Has John Gee Been "Booted" from the Maxwell Institute?

[_Gadianton]

Fascinating indeed, professor. It sounds to me like the new MI realized that the chair itself, although a respectable antique, did not fit the decor and had to go. I don't think the new MI would have had it any other way -- they would not have wished the chair to be used against the instructions of the donors.

It's quite significant, and quite a shrewd example of diplomacy on the part of the new MI, that they were able to sucker the Mopologists into putting the chair elsewhere, and thus complete the Institutes transformation into a butterfly.

[_Physics Guy]

Doesn't full professor come with tenure at BYU?

I wondered about tenure at BYU a while ago and was surprised to discover that BYU doesn't really have tenure. It has a thing called "continuing status" but as far as I could tell this only means that one's annual contract is renewed by default if the university doesn't go out of its way. I think it can still just fire you whenever it wants.

If that's true then I presume there's a pretty reliable unwritten rule that you won't just get fired because the university doesn't like you, because otherwise BYU would have all its most marketable faculty lured away with offers of actual tenure. Unwritten rules can have unwritten loopholes, however.

[_Doctor Scratch]

It seems clearer than ever that some kind of machinations were underway. Take a look at this:

I don't know all of the details, I'm sure, but I know more than I feel either authorized to pass on or comfortable sharing publicly. There was definitely involvement at the highest levels of the BYU administration and at Church headquarters.

I first heard about this from one of the Brethren ten days ago. Fluhman may or may not have known that John Gee would soon escape from his control. Like Dan Peterson, I have also seen a copy of the memo to Fluhman that shifted John Gee, with the Bill Gay chair, as Dan has indicated, to a solid academic department.

Here's a question for you: Why was this "memo" shown to Dan Peterson--let alone to Midgley, who is retired and who therefore should have no legitimate access to such a memo? The memo--based on what they're saying--was administrative in nature, meaning that it was addressed to Spencer Fluhman and (surely) the Chair of the ANE department. And yet here are the Mopologists, braying *in public* about how they've seen it, and about how this move was authorized by "the highest levels of the BYU administration at at Church headquarters!"

There is something that is very, very fishy about all of this. Hopefully someone--Blair Hodges, perhaps--will step forward to provide greater clarity on the matter.

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

I don't know all of the details, I'm sure, but I know more than I feel either authorized to pass on or comfortable sharing publicly. There was definitely involvement at the highest levels of the BYU administration and at Church headquarters.

I'm sure BYU and Church headquarters appreciates Priestcraft Peter$on publicly announcing their involvement in this private personnel matter.

I first heard about this from one of the Brethren ten days ago. Fluhman may or may not have known that John Gee would soon escape from his control. Like Dan Peterson, I have also seen a copy of the memo to Fluhman that shifted John Gee, with the Bill Gay chair, as Dan has indicated, to a solid academic department.

Wait.... One of the 12 Apostles personally notified Louis Midgley 10 days ago about John Gee being dismissed? Seriously?!

Dr. Scratch, this whole thing is just getting more and more bizarre. I wonder what is really going on here?

[_Shulem]

Dr. Scratch, this whole thing is just getting more and more bizarre. I wonder what is really going on here?

Could it be that President NelSatan is getting revelation to remove the Facsimiles from the Book of Abraham and the leaders are preparing to stem the tide?

That could be it. Maybe.



President NelSatan communing with Mormon Jesus

[_Lemmie]

I don't know all of the details, I'm sure, but I know more than I feel either authorized to pass on or comfortable sharing publicly. There was definitely involvement at the highest levels of the BYU administration and at Church headquarters.

I'm sure BYU and Church headquarters appreciates Priestcraft Peter$on publicly announcing their involvement in this private personnel matter.

I first heard about this from one of the Brethren ten days ago. Fluhman may or may not have known that John Gee would soon escape from his control. Like Dan Peterson, I have also seen a copy of the memo to Fluhman that shifted John Gee, with the Bill Gay chair, as Dan has indicated, to a solid academic department.

Wait.... One of the 12 Apostles personally notified Louis Midgley 10 days ago about John Gee being dismissed? Seriously?!

Dr. Scratch, this whole thing is just getting more and more bizarre. I wonder what is really going on here?

I don't understand, hasn't Peterson been insisting for years that "church headquarters" does not involve itself in micromanaging changes at the Maxwell? After all, no one in "church headquarters" was involved in his ouster, right?

[_Madison54]

This was just posted on the other board (a comment on DCP's bog if I'm understanding correctly by starsshine1942):

Prof. Peterson is engaging in some very deceptive spin. Dr. Gee is not a full professor (highest academic rank), is not tenured (=Continuing Faculty Status at BYU), and does not still retain the Gay chair. Further, Gee's move to Ancient Near Eastern Languages (ANEL) was not a power move to escape the MI or its director, Spencer Fluhman. Gee was absolutely removed from his position, after previous probationary actions were taken against him by the university, and all of this was accomplished by proper channels and policies. Well before this recent announcement, Gee was compelled to go hat in hand to ask whether ANEL or other colleges and units on campus might take him on. All initially rebuffed him. Eventually a deal was worked out with ANEL and he found a temporary home there (again, he is not tenured and works on a contingent contract). As much as Peterson would like to have you think otherwise, Gee's departure was not at his request or to his benefit, though he may eventually come to like his new position more. It is understandable that Peterson would try to assist his long time friend in saving face, but his dishonesty in this effort is a disservice to everyone involved.

