A black professor of the University of Tennessee is going public about a decision made not to grant him a promotion and tenure within the Department of History.
George White, Jr., assistant professor of history, claims that Todd Diacon, head of the Department of History, was racially biased in his decision to not support his application for promotion and tenure at UT.
Diacon has stated that he did not support promotion for the Harvard graduate because of questions about the quality of Rowan and Littlefield Publishing Group, whom White worked with on writing Holding the Line: Race, Racism, and American Foreign Policy Toward Africa, 1953–1961.
The attacks on my candidacy for tenure and promotion appear to be personal and motivated by factors other then the quality of my work and the evidence presented to the faculty. George WhiteWhite is currently challenging this decision and claims that it was racial hostility – not the quality of his work – that will force him to leave the university.
In a letter to the UTK NAACP student organization, White petitioned for support of his appeal.
"The attacks on my candidacy for tenure and promotion appear to be personal and motivated by factors other then the quality of my work and the evidence presented to the faculty," he wrote. "A vocal minority has been able to hijack the process and suppress a race-based scholarship written from a point of view they disagree with."
The controversy started in November 2005, when the Department of History's Tenure and Promotion Committee recommended that White's be granted tenure and a promotion. On November 15, 2005, the faculty committee of the Department of History voted 11–3 in favor of granting White his tenure and promotion.
In February, 2006, White's application was reviewed by the College of Arts and Sciences' Promotion and Tenure Committee. In an unusual move, Jeff Norrell, a history professor holding the Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence, wrote a letter to the committee members explaining why he, as a member of the faculty committee, voted against granting White tenure and promotion.
Norrell appeared to question the quality of White's publisher and even went as far to claim that White's teaching ability was not as strong as indicated by peer reviews and student evaluations.
The committee voted 5–4, with one abstention, to grant White's tenure and promotion.
In March, 2006, Bruce Bursten, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, disagreed with the votes of the faculty and recommended against tenure and promotion. Then in May, 2006, Chancellor Loren Crabtree agreed with Bursten's assessment and decided against granting White's application for tenure and promotion.
White appeals
After learning of the Chancellor's decision, White began his appeal. Diacon denied the appeal, stating that his conclusion was not based on the professor's current claim of racial hostility within the department but instead based upon negative reviews of White's book and allegations of White's writings, that he claimed were original, were actually borrowed from previous work he had done.
A professor at Ohio State University, who was asked to review White's application, declared White's book "a work of sloppiness," and raised questions of the lack of a deeper historiography and signs of a weak bibliography.
According to the book's description on Amazon.com White focused on the Eisenhower administration's confrontation with Africa and how it demonstrated the significance of race in the creation and execution of American foreign policy. The description goes on to say that White "explored the ways in which Eisenhower diplomacy, influenced by America's racialized fantasies, fears, and desires, turned the Cold War into a global sanctuary for the rehabilitation of Whiteness."
Diacon also stated in his report that he agrees that White is a compelling professor but said the department head could not move past the questions of quality surrounding White's written work.
"His book alone, in my professional opinion, does not meet the standards for research and excellence in our department," Diacon said.
NAACP help
White, upset by this assessment, has now enlisted the help of Student Government Senator Jonathan Reid, who is also the president of the UTK NAACP on campus.
"He is going through a battle, and there is a war to be won," Reid told UTK NAACP student members at a recent meeting. "This is not just a black issue, this is a campus issue."
His book alone, in my professional opinion, does not meet the standards for research and excellence in our department. Todd Diacon The appeal process will take time, according to Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Robert Holub, who said that the University is doing what it can in diversifying its faculty.
In the last 10 years a total of 371 applications for tenure of white faculty have been reviewed, 60 from minority candidates and only 14 from black candidates.
Holub added that the reason why the numbers are low is that "there is a small pool to pull from, with lots of competition."
Diacon was promoted at the beginning of the year to the position of Vice Provost for Academic Operations and now has authority over programs and initiatives relating to undergraduate education.
Recently, Dean Bursten held an open session with students at the Black Cultural Center to go over any questions about the School of Arts and Sciences. As Bursten addressed students concerns over the School of Arts and Sciences the Student Government Association was debating in another meeting at the same time about a bill that would make the Student Senate a watchdog over administrators' hiring practices. The SGA voted in favor of the bill, which will now call for an annual report to be sent to the Student Senate about the Universities efforts in recruiting – and retaining – minority faculty.
