Best option for university and students, hire back campus recreation director

Editor:

Thank you for publishing the story of my termination as director of campus recreation. I realize it took a great deal of courage to write a story that the University of Arizona would rather not be told. If I can, I would also like to thank the students, staff and faculty who have contacted me over the past few days.

It is not my desire to drag my alma mater's name into the public eye. Neither is it my desire to file a lawsuit against the university, and individual suits against Saundra Taylor and Murray DeArmond. My only desire is to be returned to my rightful position as director of campus recreation. To once again work with my staff and students, to continue the development of the finest Campus Recreation Department in the country, and to continue to bring accolades to the University of Arizona.

I believe that my return will be a win-win situation for the UA. Not only will it save thousands of dollars in recruitment dollars for a new director, but it will retain one of the best recreation directors in the country. In addition, in doing so the university will eliminate a costly and highly visible lawsuit, which will bring the university, and my supervisors, a great deal of damaging publicity.

In truth, it is evident that I have been discriminated against for my disability of clinical depression by a person who not only was required to know the Americans with Disabilities Act as part of his job responsibilities, but is also a medical doctor and a psychiatrist. This illness conservatively strikes more than 10 percent of the population at a given time. More than 6 million in America suffer from clinical depression. It has further been proven that the higher a person's intelligence, the more prone he or she is to clinical depression. Consider these facts and the implications on a university campus.

It is time to end this travesty of justice. If the UA can discriminate against an employee with my record of success, it has and is continuing to discriminate against many other faculty, staff and students suffering from clinical depression. This discrimination cannot be allowed to continue any more than discrimination against gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.