MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY
What a mess. One thing not noted in the CHE article: Kevin Vallier and Brandon Warmke are both Arizona PhDs (and Arizona is, as readers will know, a strong program), so it's not exactly unusual for graduates to prefer graduates of their own programs. But that just scratches the surface of what seems a rather unhappy situation. I'll say a bit more tomorrow.
UPDATE: The more I learn about this, the less I want to try to say more about it. The CHE article says: "Though the investigator [brought in by the Ohio AG's office] did not find 'nefarious misconduct' or actions made in bad faith, she wrote that the rifts within the department ran deep and could at times be toxic." Others now claim that this investigator's report was also part of the "corruption," that it ignored evidence, and so on. It does seem the trouble in the department predated any money from the Koch Foundation, although this story will no doubt be taken as a cautionary note about accepting such money.
Since I'd rather not have to be deposed in a dispute that seems likely to end up in court (or be subpoenaed for IP information!), I will refer interested readers to the discussion being hosted at another philosophy blog (Daily Nous)--you might start here. Professor Christian Coons from Bowling Green participates in the discussion (he figures prominently in the article), and he is challenged by other commenters. I found the comment by Professor Molly Gardner (who had the good sense to decamp) particularly interesting.
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