Canadian Art Teacher Fired After Student Beheads Chicken

Butchering a chicken is art.

At least that seems to be the consensus of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) who recently filed a complaint against an art school, after they fired a teacher because a student beheaded a chicken during a school project.

Gordon Ferguson was dismissed from the Alberta College of Art and Design last week after 32 years when one of his students slit a chicken’s throat, plucked it and cleaned it in the school cafeteria in the name of performance art.

However, representatives from the CAUT say that Ferguson’s termination was unjust, due to their being no wrong committed, and they demand he be reinstated.

"It's just outrageous, in our view, that an art college would take action for a student expressing himself — in a manner that, while maybe contentious, was certainly not illegal — and would retaliate against the faculty member," said James Turk, executive director of CAUT.

The college released a statement immediately following the incident saying that they had launched a full investigation into the matter and that any students disturbed by the horrific event had been placed with school counselors.

Incidentally, the student was not reprimanded.

The CAUT says they have obtained legal counsel for Ferguson and if he does not get his job back, they will enter into arbitration.