A Black Professor's Experiences in Academia
Professional Isolation, Sabotage, Fraud, Racism, and White Privilege
7.
The Two Misinformed Referee's Letters In Grant's File.
Of the seven referees who Grant did NOT know:
Four recommended tenured/promotion
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Eric Fredricksen (The University of Michigan – Ann Arbor)
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Paul Kassel (Bradley University)
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Alan MacVey (The University of Iowa)
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Mark E. Olsen (The University of Houston)
One Abstained
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Alice N. Benston (Emory University)
Two INCORRECTLY denied Grant tenure/promotion
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Denise L. Gabriel (Athens Ohio)
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Joel G. Fink (University of Colorado at Boulder)
8.
Grant Never Had a Face-To-Face Meeting with The Senior Faculty Before His 1995 Tenure and Promotion Vote was taken:
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White Tenure and Promotion Candidates had one or more face-to-face meetings with the Senior Faculty before their final tenure votes were taken.
Mr. Grant's only opportunity to meet with the Senior Faculty was scheduled at a time when his colleagues knew that he could not possibly be present. On June 6, 1995, when his meeting was scheduled, Mr. Grant was in the final dress rehearsal for his production of SOUTH PACIFIC at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Mr. Grant had to take a break from his dress rehearsal (working with over 30 actors, 15 musicians, and 10 technicians) in order to speak to the Senior Faculty for a conference call.
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Had Mr. Grant known that there were several serious questions about his dossier: service, teaching etc., he would have insisted upon a face–to–face meeting with his colleagues.
The Senior Faculty meeting on June 6th would have been a valuable opportunity for Mr. Grant to respond to concerns and to set his record straight.
After an initial meeting with his mentor, David Feldshuh (over a year before his tenure vote) Mr. Grant never spoke with any Senior Faculty member face-to-face in a focused manner (not even Mr. Feldshuh) about his dossier or his problematic tenure case.
When Mr. Grant learned that his tenure was denied he phoned his faculty mentor, David Feldshuh, for support and/or advice about maneuvering through the daunting on-campus appeals process. Mr. Feldshuh did not return Mr. Grant's phone call. Mr. Grant has not spoken to or had any communication whatsoever with his former mentor for over thirty-years.