On Feb. 1 the Black Faculty and Staff Association will hold a press conference at the University Center to support White's appeal. UTK NAACP members have said they are in favor of a demonstration to educate the student body about the professor and his cause.
Comments
Jake commented, on February 12, 2007 at 2:36 p.m.:
This situation is disheartening. It seems all occuapational level in the private and public sector succumb to the subject of race. We see the examples through the media everyday. Does every single sector of occupational life require racial diversity? Is racial diversity superior to established first rate portfolio? Does the attention to skin color fog the lenses from seeing black and white or does it make it lucid?
In regards to Mr. White's case; where is the proof of racism? If there is evidence none has been presented by the accuser or the media. Is there a history of racism of the accused? This weapon of retaliation holds no merit without proof. Yet time and again this weapon possesses an air of constriction. Once it targets its victim there is no relinquishing it grip with no regard to its legitimacy.
Its a shame that a warranted offense, discrimintation will eventually lose its validity from abuse and misuse by the minority community.
Maybe there is a solution to this nationwide epidemic? Could not all boards and figures in a hiring process review a prospective hiree's portfolio and resume without knowing his racial ethnicity? Or better yet we could place black people in every position requiring hiring or promoting so we could finally negate the racially motivativated disenfranchisement of the black community in America.
--Looking from the outside in.
Alum commented, on February 12, 2007 at 6:31 p.m.:
The accusations are completely bogus. His publisher is not held in high academic regard, and his teaching is more of a rant-style than polished presentation.
Norrell (as well as the dept. head), simply believes he is not ready for promotion. Since Dr. White is popular among many of his colleagues, and especially his students, Norrell's move appeared (to White) to be personal in nature. Since White was unable to formulate any respectable claim, he fell back to ol faithful...racism.
He is an amateur in the company of professionals. Compare his resume in the historical community to Norrell's and others in the dept., and you will see why some of his peers were leary of granting tenure.
All the feel-good liberals of the dept. are up in arms. Once again, a perfect example of how lefties often forget the value of substance and over-inflate the worthiness of warm-fuzziness.
Student commented, on February 13, 2007 at 8:01 p.m.:
I am a graduate student at the University of Tennesee, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a National Merit Scholar. I graduated from undergrad with a 3.9. I have taken Dr. White's class. For the information of those people who have been griping about the "race card", I am white and conservative. I am also outraged at accusations about Dr. White's teaching ability.
He is dedicated both to the craft of history and to the teaching profession. Dr. White's lectures are thoughtful and lucid, and he encourages his students to express their opinions and think freely. He has the utmost respect for his students and their opinions. I found that Dr. White offers a very insightful perspective in his lectures, carefully illuminating complex historical topics and processes. Furthermore, he has a masterful grasp of historical and social science theory, and he does an excellent job of explaining complicated material in a clear way that undergraduates can easily grasp. He is one of the best and most objective professional educators I have encountered in my long academic career.
It is very difficult for me to believe that any non-biased person could find anything terribly wrong with his teaching. I have found him to be of the highest caliber, without a doubt.
Student commented, on February 14, 2007 at 9:38 p.m.:
I am 100% certain that Jake and the Alum see no racial discrimination in this nation nor this world. Probably, they see this wonderful nation as merely pure in the view of racism and discrimination.
But instead of asking yourself why should Dr. White get tenure. You might want to ask why not give Dr. White tenure. I mean I see no reason why not to. He has been at this institution of "higher" learning for a long time, over the span of four chancellors.
If the question "why not tenure should be given to Dr. White?" is not answered, there should be no reason not to give him tenure.
realist commented, on February 22, 2007 at 10:22 a.m.:
If the History Department were hostile towards him, why would Dr. White (or any person of color) want to work there? It seems that UT administrators have nothing to lose by granting tenure to Dr. White because the environment within the History Department is already poisoned towards him, so his colleagues will marginalize him . . . not a pleasant way to spend a career.
On the other hand, by acknowledging the reality that the History Department will never accept Dr. White, why not make him a monetary offer to go elsewhere?
