Shaw University’s Dismissed Faculty Release Statement

Our friends over at HBCU Digest recently tweeted a series of statements that spoke volumes:

How did we go from a legacy of sit-ins, marching, protesting, mass arrests under threat of expulsion and death, to a collectively lazy, complacent, uninspired community? HBCU students are the innovators of civic involvement and rebellion. You come from a legacy of people that defeated vestiges of slavery. You walk the same campuses as people who defeated the external impact Jim Crow, separate but equal..Remnants of slavery. And now, we don’t stay informed, we champion being detached from political and cultural processes because it “won’t change,” our communities have always been carried by a few people. A few advocates, a few politicians, a few business people and clergy. And now those few are burned out, resources tapped out, and so discouraged that no one will join them, they are giving up.

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But in true Shaw spirit, there are some who refuse to give up.

Shaw’s former President Irma McClaurin dismissed four long serving faculty members last March without meeting with them, without evaluating their teaching abilities, without giving them reasons for dismissal or giving them appeal rights. Tonight, they released an impactful statement:

We are pleased to see that Shaw University is aggressively moving towards opening its doors this fall, particularly in light of the spring tornados and the recent and abrupt administrative shift. We feel that the managerial problems that brought about this abrupt shift are the result of a systemic lack of oversight by the Board of Trustees and Human Resources. We believe that in the best interests of the University, these two entities should be restructured to ensure the following:

• Equity and due process to all members of the institution, and

• Accountability and transparency regarding the administrative execution of Shaw’s mission: specifically academic excellence, administrative, and fiscal responsibility for the University and its custodians.