"Quenette, 33, said she “absolutely” believes the decision was based on events of the past year rather than her performance alone."

Of course it was. If an employer wants you gone, they have a million ways to fire you. Does Obama lose his job for publicly using the same word? Oh wait, he has a civil service position....

Oh God when does it end. This is nuts. This is the only word in the dictionary (any dictionary) that will ruin your life if you say it aloud. If some whites don't say "the word" it will go away in common uses and only be known to black people (kinda like the masons). They use it daily; probably more than once but I'm guessing. It must be a great word if they call each other that with gusto and back slapping and not ruin their lives. I'm so tired. I personally hate the word and haven't used it since I was a kid. But, in the name of God, how can it be used to ruin someone like this poor woman, who will now forever be labeled racist for telling the truth. Maybe, as a communicator she should have said something like, "any derogatory, insulting, low, disgusting, stupid, racist, politically incorrect, six letter words" This is a communications class! Good communications involves using the correct word to convey the correct meaning. There's only one word, in this case, that accurately conveys the correct meaning I feel she intended. Take what I wrote earlier and see how many meanings you can put on what I wrote.. Anybody wanna bet I can't think of at least 100? This woman is a professional. Her class isn't.

Give it a break. 80% of our population don't even think of the word; 10% are black and are excused; 5% think it but don't say it unless they're alone or in a crowd of people who are like minded; 2% say it just because they hate; 2% don't say it, they just refer to it, and 1% say it by accident or in their sleep. (all my estimates ).

Not to be taken as racial but could anyone tell me the racial mix of the complaintants.

As a KU alum, I hope KU is not heading down the same path as Mizzou. Missouri has lost over 25% of its enrollment over the happenings there.

Best wishes to the young lady for her future. I am sure there is a good position for her in the academic world somewhere.

With all due respect Mr. Beyer, what side are you on? Wait, I know. You think everyone who criticizes Obama is a hater at best or a racist at worst. On the other hand, you believe that the students who filed the unsubstantiated complaint should be expelled. Boy, does that run the spectrum.

I have only one question. Has anyone had the guts to start a fund for Ms. Quenette and her family? Living in Arizona, it would be a little difficult for me to do so, but with guidance on how to do it, I would. However, if one is set up, I will gladly donate money to it.

Finally, I think I have a good question for Mr. Trump to ask the American people, "Aren't you tired of failure?" That could be as powerful as Ronald Reagan's "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?"

Obama is directly responsible for the conditions that have led to the rise of this liberal fascism, so Paul wake up and quit the propaganda. In classic liberal form, your new definition of "equal opportunity" is spread the misery equally, I guess. You are a liberal elite, who probably hasn't had a bright idea in 40 years. As low as your opinion of me is, mine of you is lower. There, we're even!

My offer regarding a fund for Ms. Quenette and her family still stands. Since I rescinded my pledge to the KU Endowment Association in our trust, I have some extra money to spend, and I couldn't think of a greater way to spend it. Absent a fund, I will locate Ms. Quenette myself and give my support directly.

There are not any African Americans anymore than there are Portugese Americans. If you were born in America, then you are American. I agree with Mr. Harlan Hobbs, this young lady got shafted by as someone else said, a bunch of whining "nothings" , that be my word, "nothings".. The very ones maybe that had no respect for the Chancellor. and where did that get them.

Ms. Quentte should realize the university did her a favor. She can now get hired someplace and utilize her education and get out of Lawrence which is a town going nowhere.

As for this Paul Beyer, I doubt he even exists, but hides under a fake name. If he is real, then show up at my office at McDs on 6th street.

Great what a little research can turn up. If you google the name "Andrea Quenette" you can reach a site entitled "Andrea Quenette Academic Freedom Fund" that to date has raised $7575 from 136 donors in 6 months. Not bad.

I hope that all people who believe in the freedom of speech and academic freedom will donate as I will in about 5 minutes.

Please access the site. The picture of her and her family is darling. Also, in all of this, I haven't once asked about her political persuasion, because I don't care. My guess is that she is fairly liberal or otherwise she probably wouldn't have been hired by KU in the first place. However, this is about principle and the abyss that our country is heading toward.

