Revoke Certification

Sounds like the Feds need to step in and pull back funding or even revoke the insititution’s certification for a while to get them to understand the difference between right and wrong. The mentioning of the nepotism that occured should be a red flag to all.

Craig C, political pundit at http://blogresponder.blogspot.com, at 8:16 am EST on January 26, 2007

The lawyer?

The real information that we need is who is the lawyer that won the case?

Gorton, at 11:20 am EST on January 26, 2007

“Liberal Academics”

To Gary Gramson: The “liberal academics” you criticize are the very same people who backed Cobbs’s case and censured the administration that fired her. So much for lockstep thinking.

Shelby Balik, at 1:45 pm EST on January 26, 2007

To Shelby Balik: Liberal academics dominate public higher education. Democrats and liberals are champions of quotas but in higher education no group is more under represented than Republicans and demonized conservatives. Deversity of ideas on campus is more important than diversity quotas of race and gender. The views of Jean Cobb would place her in a distinct minority where I work and on every campus I attended and it would not have anything to do with her race or gender.

Jerry Wolfskill, at 3:15 pm EST on January 26, 2007

Long overdue

It is good to see that Dr. Cobb got some justice. It seems that something is amiss at Va. State, if only the General Assembly would look into the mess there it may save taxpayer money and the reputation of our state’s higher ed system.I should point out that not only the right-leaning VAS/NAS supported Dr. Cobb, but the left-leaning AAUP’s actions against VA state should be noted by those who cry ‘liberal academic bias conspiracy’ every five seconds. Obviously a lot of liberal academic organizations are willing to take action to defend even their ideological enemies (I’ll also note the ACLU’s recent defense of Dr. Hoppe in Nevada). Now can FIRE, Accuracy in Academe, or ACTA say the same??? Judge them by their fruits...

Ken, at 5:05 pm EST on January 26, 2007

What is Justice?

What is justice? Have all previous and recent faculty who have been victimized by VSU received justice? What about faculty who have lost their jobs and who are not in a position to seek justice? What about current faculty who are targeted and are unable to receive due process or other rights? There have been over 10 cases filed in Federal court since 1993 against VSU with some cases closing soon after filing, some settling during litigation, some going to jury trial and others going to appeal. What is clear is that in Federal Court VSU has either settled or VSU has received a “guilty” verdict with sizable compensation to pay the plaintiff and attorneys, excluding cases that did not proceed much past filing. Virtually all the cases are Civil Rights or Employment law cases by current for former VSU faculty.

What is the common theme in these cases? What is the crux of the problem? The AAUP has censured VSU for the lack of due process and faculty participation in shared governance. What are the other issues? What is the core civil rights issue being violated or perceived as being violated? Why are these issue ignored and not investigated? How much did it cost the taxpayers of Virginia and the Federal Government in terms of litigation, settlement and lost opportunity costs that could have been used to advance VSU as an institution.

Moreover, there are about 5 cases in various steps of legal action, including the current VAS President, who have received an injustice under the same administration that settled with Dr. Cobbs. One prerequisite to Civil Rights filing in court is obtaining a letter from the EEOC. How many individuals have filed complaints against VSU to the EEOC? How many individuals have been victimized and did not file? How many individuals will proceed into court even after receiving an EEOC letter? How can one say justice is prevailing without addressing these questions?

The lawsuits seem to trickle into the courts, suggestive of a chronic problem needing attention. It is possible to leave it for the courts to decide case after case after case. Are the courts this neutral party? What about the cost to the taxpayers of Virginia and the Federal Government? What about lost opportunity cost to VSU and its students? What about justice to faculty who are not in a position to fight for their rights. When is enough, enough? Who is empowered to say, it is enough and return justice to VSU?

These are the questions that need answers, attention, discussion and individual accountability. In this context, the question returns to “What is Justice?”

Doc, at 5:10 am EST on January 29, 2007