Ex-professor suing UA

A U.S. 9th District Court judge is preparing to determine the future of a fired UA faculty member's career.

Tolagbe Ogunleye, a former associate professor in the University of Arizona's Africana Studies department, is awaiting a ruling from Judge John M. Roll, following a Thursday injunction hearing held to decide if she was a victim of discrimination.

"I worked very hard over the last five years," Ogunleye said Monday. "I don't want to be pushed to the curb."

Ogunleye versus Arizona Board of Regents is the latest dispute concerning UA Africana Studies, a program plagued with allegations of racism, sexism and harassment.

Don Awerkamp, Ogunleye's attorney, filed the lawsuit shortly after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a ruling stating that the professor was a victim of discrimination.

"We want them (UA officials) to undo what they did," Awerkamp said Monday.

Ogunleye said the EEOC ruling - the result of seven months of investigation and deliberation - gave her "ample proof" to pursue legal action against the University of Arizona.

Her term as associate professor ended in May after the university decided not to extend her employment one year earlier. If Roll rules in her favor, Ogunleye will return to her position temporarily until the case goes before a jury.

The lawsuit alleges that Julian Kunnie, acting director of the program, and College of Humanities Dean Charles Tatum discriminated against Ogunleye and harassed her because of her race and gender.

Controversy within the department began when Kunnie's predecessor, Mikelle Omari, raised similar complaints against Tatum after he removed her from the director position in 1996. The EEOC also ruled in Omari's favor, but she remains outside the department as an art professor.

Awerkamp said during the hearing that Omari's situation shows a "pattern of discriminatory intent." He added that Ogunleye's support for the former director was a cause of the alleged harassment.

The attorney also pointed out that all faculty members, except for Kunnie, gave her sufficient ratings in an informal review. Ogunleye's classes also had the highest enrollment of any Africana Studies instructor.

Paul Sypherd, UA provost currently on sabbatical, testified Thursday that he ended the professor's term as a "tool of management," with which he hoped to defuse a volatile situation in the department.

"Here was a non-tenured individual . . . who I felt was contributing to some of the turmoil," he said.

Charles Pyle, unit chief of liability management at the state Attorney General's Office, defended the Board of Regents and UA officials Thursday.

Pyle cited several e-mails, memos and letters apparently signed by Ogunleye to show a refusal to comply with Kunnie's leadership.

Sypherd said he chose non-renewal despite a positive review issued by Tatum.

Tatum said he recommended retention because of Ogunleye's accusations of racism.

"I did not want to be accused of retaliation," he said.

Tatum added that although Ogunleye's teaching was satisfactory, he later agreed with Sypherd that her removal would be best for the program.

But Ogunleye insisted Kunnie's behavior is the source of the trouble, and that she is merely a victim of a program in crisis.

She said she wants to continue her academic career and keep her family in Tucson.

"Because I've been harassed constantly over the last three years . . . everything I had hoped to accomplish did not take place," Ogunleye said.

Attorneys will submit a summary statement Thursday, after which Roll will make his decision.