Do you have the guts to do so as well, Mr. Beyer?

Having taken the time now to read all of the posts, I tip my hat to all of you share at least some of my thoughts. Also, I do not categorize all liberals as hating free speech. My guess is that many liberals, if you were to ask them their position on individual issues, would honestly give answers that might question why they are liberals.

People like to postulate that the Republican Party has changed so much. However, I truly believe that the Democrat Party has changed even more. There appears to be no room any more for common sense in their party as the far left loons have taken over. Will be interesting to see how enthusiastically they support Hillary Clinton, who I thought was about as liberal as anyone until Obama and his crew came along.

I hope that you are right Thomas, regardless of what their motives might be.

To take this discussion to a more professional level (myself included), I was a regional Human Resources/Employee Relations Director for the largest telecommunications company when I retired. A major element of my career was working in Labor Relations as the company's representative in the last step of the employee grievance system. My counterparts on the other side were the regional Union Staff Representatives.

They were all professional, as I tried to be. We were ofgten perceived by outsiders to be adversaries; yet I didn't look at it that way. My philosophy was to try to resolve the differences where we could (which wasn't often) and respectfully disagree when we couldn't. Maybe I have lost a little of that patience as I have gotten older, but I guess that's the way it is.

One thing that I intentionally focused more attention on was termination grievances, because many arbitrators have called termination the employment equivalent of "capital punishment". I agree that this is a ludicrous analogy, but it is not my analogy but the analogy used by many who made the final decision in arbitration.

Termination is a mark on anyone's record which may or may not be explained sufficiently to a prospective employer. However, although the number of these cases was small in comparison to the hundreds of grievances I heard, I always took the cases seriously and can honestly say that my most rewarding experiences were those in which I could convince the Company that the person had been wrongly terminated, and the person got reinstated with benefits and most, if not all, pay restored.

I will admit that this didn't happen a lot. However, I will always cherish those instances where it did. I also took some comfort in the fact that very few cases ended up in arbitration because the Union recognized that the employee had committed sufficiently egregious act(s) to warrant termination. Finally, I had only one termination grievance decision that was overturned by an arbitrator.

In short, Ms. Quenette's behavior was not worthy of termination and would undoubtedly be overturned by an arbitrator unless KU can back up their statement that there is strong evidence of long poor overall performance. I doubt seriously that they can do this, and I suspect that their reasons are a pretext for the real reasons.

Finally, I am confident that things will eventually work out well for Ms. Quenette and her family. However, my biggest disappointment is with the KU administration. They no longer represent my values, so I have reluctantly severed all financial ties with them since this incident first occurred. As I told them, this was just the final straw on a pile that had been growing for some time.

Let me clarify a misconception from the beginning. Andrea did nothing to bring attention to this incident until after an open letter was published and a comprehensive Twitter campaign launched by the students. This was supposed to be a closed, confidential process. It was only after these efforts that the LJ World contacted Andrea and the media attention grew.

All we ever wanted to do when we hauled our family halfway across the country (neither of us is native to Kansas) was to live a quiet, happy, anonymous life in a sleepy college town. I've been playing defense for 6 months in the media.

My deepest sympathies to both Thomas and you, Scott. Best wishes to both of you.

I realize this has been a very painful experience for both of you and your families. I wish that there was more that I could do to help you. Any suggestions?

Scott, I lived in North Dakota back in 5th and 6th grades and through junior high. Also, I met my wife 37 years ago when she was living in a little town in northern Iowa, St. Ansgar, a few miles south of the Minnesota line.

Other than the years in North Dakota, I lived my entire life in Kansas before retiring to Tucson. I have always been impressed by how the hardy people of the northern plains were hard working, good solid people, with a wonderful values system. At least it was true in those days, and I doubt that it has changed much.

My only advice to you is to keep that job in KC and for Andrea not to give up on teaching. Not only is she obviously highly qualified for it, but it appears to be her passion.

