DrAugustus Is a Professor at a University and Is Up

question 26

Essay

Dr.Augustus is a professor at a university and is up for tenure.He is a black male of African heritage and speaks with a very strong and very difficult to understand accent.When upset or excited,his accent becomes incomprehensible.When his tenure committee reviews his credentials,they find that he meets and exceeds the publication record required of a person applying for tenure.They also see that his student evaluations are consistently negative citing an inability to communicate his ideas to students,constant lateness to class and unexplained essay grading appearing to be arbitrary.The evaluations also claim that he rarely maintains appropriate office hours and won't provide assistance to students.Peer and supervisor evaluations indicate his unwillingness to contribute to committee work and a general lack of camaraderie.His accent has been addressed but he has constantly rejected any suggestions to improve his communication skills.It is recommended that he be denied tenure.Subsequent committees come to similar conclusions and he is given a termination contract.Reasons given include his inability to communicate,his refusal to work with students,his failure to maintain office hours and his refusal to work with other faculty.Dr.Augustus believes that he has been denied tenure primarily due to his race and African heritage and files a claim with the EEOC.When the EEOC investigates,they find numerous black faculty members of African heritage; many with pronounced accents,both tenure track and tenured.Has Dr.Augustus been discriminated against? Why or why not?

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