A federal lawsuit filed by SIUC law professor Darrell Dunham over Christmas break is once again raising questions about minority hiring practices in the SIU School of Law.

When someone alleges the School of Law has denied interviews to qualified Asian, Hispanic and Native American applicants and ignored recommendations for the hiring practices made by the SIUC Judicial Review Board, as Dunham’s complaint does, there should be reason for concern .

The Daily Egyptian believes Dunham is justified in bringing the lawsuit, but leaves the question of whether discrimination occurred in the school to be decided in court.

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The DE feels it is unfortunate there is not an alternative to a long and possibly expensive lawsuit to have the matter investigated thoroughly. It is also unfortunate that students will help pay for the school to defend itself.

Since Dunham filed a grievance with the SIUC Judicial Review Board with similar allegations in 1993, however, the board amended its code and now allows only people directly affected by discrimination to file such grievances.

It is noteworthy that this is a more rigid standard than Illinois law which allows employees who witness discrimination to file complaints

Although the board concluded that there was not sufficient evidence of a pattern of racial discrimination, at a hearing for Dunham’s grievance, it did find some problems with the school’s hiring process and recommended several changes.

The board also found that some Asian and Native American candidates for positions in the school appeared to have better credentials than those who were selected for interviews. The board also stated that no one on the school’s hiring committee could sufficiently explain why these people were not invited for an interview.

Dunham’s complaint states that the board’s recommendations, some of which were accepted by then SIUC President John Guyon, have not been implemented.

At this point the DE is unable to

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determine if this is the case, but believes that if a lawsuit is the only way to determine the legitimacy of Dunham’s claims that it is a reasonable path of action.

School of Law officials have called the allegations ludicrous.

Some evidence may back this contention. The schools faculty and staff is comprised of 17.5 percent minorities, while 17.9 percent of the SIUC student population is made up of minorities.

State Rep. Wyvetter Younge, D- East St. Louis, who is part of a subcommittee on minority hiring, said these numbers seem to be a usable correlation that they’ve made a good effort at hiring minorities. She added that she has the general impression that the University goes out of their way to maintain a diverse faculty.

As Younge also noted, however, these numbers only provide a shallow analysis of minority hiring.

If a more thorough examination of discrimination allegations can only be spurred by a lawsuit, the DE supports having the issue finally resolved in court.