San Diego Branch NAACP Resolution in Support of Dr. Pat Washington's Tenure Appeal against San Diego State University (Passed March 3, 2003)

WHEREAS the mission of the NAACP “Shall be to improve the political, educational, social, and economic status of minority groups, to eliminate racial prejudice, to keep the public aware of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to take action to secure its elimination”; and

WHEREAS the representation of blacks among full-time faculty nationwide is 4.9%, but the representation of blacks on the full-time faculty at San Diego State University is only 2.5% (21 out of 831); and

WHEREAS Dr. Pat Washington is the only Black tenure-track faculty hired in the 30-year history of the women’s studies department at San Diego State University; and

WHEREAS Dr. Washington made satisfactory progress toward tenure and promotion until she complained of a racially hostile work environment in women’s studies; and

WHEREAS Dr. Washington met or exceeded the 3 requirements for tenure at San Diego State University, including receiving above-average teaching scores and winning 6 of the University’s top teaching awards; publishing 8 articles when only 3 were required; and winning local, state, and national recognitions for service; and

WHEREAS Dr. Washington has been denied tenure and is now slated for termination in May 2003, despite meeting and exceeding all three requirements for tenure and promotion; and

WHEREAS Dr. Washington was the only women’s studies faculty member subjected to 3 different sets of tenure requirements in 5 years, the most recent and most stringent being imposed 6 months before she was required to submit her tenure portfolio and one year after she complained of a racially hostile work environment; and

WHEREAS the women’s studies department at San Diego State University held Dr. Washington to a significantly higher standard for tenure and promotion than it did any of the white women tenured by the department, including a white female tenured as recently as 2002; and

WHEREAS San Diego State University is a state-funded institution accountable to California’s increasingly diverse public; and

WHEREAS San Diego State University, its students, and the community it serves can ill-afford to lose a professor of Dr. Washington’s cultural background and caliber;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the San Diego Branch NAACP will act to reverse Dr. Washington’s tenure denial; to effect a full, fair and objective investigation into processes used to deny Dr. Washington tenure; and to seek implementation of safeguards to ensure that the renewal, tenure and promotion process at San Diego State University is no longer subject to racial animus and malice.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the San Diego Branch NAACP will seek the support and assistance of the State, Regional and National Offices of the NAACP in these efforts.