The latest in battle between UI and tenured professor

Denise Bennett, a tenured journalism and mass media professor at the University of Idaho, was placed on administrative leave after exhibiting unprofessional conduct toward Sean Quinlan, dean of College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences and other employees, according to the terms and conditions of her leave.

Bennett took to social media, notifying the UI community and her students of the leave. UI students then — demanding answers from administration as to the reason for her leave and who would teach their classes — quickly took action by creating Facebook pages and change.org petitions in support of Bennett.

Bennett’s leave then gained even more attention from the UI community after a Vandal Alert was sent out to students, faculty and staff notifying them to call 911 if she was seen on campus.

Below is a full timeline of the events that unfolded before and after the initial notice of Bennett’s leave.

Note: In addition to upcoming reporting, new information will be added to the top of this page as it becomes available. To read the events in chronological order, begin at the bottom of this article. 

 

Jan. 31 (Thursday)

UI issued a second Vandal Alert, explaining the reasoning behind Wednesday’s controversial Vandal Alert regarding Bennett. UI President Chuck Staben also issued the same information via a campus-wide email.

Staben acknowledged the “unusual level of detail” present in the initial alert and wrote the planned sit-in played a role in the release of the first alert.

“Ms. Bennett’s public conduct in recent days and information we received from law enforcement raised concerns about the safety of our campus community,” Staben wrote. “Knowledge that students would gather at noon in the Administration Building to protest the university’s actions and uncertainty around Ms. Bennett’s whereabouts or whether she would attend the protest increased the seriousness of these concerns to a level which gave rise to the alert.”

Staben said in the email JAMM classes will continue as usual and other JAMM faculty will be teaching Bennett’s classes in her absence.

That night, two GoFundMe pages were created in support of Bennett. The first was created by Students for Denise, the official Facebook account behind REINSTATE DENISE BENNETT. With a goal of $5,000, the page aims to raise funds for JAMM students frustrated by “the lack of funding towards our department and feel it is putting our careers and educational experience at risk,” according to the fundraiser description.

As of the afternoon of Jan. 31, eight contributors have donated $150.

Meanwhile, Bennett’s husband, Bradley Janssen, started a “Support Prof. Bennett’s Fight for transparency” GoFundMe page to help pay for her legal fees. Bennett had previously hired lawyer Matt Taylor of Taylor Law in Boise. As of Thursday afternoon, six people donated $195.

Jan. 30 (Wednesday)

Despite admitting no immediate threat to campus, UI issued a Vandal Alert Wednesday morning, informing students, faculty and staff Bennett “has been barred from campus. Recent admittance to police of meth use and access to firearms.”

UI Director of Communications Jodi Walker said no direct threat had been made to anyone within the university. She said the information in the alert was taken from a police report filed in early November.

That morning, Moscow Police issued a notice of trespass to Bennett, barring her from campus for 12 months, according to the notice obtained by The Argonaut through a public records request. The notice cites Bennett’s “eratic behavior” as the reason for the notice.

Following the alert, UI student and administrator of the REINSTATE DENISE BENNETT Facebook page Ryan Benson delayed Wednesday’s planned silent sit-in. He later scheduled a walk-out for 6 p.m., where students would march from the UI Teaching and Learning Center to the Administration Building.

Protesters placed black tape over their mouths “to signify the attempts of the university to stifle and mute the voice of their students,” according to the event’s Facebook page.

Janssen took part in the protest and said his wife was receiving a drug test in Pullman to combat allegations of drug use.

From there, protesters marched through the Commons to speak at the ASUI Senate meeting’s open forum.

Bailey O’Bryant, a student who worked closely with Bennett, said he thinks the administration’s decision to not let Bennett’s students know where their classes stood until four days after she was put on leave shows a disregard for students.

Following the protest, Benson penned an email, on behalf of the REINSTATE DENISE BENNETT Facebook group, to UI President Chuck Staben, Quinlan and JAMM faculty and staff.

“We, the students of the University of Idaho, are dissatisfied and disappointed with the handling of the suspension of our professor. The complete silence from University of Idaho Administration demonstrates the lack of commitment to undergraduate education at this institution,” Benson wrote in the email.

Benson said the students will not accept instructors who are not experts in the digital media and film production field to teach Bennett’s classes while she is on leave.

 

Jan. 29 (Tuesday)

Bennett said she received official documentation of her leave Jan. 29 from the post office, five days after receiving news over the phone from Quinlan she would be placed on leave until further notice. Bennett then read the full document in a YouTube live stream via former UI student Michael Huffstutler’s YouTube channel.

During the stream, Bennett lambasted university policies, administration and Journalism and Mass Media employees.

The full video can be found here. (Note, this video contains profanity)

“You are being placed on administrative leave because of your unprofessional conduct with myself and another university employee, specifically the actions of raising your voice and accosting a university employee, who was attempting to perform the functions of her job,” read the letter from Quinlan, according to what Bennett read in the live stream.

