This is one of those stories where there are so many wrong things going on it’s hard to know where to begin.

Betsy Hammond of Oregon Live reported.

Student lawsuit says Portland State professor’s fixation on her porn modeling derailed her education

A former Portland State University student who worked as a pornographic bondage model is seeking more than $1 million in damages from PSU, asserting that an English professor’s intense interest in the student’s sex work derailed her academically and made her physically ill.

Whitney “Theda” Orlando alleges in her federal lawsuit that professor Marcia Klotz fixated on her sexual history and bondage work, and used her influence over Orlando’s college opportunities to coerce her to provide sex-related material.

The case highlights the challenge university officials can face in drawing a line between a faculty member’s legitimate academic engagement with sexually tinged topics – the professor taught a class on “The Erotics of Power” and wrote a paper titled “It’s Not Really Porn” – from sexual matters inappropriate to discuss with a student.

Nationally, at least three professors, including one at the University of Colorado, have been disciplined in recent years for the way they discussed masturbation, pornography or prostitution in class. Fellow professors and champions of academic freedom decried the sanctions as snuffing out legitimate and protected exploration of edgy ideas in higher education.


 
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