Several of my colleagues have written to your editorial page expressing their displeasure with the Daily Egyptian’s coverage of events in the law school and have labeled me disgruntled and isolated. Predictably, they have elected to avoid discussion of the issues raised by my grievance, lawsuit, and the dean search process, and have instead attempted to make me the issue. This tactic was tried in the grievance and failed and undoubtedly will again be attempted in the lawsuit. Moreover, your readers should note that their letter studiously avoids any discussion of the facts.

The following facts have not been disputed:1) A Judicial Review Board panel (including one representative selected by the law school dean) unanimously concluded that the hiring procedures were seriously flawed at all levels. 2) Minority applicants who appeared to have better records than white males interviewed by the law school were not given interviews. 3) No member of the search committee was able to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why the minority applicants were not interviewed. 4) The committee made a number of recommendations which were endorsed by then President Guyon but the law school has refused to implement them (for example, the committee recommended an President Guyon accepted the recommendation that a copy of the law school’s hiring ad be sent to Asian and American Indian law associations so as to attract minority applicants, but this was not done in the 1995 search. 5) After the grievance was issued, the law school actively participated in changing the grievance procedures so that no more grievances could be filed. 6) The law school attempted to engage in only an internal search for a new dean knowing that there would be only one candidate for the position. 7) The candidate did not hold tenure in the School of Law, but rather held a staff position. 8) The law school attempted to limit the search even though it was informed that an external minority candidate had shown interest in the position.

In light of the above, I concur in the DE’s belief that the happenings in the law school are newsworthy. The DE is to be commended for its effort to report them even-handedly and responsibly.

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