Princeton Lecturer Kills Himself In Manhattan Apartment After Getting Fired

Last week, Princeton University senior lecturer Antonio Calvo was found dead in his West 26th Street apartment. The NYC Medical Examiner's office determined that he died of self-inflicted stab wounds, and his friends are suggesting that he was devastated after the school refused to renew his contract in the Spanish department. A friend told the Post, "[The firing] came after a long campaign was launched against him by a group of graduate students and a lecturer from the department." And a student says that Calvo had been forced to leave the Friday prior to his April 12 death.

The friend, Marco Aponte, who had been a lecturer with Calvo in the department, also spoke to ABC News, "He was probably the most popular teacher in that department and one of the most popular lecturers at Princeton. All the students pretty much loved his classes, and he always got good grade evaluations. He was very devoted and worked morning to evening."

Calvo, who worked there for 10 years and was in charge of graduate students, was having his five-year contract renewal reviewed (the usual process at Princeton) but Aponte claims that some grad students unhappy about work conditions banded together, "This is nothing unusual coming from graduate students. For them, it's not a real job and they cancel more classes, which is unacceptable at Princeton, and they don't want classes at 9 in the morning." For a while, it seemed his job was safe, but then, Aponte says, a connected lecturer joined the anti-Calvo group, "[A major complaint was that] 'Antonio was from Spain and had a loud voice in meetings.'"

A student, senior Philip Rothaus, also described the odd circumstances around Calvo's dismissal to the Daily Princetonian and in an open letter; here are two points from his letter:

1. On Friday, April 8, a representative of the administration, essentially a security guard, entered Antonio’s office (without informing either him or anyone else in the department more than a few minutes beforehand), demanded his keys and told him to leave. He was not “on leave,” and certainly not for “personal” reasons,” as per Nassau Hall’s press release. This is a euphemism for their having cancelled his contract against the wishes of the department.
2. He was under a standard 5-year review, as a result of which the Department’s enthusiastic recommendation was to continue his contract. The reappointment committee, if they performed any sort of investigation whatsoever, never interviewed a single member of the department nor Antonio himself.

Without the job, Calvo could have been deported back to Spain because Princeton was sponsoring his visa. Another student said after a memorial, "I don’t think anyone is going to find closure until we have some kind of understanding. The fact that everyone’s experiences and impressions of Professor Calvo resonate with his being so happy and lively and funny — to think that there was something more going on internally is something that needs to be discussed."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 21, 2011 12:10 PM

Comments [rss]

Ray Laue

I worked for Princeton for 35 years and was fired for NO REASON. Just some asshole department administrator asserting his dominant male authority over me. I wasn't faculty. They have tenure to protect them.

Hack McHackneyed

LOL, yeah those snotty entitled grad students pulling down 15K-30K/year. Is there anyone free from their iron-fisted rule?

OvaltineJenkins

Maybe, just maybe this was a lesson in knife safety gone horribly wrong. We may never know.

Cris PeCo

This is something too sad to makes jokes/be sarcastic about. Your comment shows no respect at all...shame on you.

jza1218

Sounds like a hate crime to me

First Last

I doubt it was an issue of not being able to stand his home country, in the least. It was the principle. That he could all those rave reviews, but one or two whiners could cost him his job. He spent five years doing a great job, only to be canned. It's the injustice and unfairness that got to him, I'd bet.

How would you like it, if when you lost your job (and unfairly, at that) it meant you had to move, to another country? Pretty big penalty for a guy in his shoes. And the whole "sponsored green card" game is usually used to grip folks in this situation by the balls, to exploit them.

And though the grad students seem like the only villain in this story, don't forget that Uni's have been exploiting their labor for many years now, trying to squeeze the same, full-time 40+ hrs/week value out of them as an actual professor provides, but without paying them or offering benefits.

nomadnewyork

It sounds pretty effed up and sad.

I'm convinced that there is more to this story.

tiresius

Seems that not many facts are known. Lots of opinion, a little bit of innuendo, some knee jerk reaction from both sides, but few facts.
His contract was not going to be renewed. He took it badly. He took his life.
Princeton is not saying much, as an institution.
Some fans are voicing their opinions.
He's still dead, by his own hand.

Peanut_Butter

Self-stabbing? Brutal way to go.

You're reasonable and moderate. There's no place for you here.

Guest

Why was a post at Princeton more important than living?

Maybe when a community that he identified with so deeply showed no compassion, he couldn't show himself compassion.

RabbiLaFunque

Is that you Dr Drew?

Peanut_Butter

No dorky soundbite, so it's not Dr. Phil.

Peanut_Butter

¿Que paso?

winning1234

Those graduate students should be indicted on 15 counts like Dharun Ravi.

chuzzlewit

what if everybody clamoring for the truth finds out there was something else going on in his life?

Peanut_Butter

You mean we would have to withhold judgment?

Guest

i mean, it's ok to judge, but i do it all at once which often makes me look like a crazy guy.

...y'know, a soul's gotta fart. sometimes.

69GeorgeWBush69

We'll no one's to blame for his suicide but Mr. Calvo. But it's possible that whatever got him fired could tarnish his memory if it were publicly known,