The debate over whether two Emerson College professors were denied tenure due to their race has continued to shed light on the tenure process in schools, administrators said.
After being denied tenure in 2008, two black professors at Emerson filed complaints with the Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination, claiming the denial was based on race.
Emerson currently has three tenured professors of color, two of whom sued to gain professorship, according to Emerson’s student newspaper the Berkeley Beacon.
Roger House, one of the professors who filed complaints, said in an email that Emerson School of Communication Dean Janis Andersen recommended his tenure be denied on grounds of scholarship. Higher level administrators supported the decision, he said.
‘[Andersen’s] expectations seemed out of proportion for a teaching institution like Emerson College and in contrast to past practices,’ he said. ‘I was perplexed over striking differences in the Administration’s view of my work and the unanimous support of the faculty and chair.’
He said in the context of the college’s history, the denial of tenure seemed even more suspicious.
‘The experience of black professors [at Emerson] generally has been one of misfortune,’ he said. ‘Nearly everyone who came up for tenure suffered tragic consequences.
‘ ‘It led me to question whether this was simply a coincidence or an indication of an institutional resistance to the inclusion of black faculty,’ he said.
By comparison, the college ‘seemed to value’ the contributions and accomplishments of white faculty, he said.
Academic tenure is a permanent professorship free from periodic contract renewal or dismissal without fair reason granted to a faculty member after a review period, which typically is their sixth year.
Although Boston University, like Emerson, has a strict non-discrimination clause in its policies, discrimination is not expressly mentioned in the tenure handbook.
In 2006, the Council on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion was established in the BU Office of the Provost to explore new ways to foster faculty diversity.
BU African Presidential Archives and Research Center professor Charles Stith said despite BU’s proclaimed commitment to diversity, it is clear that it is lacking.
‘Unless you’re Ray Charles, you walk through this campus on any given day, you just don’t see a lot of people of color,’ he said.
Stith, also a former United States ambassador to Tanzania, said he deliberately maintains a diverse staff in his office.
‘I don’t get it when people tell me that [hiring minorities] is a struggle,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of people of color in this country. It’s not like we’ve got a shortage.’
David Rosen, special assistant to Emerson’s president, said tenure and diversity are separate entities. Because diversity is not mentioned in tenure procedures, there is no consideration given to candidates on the basis of their race, he said.
The professors were denied tenure based on standard policies, he said.
‘ ‘Complaints are frequently filed when tenure is denied,’ he said. ‘In this case, these two individuals are black, and there’s been a history, according to the Beacon, of African-Americans that have been denied tenure at Emerson. People draw conclusions from it, and whether those conclusions are accurate or not, I can’t say.’
BU spokesman Colin Riley said the issue of tenure at a large school such as BU is complex. Academic tenure here, among 17 schools and colleges, is ‘a little different’ than at a smaller school like Emerson, he said, but BU is aware of the possibility of discrimination.
‘It’s something that’s certainly well-known to the provost and people who look [at] tenure issues and people who are put on a tenure track and achieve tenure ultimately,’ he said.
