On July 5^th, the UWM AAUP chapter issued a statement regarding comments made by Dr. Betsy Schoeller on Facebook and the ensuing events surrounding those comments. The statement was subsequently removed because (a) it was inadvertently posted prior to being vetted by all members of the Executive Committee, contrary to normal procedures; and (b) in calling for sanctions against Dr. Schoeller, it went beyond the limited role the AAUP should have in such cases, which would be to ensure that established faculty governance procedures are followed in case formal grievance proceedings were initiated against her.

Chapter leadership acknowledges the poor decision in posting such a statement before it had been properly discussed and deliberated upon, and apologizes for this misstep and any grievance it may have caused Dr. Schoeller. We also emphasize that the retracted statement does not reflect this chapter’s view on how any controversy that might arise out of an instructor’s public utterances should be handled in future.