Students at the University of Colorado are organizing in support of longtime sociology professor Patti Adler, who they say was asked to retire at the end of this semester for a lecture she taught on prostitution.

Many students who attended her “Deviance in U.S. Society” lecture Thursday afternoon said Adler told the 500-person class that she wouldn’t be coming back after winter break. She said Thursday’s class was the last she’d ever teach at CU, but it wasn’t by choice.

Adler was traveling to Maui on Friday, according to her husband and University of Denver sociology professor Peter Adler.

CU officials said Patti Adler is still a tenured faculty member.

“Professor Adler is a tenured faculty member at CU-Boulder and, as long as she remains at the university, we expect that she’ll teach along with her other duties,” said CU spokesman Mark Miller.

Students: Adler was told skit on prostitution was offensive

Students in her class, however, tell a different story.

At Thursday’s 2 to 3 p.m. class inside the Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry auditorium, or “chem 140” as it’s called by students, Adler lectured for about 20 minutes before telling students she would not return in the spring.

Students said Adler then told the class that she was being forced into retirement because the administration thought her lecture on prostitution was inappropriate, degrading to women and offensive to some minority communities.

The prostitution lecture is given as a skit in which many of Adler’s teaching assistants dress up as various types of prostitutes. The teaching assistants portrayed prostitutes ranging from sex slaves to escorts, and described their lifestyles and what led them to become prostitutes.

Students said Adler told them the administration heard a complaint about the skit. On the day of the lecture, several people who did not appear to be students attended the skit and took lots of notes, students said.

Adler told her students she tried to negotiate with the administration about leaving the skit off the syllabus. Administrators allegedly told Adler that in the era of sex scandals at schools like Penn State University, they couldn’t let her keep teaching.

While informing the students about leaving the university, Adler teared up several times. At the end of the class, students gave her a standing ovation, and many waited after class to hug her.

“She did a hell of a job maintaining face and coming off more disappointed and sad than angry at what happened,” said sophomore Chad Henderson. “It was very tumultuous. She was clearly distraught and trying to hold it together as best as she could.”

Henderson said by its very nature the class deals with potentially offensive or provocative materials. Henderson said he wasn’t offended by any part of the class, including the skit.

Another student in the class this semester, freshman Karley Myers, said the comparison of Adler’s class to the Penn State scandal is “ridiculous.”

Students create petition, Facebook group to support Adler

Some students claimed that staff members from CU’s Office of Discrimination and Harassment attended the prostitution lecture, though university officials would not say either way.

“CU-Boulder cannot discuss personnel matters regarding any of its employees,” Miller said. “However, I can say that the university cannot force anyone to retire, especially a tenured faculty member. Professor Adler did present a skit in her Deviance in U.S. Society sociology class that did involve conversations about prostitution. The university cannot comment on the proceedings of the Office of Discrimination and Harassment even to confirm or deny if a complaint has been filed in a given case.”

After Adler’s Thursday afternoon class, news spread quickly across the Boulder campus. Some students created a “Help Patti Adler stay at CU” Facebook group, and many described their plans to write letters to administrators. By Friday evening, an online petition on the website Change.org was circulating in support of Adler.

Senior Caitlin McCluskey, who was an assistant for Adler’s sociology class, performed as a prostitute during the skit earlier this semester.

She said all assistants were given the option of participating, and no one was forced to act in the skit. McCluskey said she was tasked with portraying an “upper-class bar whore” and wore a dress she already owned as a costume.

“I never felt pressured in any way,” McCluskey said. “I never felt uncomfortable. (The skit) was one of the main reasons I wanted to be come an (assistant) in the first place. It seemed like a lot of fun.”

McCluskey said Adler told the assistants about her departure at a potluck Tuesday.

Adler came to CU in 1987 as an assistant professor, according to her curriculum vitae. She became an associate professor in 1993 and a full professor in 1999.

Several students said Adler told them she planned to retire in three or four years.

“I’m sure she’s traumatized by the incident because she has been teaching here since 1987, and she is one of the highest regarded professors in the department and in the world of sociology,” McCluskey said.

Adler has co-authored many books and articles with her husband. In 2010, the husband-wife pair was awarded the George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.

‘The university should stand behind their faculty members’

Boulder Faculty Assembly chairman Paul Chinowsky said he could not comment on Adler’s situation because it is a personnel matter. However, Chinowsky did say that there is a system in place to review the potential dismissal of tenured faculty members.

Chinowsky said a tenured faculty member has the opportunity for review at the department, college, campus and system level. He said faculty members cannot be dismissed without “significant review and consideration.”

“No tenured faculty can be forced out without appropriate and quite detailed review of the case at several governance levels,” he said. “Faculty understand that and most would tell you they believe the system operates appropriately.”

Freshman Sona Seligova, who was scheduled to be one of Adler’s assistants next semester, said Adler’s teaching style and passion for the subject has led her to consider adding a second major in sociology.

“Most professors that I have read off of lecture notes,” Seligova said. “They’re not really into associating with the students and integrating them into the class, and Patti is the complete opposite. It’s just so much more interesting when your professor actually cares.”

Many students said the administration’s alleged decision to oust Adler was an attempt to squash creativity among professors who teach in nontraditional ways or about provocative subjects.

Students recounted how Adler showed up in class in a bikini to illustrate deviance or dressed as a homeless person to make the same point.

“Patti is so unorthodox, which is what makes her such an important faculty member,” said Ciera Catalano. “It’s what makes all of her students remember her. She was goofy and she was fun and she made us like her, but she also taught us so much. The only reason she’s being targeted is because she’s so unorthodox and because she’s so provocative. The university should celebrate that. The university should stand behind their faculty members.”

Contact Staff Writer Sarah Kuta at 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta.