Sen. Jeff Smith won’t teach at WashU this fall
State Sen. Jeff Smith
Update: Sen. Jeff Smith would have taught a new interdisciplinary class this fall at Washington University called “Topics in American Culture Studies: Contemporary Issues in St. Louis Politics, Culture and Society” with a focus on urban education. He designed the course.
Smith, a Democrat, was a part-time lecturer in political science for the university and last taught (in the fall of 2008) a class on campaigns and elections.
The school said in a statement this afternoon that Smith asked on Thursday (August 13) to be relieved of his teaching duties this fall, so the class was canceled.
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Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton told me this morning that Sen. Jeff Smith has withdrawn from his teaching commitments at the university this semester.
Smith teaches in the university’s political science department. The last time I checked, he was an adjunct professor. Smith also received his doctorate in political science from WashU.
I’m checking with the school to see what classes Smith was scheduled to teach this fall.
The Post-Dispatch has reported that Smith is considering resigning his Senate seat in the midst of a federal investigation.
Wrighton met with the Post-Dispatch’s editorial board this morning. He added that he has not spoken to spoken to Smith himself.
Check back later for more details.
Kavita Kumar covers higher education for the Post-Dispatch. 
Why is it that the POST keeps reporting on the Jeff Smith portion of the federal investigation, but not on the candidate Joan Barry angle (she was just as involved as Smith in the distribution of the flyer according to earlier POST reports)?. And why hasn’t anyone brought this flyer forward to let us see what was so horrible about it that a State Senator considers resigning over it? How about some legitimate investigative reporting here? Or should I just click over to the Beacon permanently?
Red Leader,
It is not the crime but the cover up. Always is. Smith is in trouble for lying to the FBI. It is why Martha Stewart went to prison.
Smith taught Political Campaigns. I think Wash U should get the other Smith from that campaign to teach a follow up course - Political Campaigns: Staying out of jail. He could start by saying, “I always knew Jeff would be a two term senator; I just didn’t know one of the terms would be a prison term.” Students love humor.
Does Wal-Mart purchase anything manufactured by the Missouri Department of Corrections
… because if they do we’re gonna’ want to remember this picture
As always needs to be noted with the P-D: LET’S PLAY NAME THE PARTY! Of which party is the corrupt senator a member? Hint: there’s a reason why the Post refuses to mention it anywhere in this story.
OR…we could play the Fox (faux) News game and keep putting the wrong party designation on our captions when they get in trouble, always a (D) when it should have been a (R)…big surprise from such a slanted news source.
You are correct Red, we might as well read the Beacon, Jo is all over this story with more insight….it really hinges on the turncoat (Skip) who is fingerpointing to shave a couple years/months off a Federal sentence; sadly the flyer, of which I did see when it was originally distributed was not slanderous, it was pretty spot-on, but you have to tell the FBI if they ask you did you know anything about the flyer. I think Smith should stay aboard, he can do more good for the State than others who committed cover-ups did (Blunt/Kinder)
That’s too bad. While he may be a corrupt politician, he was a great teacher.
It was not the flier! It was the postcard! The flier was distributed at the joint press conference. While Barry was a fool to get involved in any of this, she has never been implicated in the postcard farce that was traced to Ohlsen and now Brown and Smith.
OR…we could say, “Mmmm.. That’s a good point — why does our St. Louis Post-Dispatch
routinely omit of which party the corrupt politician is a member?”
If I were a parent living on Long Island, paying $40k a year to send Junior to Wash U., I think I would have to wonder why the school, which has an international student body would have a course entitled,”Topics in American Culture Studies: Contemporary Issues in St. Louis Politics, Culture and Society” Is this really a course or is it an opportunity for liberal teachers to organize kids to help in their pet projects? I don’t know, I am just asking. It seems to me that St. Louis politics, unless you are teaching kids how to get dead people to vote, is a pretty limited subject. Or, is this something that colleges do to help augment the compensation of politicians? I remember Jim Talent was taeching there a while ago.