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."