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Prof cleared of 'racist' behavior banned from campus a YEAR after investigation
By Jonathan McCormick of CampusReform.org.
- Professor Javier Tapia was accused of racially profiling a fellow faculty member.
- The school investigated and determined that the “evidence does not demonstrate” racism.
- One year later, the university contacted Tapia
informing him that he was being placed on paid leave and that he was no
longer welcome on campus.
"A professor says he was “silenced” and “banished” by Virginia
Commonwealth University with what he says was “no due process
whatsoever” despite being cleared of alleged wrongdoing.
Javier
Tapia, associate professor in the Department of Painting and
Printmaking, sued three of his school’s officials over what he saw as
egregious violations of his constitutional rights. His since-dismissed court complaint explained his grievances.
The controversy began when Tapia allegedly called campus security on his
fellow faculty member, Assistant Professor of Art Caitlin Cherry, when
he found her in an area restricted to faculty only. A letter from the
school says that the two professors “did not know one another” at the
time. Cherry believed that Tapia called security on her because she is
black, but Tapia claimed that he mistook her for a student, due to her
“youthful appearance.”
Cherry submitted a complaint with the school alleging that she had been racially discriminated against, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
However,
after an investigatory process, VCU Equity and Access Services
concluded that the evidence “does not demonstrate” that Tapia “initiated
the security check based on Professor [Cherry]’s race and/or color” and
informed Tapia that he had been cleared of such charges in a letter
dated Nov. 16, 2018.
Despite being cleared, Tapia received another
letter from VCU one year later on Nov. 18, 2019, placing him on “paid
administrative leave” and instructed him to have “no contact of any kind
with any VCU faculty, staff, or students,” including “in-person
contact, telephone calls, text messages, emails, Facebook, Twitter, or
other forms of messaging or social media contacts.” If he or an agent of
his were to disobey that order, the school threatened to punish him
with “additional administrative action.”
The public university
also stated that Tapia was “not permitted on university property” and
told him to gather his belongings from his desk and return his
university laptop and keys. They told Tapia that, while these actions by
the school “are not disciplinary in nature,” he could nonetheless be
fired if he violated the orders.
Upon hearing allegations from other faculty that Tapia racially discriminated against Cherry, students protested
in the dean’s office, chanting “No racist faculty!” The school also
says it received “received a high volume of emails” regarding Tapia’s
alleged racism, but “none of these emails provided specific information”
regarding him.
“No students, faculty members, or administrators
have been warned or threatened with sanctions for labeling Tapia a
racist,” Tapia’s court complaint reads, “The goose and the gander are
clearly not being treated equally by VCU.”
In all, Tapia said that the school denied him “due process,” “liberty interests,” and the chance to defend his own reputation.
His
complaint recognizes that “to brand Tapia as a racist is to effectively
administer the academic death penalty to Tapia,” and make him
unemployable at any other academic institution.
Mike Porter, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs, told Campus Reform, “Professor Tapia's lawsuit against VCU was dismissed by mutual agreement. Both professors are employed by VCU.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Tapia and Cherry for comment."
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