"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger..."
INTRODUCTION
My name is Keith Lee Grant, and I am a full professor in The City College of New York's (CCNY) Theatre Department. From the fall of 201 1 to the present, I have filed three Whistle-Blower and three Retaliation complaints with the College regarding the fraud and unethical behavior I witnessed during tenure/promotion reviews. After filing my first complaint in 2012, my colleagues began to retaliate against me, and the retaliation has not ceased. The professional isolation, harassment, and toxic work environment continue today, over a decade after my initial complaint was filed.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
When I joined the CCNY faculty in 2001 I was treated as a valued member of the College:
-
I served as the Head of The Theatre Program from 2002-2004.
-
I served as the founding Artistic Director of The Harlem Repertory Theatre, a summer theatre on campus.
-
I developed and served as the head of the CCNY Summer Scholars Program, a High School Arts program.
In addition to the administrative duties listed above, I also:
-
Directed and/or choreographed 2-4 productions in the Theatre Department every year.
-
I was brought to CCNY to build a Musical Theatre Program.
-
I developed an upper division course, THTR 236: MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP, and taught it from 2002 to 2010.
In the fall of 2010, my professional life at CCNY was destroyed when I complained to THE OFFICE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, COMPLIANCE, AND DIVERSITY and to the EEOC about the fraud and unethical way that Professor Rob Barron's Early Tenure/Promotion adjudications were being managed by my CCNY Theatre Department colleagues (Willinger and Nesmith). After learning about my complaint, my colleagues proceeded to attempt to force me to leave CCNY by "Quiet Firing" me.
The retaliation from the Department Chairman and my colleagues was immediate and unforgiving:
"The worse thing about Quiet Firing is that it messes with your head...."
1. The most recent incident of retaliation occurred in 2018, although it was not until five years later on July 21, 2023, that i discovered it. Although I have been a member of the Theatre Department's tenure and promotions committee since 2009 and have served on every tenure/promotion since then, I was: not included in Professor Barron's 2018 promotion to full professor review.
I maintain that my colleagues took this extraordinary measure to exclude me from this high-profile committee because I filed two Whistleblower complaints exposing the fraud and unethical behavior that I witnessed during tenure/promotion reviews. Professionally isolating me in this manner was yet another way to retaliate against me for filing the complaints.
2. I am the only full professor on-campus this year, and I have been on the faculty for over 25 years. In spite of these facts, I was was not assigned to any 2023-24 Departmental Committees:
NOTE: Please know that I have not served in any Departmental leadership role since the fall of 2010, when I first complained about Professor Barron's early tenure/promotion review. I Had hoped that things would someday improve, however this humiliating practice of ignoring me, the continuation of my colleagues 'disrespect and my professional isolation has not abated.
PREVIOUSLY
REPORTED
INCIDENTS OF
RETALIATION
1. I was denied the opportunity to direct or choreograph in he CCNY Theatre Department's seasons. From 2010 to 2022, I as allowed to direct in only two of the last twelve seasons while the other faculty directors directed in twelve out of the last twelve seasons in that same period. If you are not directing in the season, you are invisible to the college, students, faculty, and the community.
2. The Musical Theatre Workshop that I developed was taken from me. For the past seven years I was relegated to teaching only 100 level Introductory courses.
3. The High School Summer Arts Program that I developed and ran for five years was taken from me in 2010, the summer after I filed my complaints with THE OFFICE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, COMPLIANCE, AND DIVERSITY and the EEOC.
4. The successful Summer Theatre (The Harlem Repertory Theatre) that I founded and developed in 2004 at CCNY was replaced by the New Haarlem Arts Theatre after I filed my complaints with THE OFFICE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, COMPLIANCE, AND DIVERSITY and the EEOC.
5. To intimidate me, Robert Barron, the previous
Department Chairman, and the current Chairwoman, Jennifer Tuttle, continually copied the Dean of Humanities to emails in which they discussed minor mistakes that I made on forms or registration matters. I believe that they did this to undermine me in the eyes of the College's Senior Administrators.
6. The current Chairperson, Jennifer Tuttle, and the past chairman, Robert Barron, refuse to meet with me face-to-face r they insist that the Dean be present when we meet.
7. My emails are summarily ignored or not responded to in a timely manner.
8. When the Department addressed the Black Lives Matter issues in 2021, I was not invited to be a part of the discussions with the students.
9. I was accused of destroying college property by the Department secretary, Tara Nachtigall.
Tara Nachtigall.
Ms. Nachtigall had no evidence whatsoever to justify her allegation. Even though there was no evidence that I had done anything wrong, Robert Barron, the Department Chairman at the time, refused to make a statement saying that I did not destroy the College property. His final deliberation was to say that there was no way to know if I did or did not vandalize the College property.
I found this experience to be outrageous and humiliating because I had done nothing wrong.
1 0. Professor Tuttle, Professor Barron, and my colleagues treat me with disrespect by denying me access to basic information about the Department that my colleagues are privy too.
FINAL WORDS
“… Being a Black man, I’m not supposed to be here.
Being a Queer Black man, I ‘m really not supposed to be here…But I’m here!”
Billy Porter
Keith Lee Grant