UNH ordered to reinstate suspended prof

University of New Hampshire English Professor J. Donald Silva, who was suspended from his post without pay for using sexual metaphors in a writing class, was back in the classroom Monday. His sections of expository writing and critical reading for students in UNH's Thompson School of Applied Sciences had smaller than normal enrollments, he said, because the fall term had been underway for two weeks. "I enjoyed [teaching again] very much," Silva said Monday night. "I was my usual professional self. I've been in the classroom almost 33 years, and this was nothing new to me -- I was not anxious one bit. "I'm going to be my warm, open and informal self that I think I've always been," he added. According to The New Hampshire, UNH's student newspaper, Silva's reinstatement came under orders from U.S. District Justice Shane Devine, a decision which Silva described as "almost a total victory for me and my case." Silva was originally suspended in April 1993. UNH Legal Counsel Ron Rodgers said in a statement released last week, though, that the judge had "granted summary judgement in favor of the University on most of Professor Silva's procedural due process claims and his entire substantive due process claim." Still, he called Devine's decision "disappointing." The case began when Silva told a class of 46 students -- 38 of whom were female -- that the focus necessary for effective writing was similar to the mental focus required for sexual intercourse. He also employed a simile -- which he says he has been using since 1972 -- comparing belly-dancing to "Jell-O on a plate with a vibrator under the plate." "[The judge] said in the ruling that both remarks were not of a sexual nature, these examples were inextricably woven in the lesson and with the teaching purpose," Silva said. Rodgers said UNH may now ask for reconsideration, seeking a stay on the preliminary injunction forcing UNH to take Silva back as a full tenured professor or appeal the decision. Silva's suspension was increased to 16 months from the original one year after he refused to seek psychiatric counseling mandated by UNH. "Coercive psychotherapy is against the guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association, and I also understand that any kind of counseling used as punishment is against the Bill of Rights," he said. Silva maintains that his classroom behavior did not constitute sexual harassment, since his remarks were directed at a group and not individuals. "They're well-meaning, but they don't know what sexual harassment is," he said. "I didn't say anything that discriminated against women or was sexually explicit."