Sydney Sparkes Orr (6 December 1914 - 15 July 1966) was Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

and the centre of the "Orr case", a celebrated academic scandal of the 1950s. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

in 1914, Orr achieved a first-class-honours BA in Philosophy and received an MA with special commendation at Queen's University before commencing his teaching career at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

. In 1952 he was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the University of Tasmania, after falsifying his academic record in his application. In 1955 the University dismissed him for sexual relations with an undergraduate student. He denied the accusation but his appeals to the

Tasmanian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, an ...

and the

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were unsuccessful. Many academics believed Orr had been denied due process and his position was declared "black". Many also thought that Orr had been made a scapegoat due to his openly challenging the University authorities.E.g., Martin B
Knowledge and Power in Academia
'

Honi Soit ''Honi Soit'' is the student newspaper of the University of Sydney. First published in 1929, the newspaper is produced by an elected editorial team and a select group of reporters sourced from the university's populace. The name is an abbrevia ...

6 August 1991, p. 10 Orr died in 1966, shortly after reaching a monetary settlement with the university of .

References

Sources

*W. D. Joske
Orr, Sydney Sparkes (1914? - 1966)
', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, Melbourne University Press, 2000, pp 543–544. *W. H. C. Eddy (1961) ''Orr'', Jacaranda Publishers, Brisbane *John Polya and Robert Solomon (1996) ''Dreyfus in Australia'', Privately Published, Sydney, NSW. *Clyde Manwell and C. M. Ann Baker (1986) ''"Not Merely Malice": The University of Tasmania Versus Professor Orr,'' in Brian Martin, C. M. Ann Baker, Clyde Manwell and Cedric Pugh (eds.), ''Intellectual Suppression. Australian Case Histories, Analysis and Responses'', Angus and Robertson, North Ryde (NSW) pp. 39–49 *Cassandra Pybus (1994) ''Seduction and Consent: A Case of Gross Moral Turpitude'', Mandarin, Port Melbourne *J. Franklin (2003) ''Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia'',

Macleay Press Keith Windschuttle (born 1942) is an Australian historian and former board member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was editor of '' Quadrant'' from 2007 to 2015 when he became chair of the board and editor-in-chief. He was the pub ...

ch. 3
*

'(1957) 100 Commonwealth Law Reports 526

References

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Further reading