David Deming - Academic Freedom Controversies - Sexual Harassment Charges

Sexual Harassment Charges

In February 2000, Deming wrote a letter criticizing Yale University student Joni Kletter's February 18, 2000 syndicated article on gun control published in the University of Oklahoma's student newspaper, The Oklahoma Daily - a letter for which the professor was charged for sexual harassment. In her article, Kletter had claimed that "easy access to a handgun allows everyone in this country...to quickly and easily kill as many random people as they want." In his rebuttal, Deming wrote

"I just want to point out that Kletter's 'easy access' to a vagina enables her to 'quickly and easily' have sex with 'as many random people' as she wants. Her possession of an unregistered vagina also equips her to work as a prostitute and spread venereal diseases. Let's hope Kletter is as responsible with her equipment as most gun owners are with theirs."

In an article published in the academic journal Sexuality and Culture in 2001, Deming stated that he had not been motivated by the fact that "For years, the campus newspaper at the University of Oklahoma had been printing vile attacks on both the right to own guns and people who were part of the gun culture." These remarks included statements that the desire to own guns was "an addiction," and "an irrational need for empowerment," comparisons of NRA members to "the Beverly Hillbillies," and claims that the Second Amendment "was used as a means of killing American Indians and stealing their land," and "so slave owners could have guns to keep slaves from rebelling."

College of Geoscience Dean John T. Snow reprimanded Deming for the Oklahoma Daily letter. A March 23, 2000 press release by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities" characterized Snow's letter as "alarming":

The Dean of the Colleges of Geosciences, John T. Snow, sent an alarming letter to Deming that excoriated him for expressing himself, accused him of lowering morale, and berated him for upsetting the president's office by occasioning a large number of phone calls from media and alumni. In fact, of course, the protection of freedom at a public university is an honor and essential task, not a distraction...The days of academic "McCarthyism" remain with us; the targets, of course, change with time. Ironically, Snow's chilling letter directs Deming to "show due respect for the opinions of others."

Deming's remarks were criticized on campus, often by self-identified feminists. In a letter to the Oklahoma Daily published February 25, 2000, Women's Studies professor Julia Ehrhardt complained that she was "insulted" by Deming's letter which "intimates that...a woman is merely the sum of her sexual parts." However, Deming found support for his views in the wider community. Legal assistance was provided by the Center for Individual Rights and attorney Andrew W. Lester. Reader's letters published by the Daily Oklahoman on March 4, 2000, were almost entirely in Deming's favor. As one writer explained:

My hat's off to professor Deming. Gun owners are tired of being blamed for the acts of criminals. Deming's comparison of a vagina to a handgun illustrates the frustration that so many law-abiding citizens feel in the wake of continued attacks on Second Amendment rights.

In March 2000, the University of Oklahoma dismissed the sexual harassment charges filed against Deming. However, four of the complainants filed appeals, resulting in a closed hearing before a faculty panel that took place on April 27, 2000. The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) "questioned the decision to bar lawyers from speaking at the April 27 hearing. In response, the University set up a hearing for May 5. There, in a public forum, OU general counsel Joseph Harroz dropped all complaints" In a memorandum, Harroz explained that "the University may not take any adverse action against Dr. Deming," because his statements were protected by the First Amendment.

Deming reached a final settlement with the University of Oklahoma on October 24, 2000. According to the terms of the settlement, the University agreed that Deming's letter "did not violate the University's sexual harassment/sexual assault policy." The University of Oklahoma also agreed to "not take any adverse action against Dr. Deming or retaliate against him in any way." In a November 1, 2000, editorial, the Oklahoman characterized the settlement as a "free speech victory," and concluded "a college campus, of all places, ought to encourage the free flow of ideas."