Photo by: Cory Lamz

After 50 years at DU, Arthur Gilbert, an associate professor of international studies, was barred from any interactions with students by Christopher Hill, the dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

Gilbert, who was officially suspended 20 days ago, is scheduled to meet with DU Human Resources regarding his alleged misconduct this afternoon.

Both Hill and Gilbert declined to comment on the reason for this unprecedented action by the university.

Gilbert, popular among students and known for the unusual approaches to teaching some of his courses, was nonetheless honored by two student organizations – the Korbellian Resistance, whose purpose is to promote diversity of thought in opposition to dominant societal politics, and the Queerbell Alliance, an LGBTQ students organization based out of Korbel – at a celebration in honor of his 50th anniversary as a teacher at DU last Wednesday, April 20.

The anniversary event was held at the space named for the professor, the Arthur N. Gilbert Cyber Café in Korbel. Gilbert also spoke at the event, delivering a speech entitled “19th Century Masculinity.” Dean Hill was in attendance.

After the speech, Gilbert declined to speak on the record regarding the disciplinary action the university has taken against him. Hill also declined to discuss the situation regarding Gilbert because of legal ramifications.

According to several students, Gilbert’s performance in class was investigated by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

The classes Gilbert was scheduled to teach at the undergraduate level were canceled indefinitely. Because Gilbert was ordered to cease all contact with students, his graduate level class, The Domestic and International Consequences of the Drug War, was scheduled to be taught for the remainder of the quarter by Dean Hill. The first class with Hill was scheduled for last Thursday.

Gilbert’s interterm classes, held in Costa Rica and Cuba, were also canceled.

Students can look up courses they would like to register for by professor via webCentral, but according to a review of the courses already available online for fall quarter 2012, Gilbert is not listed, as of yesterday.

Neither Gilbert nor Hill would say when legal or other action is scheduled or when the leave of absence will end.

“This was not a job, it was my passion,” said Gilbert in a reflection piece he wrote. “I would have taught you all for free.”

Several students came to Gilbert’s defense at the 50th anniversary celebration, however.

“There’s been larger issues at hand. Students have had trouble registering for the classes they want to register at Korbel,” said Mitch Chrismer, a graduate student who coordinated the 50th anniversary celebration with the student organizations. “It ties into Arthur Gilbert because he was, probably without question, the most popular professor here at Korbel. And the fact that students are already having trouble registering for the courses they want and then having Arthur being put on administrative leave on top of that compounds the problem. We’ve been trying to address this issue with the talk and it’s been largely ignored.”

A part of Gilbert’s popularity among students was that he addressed controversial contemporary issues in his courses, such as the use of drugs. He has taught such established DU alumna like Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state.

These are scanned images of Gilbert’s reflection, “Fifty Years of Teaching at DU,” which he distributed at the event last week celebrating his 50th year as a DU professor:

Have you ever had class with Gilbert? What do you think about what has happened to him? Let the Clarion know by commenting below.