Reinstate Dr. Rachel Tudor
Dr. Rachel Tudor has been denied tenure at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and informed that her employment will be terminated effective May 31, 2011. It appears that this denial and dismissal are connected to discrimination against her for being transgender.
For nearly two years, the administration at Southeastern has repeatedly and egregiously violated established policies and procedures in the review of Dr. Tudor's application for tenure and promotion. The Faculty Appeals Committee has found in favor of Dr. Tudor twice, and the Faculty Senate has passed a resolution in support of her. Meanwhile, the administration arbitrarily re-wrote the Academic Policies and Procedures manual in the midst of the process, in order to facilitate Dr. Tudor's dismissal.
Given the egregious administrative misconduct and implication that Dr. Tudor is being dismissed due to her gender, rather than her excellent professional qualifications, we hereby request that the State Regents reinstate Rachel Tudor and ensure that her tenure case is fairly evaluated on the quality of her work as a teacher and scholar.
We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the tenure denial and dismissal of Dr. Rachel Tudor from her position at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the appearance that these actions were motivated by her gender. We further protest the repeated violations of policy, procedure, and precedent in the evaluation of Dr. Tudor's application for promotion and tenure. We therefore request that Dr. Tudor be immediately reinstated to her teaching position at Southeastern Oklahoma State and that she be reconsidered for tenure according to a fair and unbiased process.
