The entire Chavez story points to a double standard. If a male professor had been caught in a similar position with female students, the University’s reaction would NOT have been the same.

Right on target Debbie! Keep the pressure on and don’t let the issue get swept under the rug…or thanks for pulling it back out again!

Professionalism? What’s that? You mean that the drunken debauchery has to stop sometime? No way! You’re, like, kidding right?

Alan and Debbie: It is not your responsibility to define “ethical”. Your problem isn’t professionalism, your problem is that these people don’t get their kicks the same way you do.

Grow up.

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS are you for real ?
Students are supposed to sit back and watch university admins make poor choices for expected behaviour ?

Wake up you specious dweeb. Students should riot if the admin wonks think a tenured professor should be allowed to engage in questionable behavior yet would fire an untenured associate.

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Ms. Nguyen, I don’t blame you for being disturbed. The actions and attitudes of Prof. Chavez — “Mistress Jade” as she calls herself — were appalling, and the inactions of the university in dealing with it are indeed disturbing. I don’t know if you were a student here two years ago when the UNM Faculty Senate passed a resolution of no confidence in President Schmidley, but during a comment period more than one faculty member chastised Schmidley for his refusal to do anything about the Creative Writing Dept. scandal. I remember one woman bitterly lamenting how Schmidley had promised to help but did nothing, “destroying” their department. Schmidley did not say a word. As we saw with Coach Locksley, he would rather sweep problems under a rug than take decisive action.

Schmidley should have called Chavez’ bluff when she threatened to sue UNM. I would love to see her (or her attorney) defend her actions to twelve members of the local taxpaying public.

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Actually MIND, it is our business. I am a taxpayer, and this is a public university supported largely with tax revenues and students’ tuition. So yes, we do have some say on what goes on within the ivory towers. I am also a UNM employee, and as such, now must annually complete an online “sexual harassment awareness” training course. Prof. “Jade” clearly crossed a line by involving her students into such activities.

I am no prude, and I think we all have rights within the limits of the laws to do what we wish in our private lives. But it has long been a standard that teachers should limit their socializing with students. Now, when my German professors would join us grad students for a pitcher of beer about once a month on a Friday evening, that was one thing – but posing in S&M pornography, for pay? That goes over the top. And it’s hardly “private” is it, when pictures are posted on the Internet.

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Hey mind your own business maybe we should get the New Mexico Legislature and Gary King to investigate UNM’s illegal labor practices. UNM was found guilty of violating labor laws and unethical practices in 1994, (Mercer Report), however things are worse at UNM, because now the university black lists former employees that stand up for their rights, or are union employees. Zimmerman Libray has a copy of the Mercer Report at it’s reference desk. The Mercer Report details the history of UNM’s illegal labor practices that both the Federal Labor Board and the Legislature found UNM guilty of in 1994. Mind your business should check it out and spend the afternoon reading it.

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS:

In case you did not read my letter to the Editor correctly, my remarks in regards to Ms. Chavez being unethical were based on her comments about pregnancy and children. I don’t care how anyone else gets their “kicks”, but I know that using degrading words about other HUMANS is unethical.

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Obviously, as everyone knows, it is the historical and social expectation for a student to avoid dating their teacher. I agree on one level, and on another I do not. I think publishing yourself brazenly in a magazine for hundreds of people to see is humiliating to not only one’s peers, it also demoralizes women as a whole. On a professional level, making such a choice is a horrible standard for your peers and collegues. On the other hand, if a Professor chose to date a student, say, after a studend graduated or on a private level where they are both adults, then that is choice that should be measured on a different level. Obviously dating your student/professor while they are still enrolled is bad; but take into consideration that people do have lives outside of school and work. I made the mistake of liking a professor and I realized it only caused more problems, I highly recommend to just avoid it as a whole. My point is: cast the first stone.

Hard to fathom that UNM let that slide – Prof. Chavez doing sex work with her students – with lots of photos no less, acting out sexual violence —that were even on TV news. And a Chair who even admitted to making comments in meetings about “breeding.” The professors who complain are then targeted. What a mess this administration has created. And in a situation with soooo much hard evidence.

LAWRENCE, well said, spot on.

I hope you will work up the same level of outrage about things that are really outrageous, which are happening all the time.

Soooo, Prof. Lisa Chavez strapping on a dildo and training a student to “cocksuck in public” so the prof. can make an extra $40 an hour from the public is not outrageous? Administration ignoring all of this and injuring the objectors instead is not outrageous? I suppose Head Coach Locksley punching and choking his assistant last year is pretty outrageous – but wait – don’t forget — the administration did an “investigation” of that one too. Because of what later came out, they had to publically admit that “investigation” was “bungled.” Many observers would have chosen a different word.

These things are not limited to the main campus. There are instructors at the valencia campus that allow students cook for them and write love poetry. I have a hard time being in a classroom with an instructor that I can not trust because of their lack in morals.

Ms. Nguyen evidently wants UNM to revoke tenure based entirely on the fact that she is “highly offended by [Chavez’s]remarks about pregnancy and children.” This desire is directly contradictory to the purpose of attending a university. Professors teach not only facts and formulas; good professors challenge their students to think in new ways, sometimes through disagreement. Humans learn through challenges. Anyone who always agrees with their professors is at the wrong institution.

