Patricia A Adler, the University of Colorado (CU) professor, who was forced to retire over a controversial prostitution lecture, has decided to return to the campus.
Last Friday, an executive committee in the sociology department allowed Adler to resume teaching the course, 'Deviance in U.S. Society'. Initially, Adler was not sure of returning to the campus because there were issues to be sorted with the university.
But now that she has made up her mind to comeback, Adler is nervous. She starts on Tuesday.
The prostitution lecture presented in the form of a skit was deemed offensive by CU faculty members, administrators and campus Office of Discrimination and Harassment.
Bronson Hilliard, a university spokesperson, said that the committee gave Adler the green signal on one condition; provided Adler gets consent from all the students to go ahead with the skit. The officials just wanted to make sure that the students were not participating in the skit out of fear that their grades will suffer.
"What's important is that students understand they won't be penalized in any way if they choose not to participate in the skit and that they give their official consent for participation," Hillard said, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
In her defence, Adler said that the skit was being taught in the university for long and this sudden allegation was shocking.
"For the past 25 years every semester to 500 students," said Adler, CBS Local reports.
Adler said that the university was compelled to reinstate her after pressure from the campus community and possibly to save face.
Adler said in a statement that universities and schools were "increasingly sacrificing academic freedom as they become more concerned with risk and liability than with creating an environment in which creativity and ideas can flourish and students can be challenged to expand their horizons," according to Daily Camera.
