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University Settles Third Lawsuit
By Gwendolyn Bradley
New Mexico Highlands University agreed in March to pay a former assistant professor of chemistry $205,000 to settle a tenure-denial lawsuit. The suit, brought by professor David Wiedenfeld, was one of three discrimination and wrongful-termination suits settled by the university over the past year, for a total of more than $600,000. The professors, all white, alleged that they were discriminated against because of their race at a time when a new university president had emphasized the appointment and promotion of Latino professors. The AAUP investigated two of the cases, and the investigating committee found that the administration had violated its own procedures, standards of generally accepted academic practice, and the faculty members’ rights. The AAUP’s 2006 annual meeting placed New Mexico Highlands University on the list of censured administrations.
“I feel enormous gratitude to the AAUP,” says Wiedenfeld. “The AAUP’s actions were one of the concerns that Highlands cited that led it to settle with us.”
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