A hearing unfolded on Friday that will determine the fate of a professor and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Joseph Gow, who was fired from his chancellorship for leading a secret second life performing in explicit pornographic videos online. It might not, though, be the end of a saga that has captured national attention — as Mr. Gow tells the Sun that if the university hearing doesn’t go his way, he’ll have “no choice” but to file a lawsuit.

Mr. Gow, who was fired as chancellor last year but has so far retained his tenured professorship, has been fighting to keep his job for months as he claims his behavior — including making porn with his wife for OnlyFans, running a YouTube channel for cooking vegan food with porn stars, and publishing two books about his sex life —  are protected free expression.

School leadership expressed alarm and disgust when it discovered his behavior in December — and a faculty committee this July unanimously recommended him to be fired from his professor position. The protections of tenure, as the Sun has noted in previous reporting, mean the university must establish “cause” to fire him. 

To build a case to legally rid itself of Mr. Gow, the university has accused him of various disciplinary infractions that would not be protected by tenure. The university found that Mr. Gow violated school policy by referencing his university job in his pornographic videos; hiring “sex workers” within an hour of campus and creating a conflict of interest when he invited a “sex worker,” porn star Nina Hartley, 65, to speak on campus.

“For someone who previously served as chancellor, Dr. Gow’s behavior has been unethical, hypocritical and unacceptable,” UW System’s attorney, Wade Harrison, said in his testimony. “It is time to bring this matter to a close. University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, respectfully requested that Dr. Gow’s employment be terminated for cause. Enough is enough. Dr. Joe needs to go.”

Mr. Harrison said that the former chancellor can “simply not be trusted,” especially in a classroom, and suggested that all Mr. Gow wanted was “a large media presence” and “a great marketing opportunity for his cooking and adult content.”

The short hearing on Friday, which Mr. Gow says lasted under an hour and didn’t include a single question from the committee, was convened by the UW System Board of Regents, whose secret recommendation will be provided to the full board for consideration at an upcoming meeting — which could happen as soon as Thursday.

He says the short nature of the hearing, and the lack of questions, indicate to him that the committee may have gone into it “with their minds already made up.”

“My attorney thinks we would have a fine lawsuit if it doesn’t go my way,” he says of the full board’s upcoming decision. “And I think based on the way I was treated today, where they said he’s not being honest and he’s unethical and all these false charges, I would have no choice but to have a lawsuit and pursue that fully.” 

For months, Mr. Gow has upheld that the issue is a free speech and academic freedom one. Ahead of the hearing, he told the Sun that he and his wife are maintaining their YouTube account, “Sexy Happy Couple,” where they cook while clothed, as well as their sexually explicit OnlyFans account. The OnlyFans content provides income that the pair will rely on should he lose his tenured position and salary.

“Well, it’s sad that the UW System attorneys do not really want to engage in the true First Amendment debate over the books and videos,” he says after the hearing. “And I think it’s even worse that the Board of Regents, who claim to be for freedom of expression, are not willing to have a conversation about that either.”

Mr. Gow has been represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which maintains that the First Amendment “firmly protects a wide array of colorful, controversial, and provocative speech.”

Public universities cannot violate the First Amendment merely to save face or appease donors,” FIRE’s legal defense counsel, Zach Greenberg, in a statement provided to the Sun ahead of the hearing. “Professors must be free to speak their minds when they are off the clock, even when their words offend others. Terminating tenured professors for what they say off hours would diminish academic freedom across the country.”