Journalism Professor Denied Tenure Sues FAMU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida A&M University journalism professor denied tenure because she didn't have a doctorate has filed a sex and race discrimination complaint against the school, saying it is run by and for Black men.
Assistant professor Gloria Horning also says the university illegally changed the rules after she began a tenure track in 1993 when a doctoral degree was not required. Tenure effectively gives university professors a lifetime guarantee of a job (see Black Issues, May 27, 1999).
"I believe that Florida A&M University has been engaged in a systematic and intentional scheme and artifice to deny my promotion and tenure because I am a Caucasian female employed at a predominantly and historically Black university," Horning says. "Further, I believe that men are given preference over women."
Horning, 43, filed a complaint last month with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. The commission has six months to mediate the dispute or make a written finding, which either side can appeal to the courts.
Horning also says she plans to sue the school for breach of contract. Without tenure, Horning will not have a job after Aug. 7, 2000.
FAMU spokesman Eddie Jackson says he cannot comment on pending litigation.

Michigan Admits Fewer Minority Applicants
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While the University of Michigan continues to encourage a diverse student body, data released last month indicate that fewer underrepresented minorities have been admitted to this year's incoming freshman class than last year, according to a story in the university's student newspaper, the Michigan Daily.
Despite a negligible decrease in the number of underrepresented minority application submissions in the last year, from 2,267 to 2,260, the number of those admitted declined by more than 100.
University spokesperson Julie Peterson told the student paper that the numbers are only based on applications received and entered into the system by May 17. She said that because applications are still being processed, data could fluctuate and will not be finalized until October.
Underrepresented minority enrollment has decreased at the University since 1995, when underrepresented minority students comprised 15 percent of the entering class. That number dropped by 1 percent in 1996, then during 1997 and 1998, underrepresented minority enrollment dropped to 13 percent of the entering classes for both years.
Noting that this year's underrepresented minority enrollment is something administrators are "watching closely," Peterson said, "Having a diverse student body is a concern of ours. We don't like to see it go down."
Peterson says it is unlikely that there is a correlation between the drop in underrepresented minority admissions and the lawsuits against the university's admission policy, filed by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights. The lawsuits challenge the university's use of race as a disproportionate factor in admissions (see Black Issues, Jan. 21, 1999).
"We have chosen to defend the lawsuit because a diverse student body is essential to a Michigan education," she says.
According to the student newspaper report, the university received 21,011 applications for the incoming first-year class — 2,260 from underrepresented minorities. Of that, 13,351 prospective students were admitted — 1,520 of whom were underrepresented minorities.
Also, fewer underrepresented minorities have paid the deposit securing their spot in the incoming class. Underrepresented minorities are defined by the university as Black, Hispanic, or Native American.
Meanwhile, a group of students of color who seek undergraduate or law-school admission into the University of Michigan have asked a federal appeals court to let them intervene in the reverse-discrimination lawsuits against the university.
Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians will be directly affected by how the lawsuits turn out and should be allowed to participate as parties in the lawsuits when they are heard in the Michigan federal courts, lawyers for these students told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawyers asked the court to reverse rulings by lower courts against their clients (see Black Issues, Aug. 6, 1998).
"If the plaintiffs win this case, the University of Michigan will go on. It'll just be much Whiter," says Theodore Shaw, one of the lawyers who argued in behalf of the minorities.
Appeals Judges Martha Craig Daughtrey, Karen Moore, and William Stafford did not say when they will rule. The appeals court had halted the proceedings in the lower courts in order to consider these arguments.