Updated: Ludlow’s Spring Quarter class canceled

Joseph Diebold and Ciara McCarthy

Philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow will not teach during Spring Quarter, University spokesman Al Cubbage said Wednesday.

Ludlow was scheduled to teach a 200-level philosophy class called “Minds and Machines,” according to CAESAR, but Cubbage said the course has been cancelled. As of Wednesday afternoon, 12 students were registered to take the 48-person class. The students registered for the course will be allowed to enroll in another class, Cubbage said.

Students who have been protesting Ludlow’s continued employment by the University were informed of the decision in a meeting Wednesday with Dean of Students Todd Adams and Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for student affairs.

In a handout given to students at the meeting, officials highlighted the cancellation of Ludlow’s spring class as part of NU’s response to concerns raised over its handling of Title IX issues.

“In addition to what has already been done, the University intends to engage a qualified third party reviewer to audit our existing practices and procedures with a special focus on the University’s ‘climate’ on sexual misconduct to see what more can be done,” officials wrote in the handout.

A Medill junior filed a Title IX lawsuit against Northwestern on Feb. 10 alleging the University failed to provide adequate protections under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 after she reported Ludlow sexually assaulted her in February 2012.

(Student sues Northwestern, claiming University ignored sexual assault findings)

The student has also sued Ludlow under Illinois’ Gender Violence Act. Ludlow responded Friday to the lawsuit against him, denying he had sexually assaulted the student and calling NU’s subsequent investigation of the incident “flawed and one-sided.”

(Ludlow responds to Medill junior’s lawsuit, denies allegations)

Ludlow canceled his March 4 class after students planned a sit-in of the lecture. Cubbage confirmed the next day Ludlow would not be teaching for the rest of the quarter but said at the time his status for Spring Quarter was then unknown.

(Planned sit-in turns into protest of Northwestern’s sexual assault policies)

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the status of Spring Quarter registration. Registration remains open. The Daily regrets the error.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @JosephDiebold

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @mccarthy_ciara