UW Fires Chancellor Turned Adult Film Star From Faculty Job

MADISON, WI — The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents fired former La Crosse campus chancellor Joe Gow from his tenured teaching job on Friday.

The regents fired Gow from his chancellor role in 2023 when his education officials learned of pornographic videos he made with his wife.

But Gow continued to fight for his faculty position, making a First Amendment case to the Board of Regents last week.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech group, condemned Friday's decision to terminate Gow's tenured position.

"In a major blow to academic freedom and faculty free speech rights, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has terminated tenured Professor Joe Gow for producing sexually explicit content off hours," said Zach Greenberg, counsel for FIRE, in a statement to Patch.

"FIRE has said time and time again: public universities cannot sacrifice the First Amendment to protect their reputations. We’re disappointed UW caved to donors and politicians by throwing a tenured professor under the bus."

Gow and his wife, Carmen Wilson, have six videos on OnlyFans and appear on at least two other porn websites, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Some of their videos with more than 200,000 views and others were posted in the last two months, according to the newspaper. Gow and his wife also had a YouTube channel called "Sexy Healthy Cooking."

Gow continued to draw a salary from the state while he was on paid leave from his faculty position.

But in July, a UW-La Crosse faculty committee unanimously recommended that Gow lose his faculty position, arguing that he exploited the role to make more money doing pornography work.

At the time of the firing, UW System Regent President Karen Walsh said "Dr. Joe Gow has shown a reckless disregard for the role he was entrusted with at UW-La Crosse to serve students, faculty and staff, and the campus community. The outrage over his behavior is evidenced by the unanimous vote by the UW Board of Regents to terminate him as chancellor. We are alarmed, and disgusted, by his actions, which were wholly and undeniably inconsistent with his role as chancellor."

Gow's firing comes five years after he was publicly criticized by UW officials after he invited an adult film actress to speak on campus.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.