Spring Break
Lawyer to address faculty
by Anya Bergman
News | 9/23/08
Posted online at 4:52 AM EST on 9/23/08
An attorney and expert on anti-discrimination laws in higher education will speak to the faculty on the application of state and federal anti-discrimination laws in the academic environment this Thursday, upon the request of Provost Marty Krauss.
Krauss said she chose to bring Daryl Lapp of the firm Edwards, Angell, Palmer and Dodge because faculty members told her last year that they do not understand anti-discrimination law and how it is applied in various cases.
The comments made to Krauss by faculty members followed an incident last fall involving students' complaints about potentially discriminatory speech in their classroom. The incident led to months of discussion, without a solution, between the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities and the administration regarding the authority of each party when dealing with faculty grievances.
Prof. Eric Hill (THA), who served on the Faculty Senate and Faculty Council last year and this year, said that last year the Faculty Senate wanted to bring in a panel of speakers with a diversity of opinions to discuss issues of discrimination, but the event never took place because it took too long to schedule. He said the Faculty Senate is looking into bringing more people to talk about this issue this year.
Hill said that because Krauss single-handedly chose Lapp, he thinks this could give her a bad appearance and reinforce the idea that she is the sole decider, one of the issues brought up during discussions last year.
Lapp said his speech does not relate to any particular incident at the University, and he has not litigated any cases for Brandeis.
Last October Prof. Donald Hindley (POL) received word from Krauss that he might have violated the University's Harassment and Non-discrimination policy, which is not part of the Faculty Handbook, for potentially racially insensitive speech. Krauss placed a monitor in Hindley's class throughout the fall semester until she closed the case in January.
Krauss said she chose to bring Daryl Lapp of the firm Edwards, Angell, Palmer and Dodge because faculty members told her last year that they do not understand anti-discrimination law and how it is applied in various cases.
The comments made to Krauss by faculty members followed an incident last fall involving students' complaints about potentially discriminatory speech in their classroom. The incident led to months of discussion, without a solution, between the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities and the administration regarding the authority of each party when dealing with faculty grievances.
Prof. Eric Hill (THA), who served on the Faculty Senate and Faculty Council last year and this year, said that last year the Faculty Senate wanted to bring in a panel of speakers with a diversity of opinions to discuss issues of discrimination, but the event never took place because it took too long to schedule. He said the Faculty Senate is looking into bringing more people to talk about this issue this year.
Hill said that because Krauss single-handedly chose Lapp, he thinks this could give her a bad appearance and reinforce the idea that she is the sole decider, one of the issues brought up during discussions last year.
Lapp said his speech does not relate to any particular incident at the University, and he has not litigated any cases for Brandeis.
Last October Prof. Donald Hindley (POL) received word from Krauss that he might have violated the University's Harassment and Non-discrimination policy, which is not part of the Faculty Handbook, for potentially racially insensitive speech. Krauss placed a monitor in Hindley's class throughout the fall semester until she closed the case in January.
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