Students expressed shock last week when a popular history professor suddenly was dismissed. Then many expressed disbelief after they discovered an audio-enhanced website where he spoke out against Jews and blacks, including FDU basketball players.
"He was my favorite professor," said one student. "I can't believe it is the same man."
In fact, Jacques Pluss, an adjunct professor at the Metropolitan Campus, openly discussed his March 21 dismissal from Fairleigh Dickinson in a 44-minute interview on a website of the National Socialist Movement designed with swastikas and a picture of Adolf Hitler.
Pluss said he was "removed" from his classroom duties when he received a brief phone call at 5:30 p.m. from the department chairman who, he said, told him he was being released "for the convenience of the university" the following day. "I was stolen away in the night," he said. Pluss reported that he will be paid his salary through the end of this semester. He also said he will retire from "the academic world" and devote himself to the cause of the White Aryan Race Nation.
The professor speculated that he was dismissed because of his work with the National Socialist Movement on the internet, adding that the university "followed the typical Jewish, lawyerly, Hebrew line." He suggested that a "watchdog group" may have alerted FDU about his activities beyond the classroom.
During one segment of the conversation, Pluss said the university did not want adverse publicity while its Division 1 basketball team was in the NCAA playoffs. He said the players are "n--- to the core" and "sit in the back of my class with CDs and earphones" listening to "ghastly rap music."
Earlier in the same broadcast, Pluss referred to the "browning of America" and called FDU a "heavily Judaized institution" with a large minority student population. He said those students are "floating their way through school on taxpayer dollars," adding that it (FDU) is "not just browned, but singed." He also discussed attending a recent "gathering" of the White Aryan Race Nation in South Carolina, commenting that he had been gratified by the turnout.
Talking about his sudden dismissal, Pluss said it was "a terrible thing to do for students" who will have to deal with "a new teaching style, a new course outline and exams." He said he learned that "half of the class did try to speak with the department chairman" about his departure, but "were told to leave the building."
Pluss also said he "was not teaching any particular ideology" in his classes because of his training, specifically at the University of Chicago where he earned a Ph.D.
The audio broadcast apparently was posted on Tuesday, March 22, the day after Pluss was dismissed. Within 24 hours, word had spread among students, especially residents, that his views could be heard by conducting a Google search using his name.
"I feel that the college did what was necessary to protect its students from any type of emotional danger or law suits that could have come up because of him belonging to the National Socialist Movement," said junior Ameniki Omotola, an international student from Trinidad. "Dr. Pluss never appeared to be a person who supported white supremacy. In fact, this really shocked me when I saw his name on the website. His classes were entertaining, and I could say I learned a lot."
Sophomore Charles White said Pluss was one of his favorite teachers during his freshman year. "Pluss never came off to me in class as a man who supported white supremacy," he said. "He was one of my favorite teachers and I talked highly of him. I really liked him, and now I'm ashamed I ever did. I feel the school did the right thing in firing him."
Senior Christopher Langford said he was shocked and disappointed when he found out about Dr. Pluss. "I had no idea that he was an alleged racist," he said. "Now that I think about it, Dr. Pluss seemed to have a morbid fascination with Hitler and Nazism. But he never once taught propaganda or expressed his views in class. He came off as being liberal in his thinking. An incident arose in class about racism, and he appeared to be very anti-racist."
Meanwhile, the Equinox received a press release from the National Socialist Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minn.; it was dated March 23 and emailed by Jacques Pluss.
The release stated: "The NSM officially condemns Fairleigh Dickinson University for engaging in acts of left-wing McCarthyism. This past Monday, Professor Jacque Pluss was removed from his teaching position apparently for no other reason than being a member of NSM. It is against every concept of the Constitution and the principles of our republic and an act of sheer stupidity for the powers that be to force anyone to leave job [sic] simply because of his/her legal political affiliations. If American universities truly stand for the market place of ideas, and of freedom of expression, then we must protect all, including Professor Jacques Pluss . . . We at the NSM also realize that the Constitution is best protected in a free marketplace of ideas rather than by school officials that may be controlled by political correctness and Jews."
However, the university administration gave quite a different reason for the dismissal. "He was released for the official reason of (having) six absences and not making them up," said Dean of University College John Snyder. "As a professor, he did not meet that requirement."
Snyder responded to the professor's claim that he was released for the "convenience" of the university. "It's the Universities responsibility to take care of its students and the academics of the students," Snyder said.
Pluss was replaced in the classroom by Prof. Michelle Hartman. According to Snyder, she reported that students were upset and asking many questions. "Students were really upset because they didn't ever get anything that indicated he was basically a hate monger," said Snyder. "The term they used was 'betrayal.' They felt betrayed for the most part."
"We don't do FBI-style security checks for adjunct professors for the reason that we have an incredible number of adjunct professors," Snyder continued. "Also, when reviewing background information, you can never obtain information from previous employers on why they (former employees) were released or let go. They never disclose reasons for leaving." He said the University discovered the professor's Nazi associations after he had left his position.
Snyder said that, when the department decided to dismiss him, nobody knew his whereabouts. After the University discovered his outside activities, research showed that he was making Nazi statements. "I don't really know what the initial resource was for getting to the website - I don't know how students found out," said Snyder.
Attempts by the Equinox to reach Faramarz Fatemi, director of the School of History, Political and International Studies, who informed the professor of his release, were unsuccessful.
Freshman Tiara Johnson felt that Pluss never came off as a white supremacist. "I would have never guessed it in a million years," she said. "I just don't understand how he could smile in our faces and have long conversations with black students [in class], but carry so much hatred for us deep down inside. One thing I noticed was that he missed about five or six classes this semester, but never told us where or why he was gone."
Sophomore Marc Eichler said that, when he heard that Dr. Pluss was a member of the National Socialist Movement, he nearly fell out his chair. "I'm Jewish, but the guy never had anything against me -in fact, he gave me an A," he said. "He never came off as being a racist. I would discuss issues regarding my religion in class, and he never said anything."
Senior Allison Baretz said that a professor does not belong at FDU teaching issues such as the Holocaust when he himself believes in it. "During class he never really came off as a man who supported white supremacy, but after knowing his actions and thinking back, there were some signs," she said. "He talked a lot about religion. He did not want to teach the Holocaust for more than one class (an hour and a half). And he asked us to write a journal as if we were in the shoes of a German soldier during the Holocaust, asking us how we would react. For our mid-term, he gave us a question of comparing and contrasting the Holocaust and the rise of Nazi Germany to modern-day terrorism. I have this reaction because I am Jewish, and to have a 'Nazi' teacher does not go over well. I am extremely relieved that the school made this decision to fire Dr. Pluss and did not disregard it and let him stay."
"He was one of my favorite teachers," Langford said. "I even wanted to nominate him as Faculty Member of the Year for the SGA Gala."