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University of Oregon --Still Explicit Gender Discrimination
by Charity Hirsch
Lisa Arkin was denied promotion to tenure in the University of Oregon Department of
Dance in 1995. Three years of depositions and discovery show:
- she was discriminated against because she used maternity leave and leaves of
absence for medical problems with her pregnancies. (The Provost stated that
taking time off for maternity leave "has an advantage.")
- her tenure review was not done by department standards and guidelines.
Though the other two members of the department up for tenure were reviewed on
their research, teaching and service, none of Arkin's publications or grants
were mentioned (peer review of her written scholarship is outstandingly
favorable). Instead she was criticized for classes she did not teach while on
maternity leave, and for being unable to present a paper at a conference she could
not attend because of medical complications of her pregnancy.
- external reviewers who were biased against Arkin were asked to review her
work and their reviews were extensively quoted. One of these reviewers had been
relieved of his duties at another position which Arkin had then been hired to fill;
his prejudice was described by the School Personnel Committee as
"blatant."
- her non-promotion was probably assumed since she wasn't even given
annual reviews while the two other faculty members who went up for tenure the
same year as Arkin received extensive reviews prior to their tenure review.
University policy mandates reviews and Arkin requested them.
- in an effort to defend the Arkin decision the Provost's office constructed
charts comparing Arkin to the other two faculty members who were also up for
promotion. A staff member in the Provost's office testified under oath that
the facts in the charts were false.
The
Oregon Chapter of the American Association of University Professors has
written letters to the University expressing concern about the procedural
irregularities in Arkin's case but the University has not given her an impartial
review and she is bringing suit against the University (see her web site arkinsupport.org for the latest news) and is
looking for financial and moral support.
And now, an editorial comment. It is clear that pregnancy and childbearing are one
arena that is sexually defined. The days when women had a week of leave for
childbirth, no more, are past‹on paper. It is surprising that University of Oregon
officials felt so confident that their discrimination against Arkin was appropriate that
they made no effort to provide even the appearance of considering Arkin in the same
way they considered the other candidates.
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