Marquette professor suspended over blog post about graduate instructor
John McAdams, a tenured political science professor at Marquette University, was indefinitely suspended in December 2014 after publishing a blog post criticizing a graduate instructor who had told a student that opposition to same-sex marriage would not be tolerated in class. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered him reinstated in 2018.
In November 2014, Marquette political science professor John McAdams published a blog post on 'Marquette Warrior' criticizing graduate instructor Cheryl Abbate, who had told an undergraduate student that opposing same-sex marriage was 'homophobic' and could not be discussed in her ethics class. Abbate received hostile messages from third parties. Marquette suspended McAdams, demanded an apology, and moved to revoke his tenure. He sued for breach of contract. In McAdams v. Marquette University, 2018 WI 88, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4–2 that Marquette violated his academic-freedom protections in his contract and ordered him reinstated with back pay.