The purpose of tenure is to protect the professor’s right to academic freedom, a freedom which includes the right to say unpopular things. Tenure is earned through a rigorous process, in which the candidate is judged based on their teaching, research, and service to the profession. Professor Chavez’s colleagues found that she met their criteria, a decision which is not made lightly. An attack on the fundamental purpose of the university, which is to be a haven of curiosity and intellectual freedom, is much more alarming than a private expression of an individual’s negative opinion of childbearing. I am deeply disappointed that a student would argue to hear only things she likes throughout her time at the University.

Dear Disappointed:

Actually, if you were in the dept, you’d know her colleagues asked for an ethics review of her behavior because they DON’T approve of her behavior. And I don’t mean a few people; if I remember correctly, no less than five of her colleagues asked for an ethics review, because posing as someone’s sexual owner while you grad them is considered something of a conflict of interest.

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And it is not a matter of Chavez’s “negative opinion of childbearing” – though that in itself should be somewhat alarming. It is the offensive comments with students and co-workers. That is the very definition of hostile work and learning environment.

Tenure IS about academic freedom. It protects them when they do go outside established boundaries. If it didn’t, then professors would not explore new and controversial ideas.

I took a basic Human Sexuality class my second year of college. The professor showed pornographic images, and we listened to an interview with him and a prostitute. Because of my deep religious convictions, I was terribly offended. Later, I realized that he was simply trying to get us to explore the outer fringes of sexuality. And now, looking back, I wished I had paid better attention, and not skipped ‘porn viewing days‘. It could have been a fun class.

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Please be clear – Chavez admits publically that she needed extra cash, so she began working for sex services with students. The University has policies regarding outside employment. The American Association of professors has statements on ethical behavior with students (who are under the profs guidance and being graded) and ethical behavior with co-workers too.
If what she was doing was within reason, why did all levels of administration refuse the request from over 17 faculty members that this matter be reviewed by Faculty Ethics Committee. This process was denied to faculty – by upper administration.
Chavez’s actions severely injure the concept of academic freedom. Can a professor train her student to “c–ksuck in public” in public forums, soliciting sex services clients. Should professors be allowed to post their profiles as “stern teacher ready to punish unruly students” along with photos showing sexual violence on a student. All of this is fact, with plenty of evidence.
Academic freedom is not a license to carry out any behavior.
At least these many concerns should have been allowed to go to an ethics committee. The fact that this proper course of action by administration was denied speaks volumes!

The professor appears to have pretty much stayed within the UNM guidelines regarding outside employment. She limited her time, and did not bring UNM’s name in it. She was not online saying, “UNM professor won’t tolerate bad students”, she spoke for upset kinky professors everywhere. And it’s not like they were selling shirts with a Lobo saying, “We do it doggy style”. Mistress Jade kept everyone’s name out of it. Her mistake was that she didn’t disguise herself better.

Regarding the students involved. Chavez did not coerce them to do this, and both sides claim that they were not in a relationship with Chavez. The poses that they did were staged. I realize that porn usually involves high quality real life situations, but in this case, they were just posing. I feel let down.

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I’m all for holding professors and students to high academic and professional standards. However, this instance has nothing to do with either. She didn’t do anything that wasn’t off campus, in her own time, with consenting adults. It may freak people out, but at the end of the day, they can butt right back out and deal with it. Also, one doesn’t have to like what she says about pregnancy or kids, but again, deal with it. Freedom of speech allows people to say what they feel they need to, regardless of how tacklessly they state it. Feel free to use me an an example if it pleases you.

Also, to be honest, I feel better knowing that UNM isn’t going to end a career over a personal choice. Just as I enjoy knowing that they won’t revoke my scholarships or kick me out as a student because I’m into BDSM. I have more respect for the university for standing by an employee.

That mouthofsouth posting is about the creepiest posting I’ve seen yet on this crazy subject. It so completely shows the hostile learning and work environment. Unbelievable that UNM would let this go on.

Actually, some of her actions were at department parties, which by definition are university events. If the department uses university funding (which dept parties do, for the food and funding) for an event, it is a university event and required to maintain professional standards no matter where it is held.

But, let’s be clear here. I am a lifestyle person with years and years of experience, something which I would not bring into a classroom because it stands a high probability of distracting the students from the content of the course. She does not teach human sexuality (thank god), she teaches creative writing, and being in a class and knowing your professor is not grading you on your work is damaging to the trust necessary for learning. A workshop is a place where people write about things which matter to them, and the professor MUST, because of the information they have access to, behave themselves not as someone looking for potential partners, but as someone who is helping the student become a better writer.

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I’d also like to add that we are asked to take, among other things, privacy policy training because we are given access to student records. This is even more pertinent in a CW classroom, because students write about serious and sometimes painful subjects.

A professor who is soliciting students, bragging to students about her experience working in the sex biz, demanding personal favors and making fun of students and professors is not trustworthy. And, because of the way a CW class works, has access to tremendous amounts of personal material.

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@student

Sorry, I will retract the sarcastic, silly comments so you can read it without feeling creeped out. Nothing I said describes a hostile work environment. I actually said the OPPOSITE. I said that these things did NOT happen, but that everyone is making it sound like they DID do these things.

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