[_MsJack]

This was just posted on the other board (a comment on DCP's bog if I'm understanding correctly by starsshine1942):

Prof. Peterson is engaging in some very deceptive spin. Dr. Gee is not a full professor (highest academic rank), is not tenured (=Continuing Faculty Status at BYU), and does not still retain the Gay chair. Further, Gee's move to Ancient Near Eastern Languages (ANEL) was not a power move to escape the MI or its director, Spencer Fluhman. Gee was absolutely removed from his position, after previous probationary actions were taken against him by the university, and all of this was accomplished by proper channels and policies. Well before this recent announcement, Gee was compelled to go hat in hand to ask whether ANEL or other colleges and units on campus might take him on. All initially rebuffed him. Eventually a deal was worked out with ANEL and he found a temporary home there (again, he is not tenured and works on a contingent contract). As much as Peterson would like to have you think otherwise, Gee's departure was not at his request or to his benefit, though he may eventually come to like his new position more. It is understandable that Peterson would try to assist his long time friend in saving face, but his dishonesty in this effort is a disservice to everyone involved.

Da-amn.

That comment was left on Dan's blog 40 min ago by this person here:

https://disqus.com/by/starsshine1942/?

[_Doctor Scratch]

This was just posted on the other board (a comment on DCP's bog if I'm understanding correctly by starsshine1942):

Prof. Peterson is engaging in some very deceptive spin. Dr. Gee is not a full professor (highest academic rank), is not tenured (=Continuing Faculty Status at BYU), and does not still retain the Gay chair. Further, Gee's move to Ancient Near Eastern Languages (ANEL) was not a power move to escape the MI or its director, Spencer Fluhman. Gee was absolutely removed from his position, after previous probationary actions were taken against him by the university, and all of this was accomplished by proper channels and policies. Well before this recent announcement, Gee was compelled to go hat in hand to ask whether ANEL or other colleges and units on campus might take him on. All initially rebuffed him. Eventually a deal was worked out with ANEL and he found a temporary home there (again, he is not tenured and works on a contingent contract). As much as Peterson would like to have you think otherwise, Gee's departure was not at his request or to his benefit, though he may eventually come to like his new position more. It is understandable that Peterson would try to assist his long time friend in saving face, but his dishonesty in this effort is a disservice to everyone involved.

Wow! I knew there was more to the story. If this was truly "good news," then why didn't the university or the department make an announcement? (Or the Mopologists. Imagine how much they would have enjoyed gloating and rubbing this in the MI's face if their version of the story was true.) This squares with what MsJack and others have said. Thanks very much for nabbing this before Peterson censors it, Madison. I wonder: what were the "probationary actions" that were taken?

[_Doctor Scratch]

This thing is really blowing up. Dr. Peterson is inciting that Gee was not "on probation" (and it's unclear to me what that might mean--if it's true, that is). If it *is* true, then maybe it is connected to Gee's lack of publications in "legit" journals? Perhaps the MI told him that he needed to do that, and he refused, and kept doing things like Interpreter and the FAIRMormon Conference, and so he was put on "probation"?

In any case, Dr. Peterson is convinced that people at the Maxwell Institute are "stirring the pot":

In my experience -- in the wake of the 2012 Purge -- defamation and innuendo were very much a part of the new Maxwell Institute program.

I had hoped that those days were past, but perhaps I was too optimistic.

So, I guess he's insinuating that people in the Maxwell Institute are spreading false gossip? That's quite a serious accusation--particularly given that it's being directed at people running an institute that bears Elder Maxwell's name.

In any case, there are several points in dispute:

1) Is Gee's new position is "Continuing Appointment"? DCP has said that it is; at least three others have insisted that it is *not,* and that, instead, it is a far more lowly "contingent" appointment.

2) Was Gee was placed on "probation"? (And what does that mean?) Peterson and others are insisting this is false. Perhaps against my better judgment, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If he was *not* on probation, though, then what is the explanation for the move? Merely disliking your coworkers isn't a legitimate reason for switching out of a department (including the administrative shift of the Gay Research Chair--more on that in a moment). So, why was Gee moved? Just because he felt like it? Because the Mopologists bellyached for long enough to the Powers that Be? There is also anecdotal evidence suggesting that Gee tried to move into other departments (such as Classics), but was turned away. How does that figure into this evolving story? (Is that true? Or do the Mopologists deny this as well?)

3) What has become of the Gay Research Chair? Midgley and Peterson claim that Gee is retaining the chaired professorship, and they (well, Midgley) claim to have seen an official memo that spelled out the terms of the new arrangement. Personally, I'd like to take a gander at this memo, or at least the relevant text thereof. What does it say?