2212335,"date":"2024-04-03T14:59:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/professor-banned-from-christian-campus-for-criticizing-identity-politics-settles-case\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T14:59:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T18:59:33","slug":"professor-banned-from-christian-campus-for-criticizing-identity-politics-settles-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/professor-banned-from-christian-campus-for-criticizing-identity-politics-settles-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor settles case after criticizing identity politics on Christian campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprofessor-banned-from-christian-campus-for-criticizing-identity-politics-settles-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2212335&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A professor who was removed from his campus two years ago for opposing diversity \u2062initiatives has settled with Concordia University Wisconsin in a confidential\u200d agreement. The case involved allegations of breaching\u200d academic freedom. The situation sparked concern within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Recent financial challenges have led\u2063 to layoffs\u200b and campus closures at\u2062 CUW. After opposing diversity initiatives, a professor settled with Concordia\u200d University Wisconsin following his\u200c removal from the campus two years ago. The agreement addressed alleged breaches of academic freedom. This situation raised concerns within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Concordia University Wisconsin has faced financial struggles, resulting in staff layoffs and campus closures.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A professor and ordained pastor who was kicked off his campus two years ago for opposing \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d initiatives has settled with Concordia University Wisconsin in a confidential agreement, his lawyer told The Federalist Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Philosophy professor Greg Schulz \u201calleged they breached the contract by violating his academic freedom, and he believes he\u2019s been satisfactorily made whole,\u201d said Dan Lennington, deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty, a nonprofit public interest law firm that took up Schulz\u2019s case on behalf of free speech. When he was booted off campus without warning in February 2022, Schulz still had five years left on his tenured contract.<\/p>\n<p>After Schulz published an article criticizing his and other campuses\u2019 use of race and sex as hiring criteria, acting university president William Cario ordered campus security to ban Schulz from campus, Schulz and Lennington <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/07\/christian-university-bans-professor-from-campus-for-critiquing-its-dive-into-equity-and-inclusion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told The Federalist then<\/a>. Schulz couldn\u2019t even clean out his office or access his campus email, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Several lawyers <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/02\/23\/professor-banned-for-calling-out-racism-at-christian-university-negotiates-his-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a> this clearly breached Schulz\u2019s contract with Concordia. That contract required that all firings be voted on by the university\u2019s board of regents and that tenured professors have access to a detailed dispute resolution process before any adversarial actions. CUW has not responded to a Federalist request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The situation became a minor uproar in the church body in control of Concordia, the 1.8-million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (of which this author is a communing member). Pastors, professors, and church members across the denomination expressed concern publicly and privately to church leadership. Local, regional, and national church councils expressed disapproval of CUW\u2019s actions and opposition to identity politics, also known as leftist racism and cultural Marxism.<\/p>\n<p>Two years ago, after visiting campus and interviewing approximately 80 people who did not include Schulz, LCMS President Matthew Harrison issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/steadfastlutherans.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/2022-05-09-Harrison-CUWAA-letter-to-regents.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public letter<\/a>. It called for two of the 18-member board of regents to resign, the university to review its \u201cdiversity\u201d initiatives and align them with Christian theology, and for the university to \u201cdemonstrate repentance\u201d for its \u201c\u2026adoption of secular worldviews and agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two regents Harrison identified did resign. Cariou retired in December. Lennington says the church district overseeing CUW plans to appoint a \u201ccircuit visitor\u201d to review diversity initiatives at Concordia, which has long offered a Black Student Union and recently <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.cuw.edu\/lsu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opened<\/a> a Latino Student Union. The Black Student Union <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/07\/christian-university-bans-professor-from-campus-for-critiquing-its-dive-into-equity-and-inclusion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recommended<\/a> the historically inaccurate 1619 Project and Ibram X. Kendi\u2019s work to students. Kendi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/is-the-cure-for-racism-really-more-racism-11602535839\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">openly advocates<\/a> for systemic government discrimination against people with lighter skin colors.<\/p>\n<p>Concordia also maintains a \u201cbias reporting system.\u201d Those are known for harassing students and professors for their speech. After The Federalist reported on the system <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuw.edu\/about\/offices\/grievance\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last year<\/a>, its name appears to have been changed.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Concordia announced layoffs to address annual deficits of $2 million to $6 million in five of the last six years, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/careersandeducation\/facing-financial-deficit-concordia-university-wisconsin-to-lay-off-24-employees\/ar-BB1kXp40\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Earlier this year, CUW announced it intends to close its campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, also due to budget concerns. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnrollment fell from nearly 6,000 students in 2016 to nearly 4,400 in the 2021-22 school year, the latest federal data available,\u201d according to the Journal-Sentinel. Including Ann Arbor, the LCMS will have <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Concordia_University_System\">closed<\/a> four colleges since 2018 due to declining enrollment and resulting budget crises. The closed colleges also had problems with leftist race and sex politics conflicting with Christian teaching. The LCMS is currently in a legal dispute with Concordia University Texas in Austin, which rejects church attempts to assert authority and address serious theological problems at the school.<\/p>\n<p>In the two years he\u2019s been suspended, Schulz has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Anatomy-Implosion-Gregory-P-Schulz\/dp\/B0CQZ7F7QX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">written a book<\/a> about his experiences with DEI in the church and taught theology abroad. Schulz has two doctorates and is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.<\/p>\n<p>While Schulz\u2019s contractual concerns are resolved with this agreement, Lennington said, his concerns as a pastor and theologian about his former employer\u2019s embrace of anti-Christian and discriminatory \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d initiatives are not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would like the university to reaffirm its commitment to academic freedom,\u201d Lennington said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to help its reputation and recruitment if they can\u2019t make a simple statement that they will respect professors\u2019 free speech and due process rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. Her ebooks include &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/payhip.com\/b\/R1JL\">Classic Books For Young Children<\/a>,&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/payhip.com\/b\/a2Jzp\">101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation<\/a>.&#8221;      An 18-year education and politics reporter, Joy has testified before nearly two dozen legislatures on education policy and appeared on major media from Fox News to Ben Shapiro to Dennis Prager. Joy is a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs who identifies as native American and gender natural.     Her traditionally published books include &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Education-Invasion-Parents-Control-American\/dp\/1594038813\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1486730068&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=education+invasion\">The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids<\/a>,&#8221; from Encounter Books.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A professor settled with Concordia University Wisconsin in a confidential agreement after being removed from campus for opposing diversity initiatives. Greg Schulz, a philosophy professor, claimed they breached his contract violating his academic freedom. His lawyer told The Federalist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":519,"featured_media":2212336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/schulz-at-bethany.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/schulz-at-bethany.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2212336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}