Vander Plaats says UI professor should be punished for email

IOWA CITY - Gov. Terry Branstad and Iowa's state Board of Regents should take action regarding a University of Iowa professor who emailed a profanity to a campus Republican group, Bob Vander Plaats said Monday during a visit to the UI campus.

Vander Plaats, who heads the conservative Iowa-based group The Family Leader, made the remarks before he introduced potential presidential contender Rick Santorum for a speech Monday morning.

“I have no idea why that professor's still on campus,” Vander Plaats said. “There needs to be a higher standard.”

In an incident that drew national attention, UI Professor Ellen Lewin in an April 18 email wrote “F- you, Republicans,” in response to a campus-wide message from a campus Republican group promoting “Conservative Coming Out Week.”

Vander Plaats on Monday called the Lewin email “no way to respond in an educational debate,” and he called upon Branstad and state regents to “make sure she no longer is on campus.”

When asked if Lewin had been disciplined, UI Spokesman Tom Moore on Monday said any information in an employee's personnel file is confidential except for name, title and position, salary and length of service. Moore on Monday said Lewin remains employed by the university.

UI student Natalie Ginty last week filed a formal complaint with the UI about Lewin's email.

Moore said officials in the UI Provost Office are working on responding to Ginty's complaint and are following due process procedures.