How could Dr. White refuse a substantial financial settlement when it is clearly not worth fighting a losing battle to change UT’s institutionalized racist policies?
One last thought: I believe the reason UT administrators are so scared of this issue is not simply because they're hiding something. I honestly believe this issue takes precedence over pay-raises and other employee issues because the chancellor, president and other out-of-state hired guns and professional higher education-types can handle being labeled scrooges (some universities even look for scrooges in their job searches). What they cannot handle is the label of racist, a truly radioactive identification.
nimby? commented, on February 26, 2007 at 3:50 p.m.:
It's not just UT or the south; racism is pervasive in higher ed.
A biologist at MIT began a hunger strike this morning to protest the decision two years ago to deny him tenure, which he says was due to racial discrimination.
James Sherley, who is African American, plans to forgo food and sit outside the MIT provost’s office every morning until the administration grants him tenure and addresses what he and a group of supporters call long-term, entrenched racism at MIT and other research institutes. He is also demanding the resignation of the provost, Rafael Reif, whom Sherley accuses of mishandling the review of his tenure case. About 30 people joined him in this morning’s protest.
James Sherley
”This isn’t about me getting tenure at MIT, it’s about why I didn’t get tenure at MIT,” Sherley said. ”My situation isn’t unique. How can we have well-trained people and so few tenured?”
Chi-Sang Poon, a research scientist with the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology who was at the protest, said, “This is about a problem that has been plaguing this institute for all of its history. Practically everything James has been through I have been through.”
Sherley and Poon listed inadequate laboratory space, problems getting promoted, and conflicts of interest among faculty making departmental decisions as issues at MIT that are influenced by race.
An ad hoc group of Sherley supporters, including Noam Chomsky and others mainly from MIT’s social science and humanities departments, circulated a statement Monday in support of Sherley.
The MIT administration says it stands by the decision to not grant tenure but isn’t ruling out negotiating with Sherley.
In response to Sherley’s case, MIT announced last week that it plans to form a committee to conduct a study of the impact of race on faculty at the institute. A few committees exist at MIT that focus on diversity issues but they have not conducted a study of minority faculty.
Ceasar McDowell, professor of community development at MIT, said that underrepresented minority faculty have for years been calling for a comprehensive review of potential racial disparities. “It needs to happen” but should already have been done, he said.
MIT announced last year that it would hire an associate provost for faculty equity, but that position remains unfilled.
The number of black, Hispanic, and Native American faculty at MIT is small—between 30 and 40, out of a total of about 900. Some black professors said they were too nervous to comment publicly about Sherley’s case, fearing it would harm their careers. One faculty member said that to recount a positive experience at MIT could risk alienation from others in MIT’s black community who haven’t had similar positive experiences.
The sad truth commented, on March 2, 2007 at 10:25 a.m.:
Alum:
Your argument is a smokescreen. The legacy of fewer opportunities for minorities is precisely because of racism. Yes, diversity is here, but in the form of tokenism. Equality, not simply diversity, is the goal.
You say ‘forget Dr. White is Black’. That is easy to say when you belong to the privileged class. Black folks cannot forget they are Black because society does not afford them this privilege.
Your status as a white man allows you to hold to your liberal fantasy of colorblindness; you wrap it around you like a warm blanket and think to yourself “I’m not racist because I can see beyond race. I judge people based on their merit”. You are fooling yourself, and the sooner you acknowledge this reality the sooner you can join the cause for racial equity and social justice, because right now you are part of the problem.
I know this is a difficult issue, and I do not blame people classified as White for not wanting to engage this issue. Your privileged status allows you to ignore issues of race. I tried this myself for a long time, but circumstances in my life led me to question my own racist thinking, and I struggle with it daily – the price of engaging the issue.
The reality is that Dr. White IS Black, that non-whites ARE underrepresented in this university and throughout higher education, and that your membership in the privileged class makes you a racist. Your degrees and your Black friends do not alter this fact, but they can help you grow as a person.
I agree with you on one point, though. Dr. White did indeed apply for tenure too soon, and until there is an appreciation for the pervasive culture of racism and discrimination in the university community we will all continue to suffer. Unfortunately, no amount of privileged “intellectual reasoning” will ever change that fact.