The case of Bob Uttl, the Oregon State psych professor who was summarily fired one day after receiving a positive performance evaluation, begins to take on the familiar contours of a departmental witch hunt.

Followers of academic politics will recognize in Uttl's profile a history similar to that of KC Johnson, the Brooklyn College history professor who was denied tenure for lack of collegiality after he criticized some of his senior colleagues for allowing politics to slant their teaching and hiring practices (Johnson won his appeal and was awarded tenure this week). Like Johnson, Uttl apparently works in a department where backbiting and petty politicking are the norm. He has a history of being outspoken; he has not only criticized senior colleagues, but filed complaints against their more egregrious conduct (the nature of those complaints remain unspecified, but Critical Mass trusts the details will emerge in time). Those whom Uttl has alienated happen also to be those who have power over his job.

At a campus hearing Tuesday, retired OSU psychology professor Carol Saslow elaborated:

"He didn't keep a low enough profile," Saslow said of the grievances Uttl filed, adding that the hearings are designed to wear professors out.

Of the psychology department as a whole, she said it's "a pretty miserable place to work," adding that there is a alot of in-fighting.

Saslow said she was appalled at statements made during a promotion and tenure meeting regarding Uttl in 2001. She said that meeting aided in her decision to retire in 2002.

"In our department, the people who vote on you just happen, by and large, to be the same people who were Uttl's downfall," she said.

"Young, smart people can be very threatening," Saslow continued.

OSU policy states that untenured faculty can be fired at any time, without a stated reason. But it also states that retaliatory action cannot be taken against those who file complaints. Uttl does not know why he was fired. But he suspects retaliation.

Uttl has a stellar record of teaching, scholarship, and service. To his knowledge, there is only one negative thing in his personnel file: a four-page screed written by disgruntled former student Jennifer Krebs. Uttl caught Krebs cheating on an assignment and offered her the chance to do it over. Instead, she dropped the course and--encouraged by administrators to whom she had complained--she wrote a letter accusing him of speaking broken English (Uttl is Czech), of discriminating against women, and of committing "atrociously unprofessional acts." Uttl believes Krebs wrote the letter with intent to destroy his career--which it now appears to be in the business of doing. Though Uttl has not been given an objective, clear reason for his dismissal, the letter has been used by his department to justify the decision to fire him.

Uttl has filed a $1.2 million defamation lawsuit against the graduated Krebs, who now does fundraising work for Oregon State. One wonders how long it will be before Uttl sues OSU for more.

They hired a woman who criticzed someone's Enlgish to raise money? She's a real pro--and a heckuva charmer!