A Cal Poly judiciary committee ruled to not reinstate journalism professor Bill Loving as department chair on Nov. 29.
The committee, made up of faculty members Dan Peterson, Marica Tilley, Claire Bautista and John Walker, said in the memo that Loving had not presented evidence to “conclude that any of Professor Lovings’ rights were violated in the decision to remove him as Chair of Journalism” and that the dean’s decision to remove him was based on her loss of confidence in him to run the department. The committee’s memo concludes that the group does not endorse or criticize her decision.
The decision came following a Nov. 19 judiciary hearing in which Loving filed a grievance against College of Liberal Arts dean Linda Halisky after she removed him as department chair in August.
Loving said he is not surprised by the committee’s decision and he will remain a faculty member of the journalism department. He said his goal was to shed light on how the university operates.
“I think for the first time people got to have a look at what happens behind the curtain and I think it’s evident that based upon what the provost said, deans are able to run their colleges however they see fit,” Loving said. “So if the dean wants to play Donald Trump, he or she can do that and have no regard for the impact on students, staff and faculty.”
Loving said he does not expect to be treated any differently by Halisky or any member of the administration following his call for the grievance hearing because he was exercising his right to grieve. He will, however, continue to disagree with her decision.
“I’ll continue to strongly assert that the dean was wrong in making a personal decision that affected the operation of this department,” Loving said. “I’m hoping that this dean pauses and considers what she is going to do before she acts again because if she decides that she doesn’t like somebody and fires them for that reason, I’ll be there to offer my support and help out any member of the faculty who believes that their rights have been violated.”
Neither Halisky nor the committee members were available for comment.