Former Arizona Africana Studies Professor Charges Discrimination
TUCSON, Ariz. — A former associate professor in the University of Arizona's Africana Studies department is suing the institution claiming she was a victim of discrimination, according to a story in the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
Tolagbe Ogunleye is currently awaiting a ruling from U.S. 9th District Court Judge John M. Roll, following an injunction hearing held last month to decide the merits of the case.
"I worked very hard over the last five years," Ogunleye told the campus newspaper. "I don't want to be pushed to the curb."
Ogunleye v. Arizona Board of Regents is the latest dispute concerning Africana studies at the university. The program has been plagued with allegations of racism, sexism, and harassment.
Don Awerkamp, Ogunleye's attorney, filed the lawsuit shortly after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a ruling stating that the professor was a victim of discrimination.
Ogunleye says the EEOC ruling — the result of seven months of investigation and deliberation — gave her "ample proof" to pursue legal action against the University of Arizona. Her term as associate professor ended in May after the university decided not to extend her employment one year earlier.
If Roll rules in her favor, Ogunleye will return to her position until the case goes before a jury.
The lawsuit alleges that Julian Kunnie, acting director of the program, and College of Humanities Dean Charles Tatum discriminated against Ogunleye and harassed her because of her race and gender.
Controversy within the department began when Kunnie's predecessor, Mikelle Omari, raised similar complaints against Tatum after he removed her from the director position in 1996. The EEOC also ruled in Omari's favor, but she remains outside the department as an art professor.
Awerkamp said during the hearing that Omari's situation shows a "pattern of discriminatory intent." He added that Ogunleye's support for the former director was a cause of the alleged harassment.
The attorney also pointed out that all faculty members, except for Kunnie, gave her sufficient ratings in an informal review. Ogunleye's classes also had the highest enrollment of any Africana Studies instructor.
"We want [university officials] to undo what they did," Awerkamp says.
Paul Sypherd, the university's provost, testified that he ended Ogunleye's term as a "tool of management," with which he hoped to defuse a volatile situation in the department.
"Here was a nontenured individual ... who I felt was contributing to some of the turmoil," he said.