‘All support to Dr. Baker’: Why PSU, local community continue to rally over professor facing termination


Josh Moyer
Fri, April 29, 2022

More than 75 Penn State students, faculty and community members staged a rally outside Old Main on Thursday afternoon in support of Oliver Baker, an assistant professor facing termination despite a court clearing him of all charges stemming from a scuffle with an anti-vaxx student.

Nearly a dozen organizations, ranging from the State College chapter of the NAACP to both student-based and faculty-based groups, have advocated for Baker’s return to the classroom. Three on-campus rallies have been held so far this calendar year. And members of Penn State’s faculty senate continue to ask questions — Why try to terminate him? Why has this gone on since August? — that the administration says it largely cannot answer because it’s a personnel matter.

The Chronicle of Higher Education shined a national spotlight on the case last month with a 6,000-word story. But little has changed since Baker was placed on paid administrative leave after the August 2021 incident — and anger and frustration among Baker’s supporters continue to mount.

“Every faculty member at Penn State at every campus should be alarmed, should be profoundly disturbed, by this case because it is every bit as outrageous as it looks,” said Michael Bérubé, a former chair of the faculty senate and a current member of several faculty-based organizations.

Questions about termination process

The controversy all stems from a faculty-organized pro-vaccine rally on the University Park campus Aug. 27. According to a criminal complaint, Baker was accused of trying to take the sign of a counter-protester — whom organizers characterized as “being physically aggressive toward peaceful attendees” — before pulling him to the ground and injuring him during the ensuing scuffle.

Two misdemeanor charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct were dropped in October after Baker’s lawyer described the counter-protester as having “antagonistic, menacing and aggressive behavior.” In November, Centre County District Judge Steven Lachman found Baker not guilty on his lone remaining charge, a summary count of harassment. But Penn State still opted to begin the preliminary termination proceedings, a move that rankled students and faculty alike.

“I am completely dumbfounded that this has dragged out for eight months,” said Rebecca Tarlau, an associate professor of education and a member of Coalition for a Just University. “We thought that the administration was waiting for the district attorney and local court to make the decision. But then Baker was exonerated on all charges several months ago. Why has the AC70 termination process not proceeded in a timely and transparent manner? Why are we heading into summer and there still has not been a hearing?”

Said the emcee of the event, a younger man who wore a dark face mask and did not reveal his identity: “Students, faculty and community members are united in their defense of Dr. Baker, their outrage over the administration’s corrupted mishandling of the AC70 dismissal procedure against this innocent professor and their commitment to have Dr. Baker immediately returned to his full university position.”

According to the university’s AC70 dismissal procedure, the Standing Joint Committee on Tenure — a jury of sorts — is supposed to convene within 60 days after the appropriate dean has referred the matter to the committee. The Chronicle of Higher Ed reported the College of the Liberal Arts dean told Baker on Jan. 10 that such a letter would be sent if Baker did not resign by Jan. 18. Baker refused.

Although the proceedings are largely veiled in secrecy — and the committee only provides a recommendation to the university president, who makes the final determination — it does not appear as if the committee has yet met.
Allegations and disruptions

The student group Students Against Sexist Violence (SASV), which primarily organized Thursday’s rally, saw several members burst into Tuesday’s faculty senate meeting, where they began loudly talking over speakers and demanding answers about the AC70 termination process. The hybrid meeting cut off audio so online listeners couldn’t hear what was going on, after the faculty chair began playing music on her phone in front of the microphone to drown out the group’s speech.

SASV passed around flyers explaining the issue — and some faculty senate members angrily asked one official at the meeting whether the allegation about the delayed process was true and, if it was, why that was the case.

Provost and executive vice president Nick Jones acknowledged that a member on the five-person committee had recused themselves. But he also alluded to language in the termination process that says a meeting shall occur within 60 days “if reasonably possible.”

“As you know, in our processes, things don’t always go according to script,” Jones said Tuesday. “And when that happens, we have to be flexible so that we can fairly represent the interests of all parties.”

Shortly after the outburst, university President Eric Barron released an open letter titled, “The importance of informed, respectful discourse.” Barron was not present at Tuesday’s faculty senate meeting and did not accept SASV’s invitation to speak at Thursday’s rally.

Students and faculty at the rally alleged that the university’s treatment of Baker came in retaliation for him advocating for a vaccine mandate, which the university had long opposed before the fall semester. Another speaker wondered aloud if the university was simply trying to run out the clock, making a decision over the summer when many of Baker’s supporters would not be on campus.

“We students will never know what happens during this AC70 process,” said one SASV organizer, who obscured her face with a gray neck gaiter and blue Dickies hat. “But we do know that if Dr. Baker can be fired based on disproven allegations while advocating for employee rights, then it seems that the retort of ‘shared governance’ is an illusion used to provide legal cover for retaliation against professors critical of administrative policy.”

Two oversized yellow banners, with large red text, were unfurled and held on both sides of the speakers’ podium that read, “Barron Listen To The People Don’t Fire Dr. Baker.” Before the rally, a large red banner was staked in the ground that read, “All support to Dr. Baker,” while scattered attendees held white placards with sayings such as, “No justice, no peace” and “Organize! Fight back!”
Groups, organizations band together

Thursday’s rally was contrasted by dozens of Penn State seniors posing for graduation photos near Old Main, so that students holding the large banners often had to side-step to allow women in white dresses and men in dress shirts to slide through.

“That’s what it should be about today, right?” asked Michelle Rodino-Colocino, president of the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “It should be about taking pictures and your graduation. ... I’m sad we have to meet like this; on the other hand, it’s really good to meet like this — the fact we have nine organizations representing students, representing faculty and representing community members.

“We are asking the administration to do the right thing.”

Last month’s rally featured a surprise march through downtown State College and culminated with entering Old Main. This time, the rally took a more subdued approach — although at least a half-dozen university police officers were stationed around Old Main. Two officers stood near the crowd, with assistant vice president for student affairs Danny Shaha situated behind the dozens in attendance.

The most tense moment of the rally came when a student speaker spotted Shaha and asked, from the podium, what he was doing there. “I’m just watching,” Shaha quipped, smiling. The student speaker later shouted, “We don’t appreciate you insulting our intelligence.”

Danny Shaha, assistant vice president of student rights & responsibilities at Penn State, reacts being booed Thursday during during a rally to protest the termination process for professor Oliver Baker.

SASV — whose members often shield their identities with sunglasses and face masks — primarily organized Thursday’s event, but eight other organizations also co-sponsored the 90-minute rally that featured more than 10 speakers. Those other groups included Alleghenies Abolition, American Association of University Professors (local chapter), Central Pennsylvania United, Centre County Democratic Socialists of America, Coalition for a Just University, Liberal Arts Collective at Penn State, NAACP (local chapter) and Schreyer Gender Equity Coalition.

Jennifer Black, of the local NAACP chapter, was one of the first to speak and helped set the tone Thursday.

“As the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, we know what it feels like to face persecution from powerful institutional forces,” she said. “We know what the guises of injustice look like. We know the tactics and tricks of the system. Let it be known today, and make no mistake about it: The State College chapter of NAACP knows which side we are on and where we stand. We stand with you, Dr. Baker.”

At the end of the rally, held on a sunny but chilly day on the last week before finals, the emcee shouted, “One last time: All support to Dr. Baker!” And, before dispersing, the crowd yelled back once more.

“All support to Dr. Baker!”