Certainly in no small part thanks to the enterprising of Emerson College senior Gaby Dunn, an editor at the school paper, “The Berkeley Beacon,” embattled journalism/history professor Roger House has been reinstated.
Dunn’s reporting revealed a pattern of at best unscrupulous and at worst blatantly racist behavior by Emerson over several decades of tenure review.
House and another professor named Pierre Desir, who are both black, were denied tenure last year. They were the only professors denied tenure, and they were the only professors who were black.
House filed a complaint with the state Commission Against Discrimination last year.
According to Dunn’s latest reporting, Emerson agreed to take both professors back without tenure. House agreed, and he will be re-reviewed in 2011 for promotion. Desir appears to have declined, and he will not be returning this fall.
Dunn has reported that in Emerson Colllege’s 129-year history, it has never promoted a tenured black male faculty member, even though tenure is usually accompanied by a promotion from assistant to associate professor.
Dunn wrote a series of articles last spring attracting national attention and leading the school to convene an independent review of its tenure process.
The Beacon could not reach house Wednesday night for comment.
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