On the other hand, if a change is necessary, I would advise her to investigate opportunities with companies using her data scientist background. I believe that she has a highly marketable skill there.

One quick example. My great nephew just graduated from Texas A&M with a Business degree and a major in "supply chain management". This area is highly data intensive, and he just got his first job as a Financial Analyst for a law firm in Houston.

You might ask, "What is the world would a law firm do with a financial analyst?" Frankly, I'm not sure, but the point is that people with data scientist experience are needed in practically all areas of the private sector.

Finally, the LJW limits a post to 3000 characters, so I may be reaching the limit. Therefore, I want to give you a cell phone number that I only use in emergencies. I usually don't even carry it with me. If you feel inclined, I would ask you to call the number and leave a message. I will check for messages and call you back. Don't be surprised if it takes me a day or two to call because I don't check the phone every day. The number if (520) 488-0350. If I get a few crank calls, that's "ok". I know where the delete button is.

Good luck and best wishes to all of you.

Hmmmmmmmmmm a questionable call I say.

Obviously some students on campus need to learn more about what is racist and what is not.

Am sure the Lenny Bruce reference is a good one given my interpretation of your many past posts, with which I have almost always agreed. Would love to know the story about Lenny. I know the name, but not so much the history.

I know that he was a big "free speech" advocate and a profane comedian who I'm sure used the "n" word, as well as many other so called vulgar words, in his routines. Am I right?

Also, he clearly wasn't a conservative, so the liberal elites must have adored him.

If Renee Patrick had bent over backwards any further to make her point she'd be in a wheelchair.

There was no pattern of behavior alleged and several of the students who complained were not even present.

As for those other words, what if during a seminar on comedy in America, a professor referred to George Carlin's "seven words you can't say on TV." Should that professor be terminated?

I'm so tired of the PC word games. When you see N-word or F-word do you think noodle or flag? There are times when those words might be perfectly appropriate, Like in a graduate communications class discussion about racial tensions on college campuses.

Besides, as Mark Twain said, "Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer."

Some people need to grow f-ing up.

Mr. Turner, I do not dispute your sincerity nor your description of how things are in the academic world. You stated your position very well.

Your first sentence says it all when you say that having a spotless record is not enough. There lies the problem. Perhaps that is the case, but I would challenge you to identify any other of area of society where that is the case.

In the business world, you must distinguish yourself to advance, mostly because there is considerable competition for advancement. Yet, if you don't sufficiently distinguish yourself for advancement, that doesn't mean you lose your job. Businesses are better off having people grow to their highest level of competence, rather than invoke the "Peter Principle" where they are promoted to their level of incompetence.

I can use my own life as an example. I advanced to the second level of management at my company and was a strong candidate for the third level, if everything my superiors told me was correct. However, I never got there. Was it due to strenuous competition? Was it due to a lack of openings? Did the openings not particularly match my skill set? Who knows.

Nevertheless, I was never bitter about it, and although I was offered a third level position after I announced my retirement plans, those plans had progressed too far in my mind to change them. I have never regretted that decision, and I still hold the company in the highest esteem.

If KU is going to say that Ms. Quenette did not sufficiently meet the expectations that you say are required, can they assure everyone that every professor retained by KU has met those expectations? If they can prove it, then I will cut them a little slack. However, if they can't , then their stated position regarding her is simply a pretext for the real reason.

I'm rapidly running out of space for a post, so just one other thing. The inherent problem is that many liberal elites, especially those in academia, are basically arrogant snobs. They look down on common people and think that they are somehow inferior.

One visual example is that I cannot pick up a copy of the KU Alumni Magazine without seeing at least one picture of a gala event honoring something or someone. They all are "black tie" events, like in a country club setting. The only problem is that, in this country club, it is highly taxpayer supported. There seems to be no effort to control costs, which is the hallmark of most liberal pursuits in government which are good at spending other peoples' money.

Lastly, I have had to the great honor of corresponding with the Quenette family by e-mail. I will support them as best I can. I have profound faith that their lives will return to normal and that and they will be very successful. At least, that is my prayer.