OPINION: JSU Faculty Senate expresses support for free speech, shared governance and opposition to the termination of prof. and Faculty Senate President, Dr. Dawn Bishop McLin

On Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Faculty Senate at Jackson State University affirmed and issued a resolution on the matter of Dr. Dawn Bishop McLin being placed on administrative leave with a recommendation of termination. The resolution contains nine phrases or paragraphs covering all the relevant bases.

It begins by stressing the importance of tenure and academic freedom. Both are critical to the successful functioning of a college or university. Without academic freedom there is likely to be little progress in research or learning, the exchange of ideas being learning. Without tenure there will be little stability. Teachers will have no job security no matter how excellent they have proved themselves. They will go elsewhere to teach. 

It then moves on to say the effort to dismiss Dr. McLin places academic freedom, shared governance and related concepts at risk. This was important to include because the administration in this instance would make tenure meaningless since she is a fully tenured professor. At the same time, the dismissal, if allowed to stand, would be the embodiment of intimidation for future faculty members. This point they make by pointing to the fact that the administration took its action AFTER a resolution by the Faculty Senate was taken expressing “no confidence” in a member of the administration. 

In another section, the resolution states Dr. McLin has always followed protocol in terms of IHL policy, the JSU handbook and the Faculty Senate Constitution, as she led the Faculty Senate. That point is further illuminated by stating Dr. McLin understands and practices democracy, being diligent in basing her actions on the conclusions and recommendations of the Faculty Senate.

Still another point made in the resolution is that the administration lacked a full or clear understanding of the history of HBCUs and the disregard of faculty rights. They state that such retaliation compromises the progress of the university and lays the foundation for a hostile and stressful work environment. The point can be supported by studying the administrations at JSU, particularly when Cleere was commissioner, Valley under the administrations of Drs. Donna Oliver and Lester Newman, or a number of other HBCUs in the late 1990s and 2000s, up to this date. 

After having made those points, the Faculty Senate then states that it finds no basis for the termination of Dr. McLin as a professor nor as president of the Faculty Senate. It also indicates it has not been provided with such evidence by the administration. The resolution continues by saying the Faculty Senate supports Dr. McLin and is opposed to the encroachment on faculty authority and rights by the JSU president, administrators or board of trustees.

The resolution closes by indicating copies are being sent to members of the JSU faculty, the board of trustees of the state institutions of higher learning, the commissioner of higher education, the JSU staff senate, the JSU student government association, and the JSU National Alumni Association.

The resolution is quite an excellent treatment of the matters being covered. Its major points are aligned with similar statements published by the University Faculty Senates Association, the Association of University Professors and University Faculty Voice. Likewise, the same issues have been followed by the writer for nearly 30 years, where he has reached the same basic conclusions when it comes to administrative overreach and violations of the principles of tenure, shared governance and free speech.

The significant associated problem now is that of trying to obtain fair and adequate due process. The longer the matter lingers, the more Dr. McLin and the Faculty Senate are handicapped and abused.

Finally, the writer was impressed that the resolution is being shared with the faculty, staff, students and alumni. All these bodies can and will be affected by the bad actions of the administration and the commissioner and board of trustees if they decide to proceed down the path of terminating Dr. McLin and the violating of the principles of tenure, shared governance and free speech. 

It would be wise to also share the resolution with other colleges and universities, with higher education faculty organizations and with relevant labor unions. All these can and will be affected. What is being witnessed is a particular way of thinking and perhaps a political movement on the part of people who have little understanding and even less appreciation for the genuine role of colleges and universities and for the faculty members who give them meaning.