During the broadcast, Bennett called those behind the decision “F—king fascists,” in reference to the policy banning her from contacting JAMM students and employees.

In the letter, Quinlan said Bennett also repeated similar unprofessional behavior toward him during a Jan. 24 phone call.

During her administrative leave, Quinlan said Bennett will not be able to access her university accounts and was urged against appearing on campus. She will, however, receive full pay and benefits while on leave. Quinlan did not provide a timeline for her leave.

In addition to the letter, Quinlan included the official university policy regarding retaliation against employees and students. Despite this, Quinlan wrote the actions taken against Bennett were not disciplinary.

“It is a violation of University policy for any employee to engage in retaliatory conduct, which includes conduct that intimidates, threatens, coerces, or retaliates against any individual because that individual reports a perceived wrongdoing, inequity, or violation of law or UI policy, files a complaint alleging illegal or prohibited discrimination, participates in a grievance or appeals procedure, or participates in a dispute resolution through Human Resources or the Office of the Ombuds,” according to the UI Faculty Staff Handbook 3810.

Quinlan did not explicitly state if any specific complaints had been filed against Bennett.

An email from UI President Chuck Staben sent to faculty and staff that afternoon outlined a need to “keep our values in mind as we do important work.” The email was sent shortly after the conclusion of Bennett’s live stream.

“We recently have seen concerning behavior within our university community – perhaps it mirrors the tone of communication in our national discourse,” Staben wrote. “This is not behavior we condone at the University of Idaho.”

The president continued to explain the balance of an employee’s right to free speech and the right to a safe work environment.

“Behavior that endangers safety or that interferes with the working environment (i.e. belittling, insulting, yelling and other forms of aggression), no matter the context, is not protected speech,” he wrote.

 

Jan. 28 (Monday)

Benson and Davis, through their Facebook page, announced a planned sit-in, calling for Bennett’s leave to end. The silent protest was scheduled to take place in the CLASS offices from noon to 3 p.m.

Those backing Bennett also created reinstatedenise.com, with downloadable posters and Facebook frames available.

As the backlash grew online, no word was provided by the university of Bennett’s absence or potential substitute teachers. However, UI Director of Communications Jodi Walker said Bennett’s classes will continue, but did not know which JAMM faculty member would fill in until further notice.

 

Jan. 24 (Thursday)

Bennett was placed on administrative leave, after receiving a phone call from Quinlan, and again through subsequent text messages.

Backlash from the UI student body quickly ensued. UI students Ryan Benson and Emily Davis created the REINSTATE DENISE BENNETT Facebook page, which has garnered 207 members as of Feb. 1. A change.org petition aiming to reinstate Bennett, created by former UI student and employee Michael Huffstutler, accrued 1,025 signatures as of Feb. 1.

 

Jan. 22 (Tuesday), 10:05 p.m.

Bennett sent an email laced with expletives to UI administrators, Dean of College of Letters, Arts and Social Science Sean Quinlan and Journalism and Mass Media and faculty and staff, with the subject line “A MANIFESTO FROM A PROFESSOR WHO IS BEYOND FURIOUS.”

The full version of the email can be found here. (Note, this email contains profanity)

In the email, Bennett explained her frustration regarding around $450 unspent from a grant project that expired in December. Bennett provided the full email to The Argonaut.

In the email, she blasted the university for mishandling many different situations, including exiting the Western Athletic Conference and hiring Ernesto Bustamante, the eventual killer of UI student Katy Benoit.

“THE ADMINISTRATION HERE IS SUCH A JOKE I CANNOT FORCE MY SELF TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY ANY LONGER,” Bennett wrote in the email. “THE STATE BOARD IS F–KED, LOOK HOW MANY PRESIDENTS WE GO THROUGH. EDUCATION IS IDAHO IS RANKED 49 OUT OF 50 STATES, YOU THINK LEGISLATORS OR BOARDS GIVE A S–T?”

 

Nov. 4, 2018, 11:50 p.m.

Moscow police officers responded to a report of a domestic dispute involving University of Idaho professor Denise Bennett.

According to police records obtained by The Argonaut through a public records request, Bennett admitted to police she last used methamphetamine Nov. 3.

Bennett told police she was attempting to hide her husband’s guns in her car.

She and her husband, Bradley Janssen, denied the dispute had been physical, according to the report.

No criminal charges were pressed and the case was closed the night of Nov. 4.

 

To find all articles regarding this developing story, visit the links below — 

UPDATE: UI issues second Vandal Alert

Students protest to support Bennett

Students for Denise to speak at ASUI Senate

BREAKING: UI warns students of professor ‘barred from campus

 

Editor’s Note: As many Argonaut employees are students in the University of Idaho Journalism and Mass Media Department, no Argonaut employee who has previously worked with Denise Bennett, as part of their curriculum, has or will report on this developing story. It is our mission as a staff to report university and community news with fairness and transparency.