When Stacy had been excused, the chair was ready to adjourn.
On the advice of her attorney, Diana requested that it be on
the record that, Anuse, one of the panel members had acted
throughout the hearing in a manner prejudicial and threatening
to Diana and to her witnesses.
Henry was livid with anger. "You are out of order. You are
making statements about people on the committee that has
nothing to do with this. Your comment will not be entered
and the committee will disregard it."
How typical of that woman to state the obvious, he fumed inwardly.
Always before, while ruling, he had kept his cool and at least
glanced at the panel members for assent or dissent. This time
he ably demonstrated that the show of democratic procedure was only that--
a show. Damn her. She had unglued him that time.
In any event, Diana was refused permission to enter the
evidence she had that would have shown that Anuse was biased.
Next, Diana reviewed the poor performance given by the document examiner.
"He testified that he could not make a decision on the first set of exemplars
sent him. Then when he was sent twenty years' worth of documents containing
the handwriting of multiple individuals, he claimed that he disregarded most
of it. She went over all of the individual letters in the `suspect'
evaluations that Avery had not been able to match with anything
in the writing he used as standards. "This shows that there were
as many non-matches as matches in his presentation."
The panel listened passively, then Henry asked if that was
her final statement.
"No," she answered. "I shall read that now." She picked up
the paper which had been written mostly by her attorney and
edited by her. It was designed to get the legal points on the
record so that they could be presented later in a court of law.
"We are at the end of another hearing and it is a grim
page in the rights of faculty members of this university.
I have been tried by a committee which is chaired by the
prosecuting official. He has reopened proceedings,
engaged in ex parte communications, received legal advice
from the prosecution's lawyer and denied me the opportunity
to even examine the evidence against me.
"A faculty member at any state college, and indeed, a mail room
employee in the state Motor Vehicle Department would have more rights
than you have given me."
Henry tuned her out. All this legal stuff, he thought, is just
to give her attorney crap to fill a brief. Murrain had told him
this would probably happen. Now, what's this? Alertly, Henry listened.
"There are strong reasons to believe this panel has operated
in violation of my state and federal rights. If this committee
does not end this unfortunate proceeding, the U.S. District Court
will finally have to determine these issues.
"This committee, at the last hearing, made several
promises to me and I was fool enough to believe them.
It said that it would issue a decision within a few weeks;
instead, it launched a new investigation of its own without
my knowledge or participation which consumed over half a year.
Second, this committee assured me that I would not be affected by
these charges as I continued my teaching assignments in the department.
`Go back to work,' you all assured me at the last hearing.
`Everything is taken care of.' I went back and was ordered to
move out of my office into a corner of the nutrition teaching lab.
I was denied a telephone and given no help in moving my things.
My name has been removed from the department mail boxes
and department meetings are held when I am teaching classes.
For these many months, while you reopened the investigation
behind my back, I have been a non-person in my department."
Jane shifted in her chair uneasily. She recalled how all
of these promises had been made when the panel had ended the
first hearing. In fact, she had made some of them herself. It
had seemed then, she reflected, that the evidence against Diana
was inconclusive and that the majority of the panel felt this was
so. She had expected that just a simple vote of the panel would
send Diana back to her classroom where she belonged.
"I have served this university for nearly a quarter-century.
Students have consistently reviewed my efforts favorably
and that is a source of much consternation in my department.
The entire central administration is prosecuting me,
angered because I insisted on minimal rights. For example:
I refused to have my job eliminated or my copyrighted manual
used without my consent. They are determined to terminate me
and have spared no resources in support of that goal.
It would appear that some of these efforts violate my rights
under state law, federal law, and the Constitution.
That's really what it's all about, decided Annette, as she kept
her head lowered and her eyes fastened on the unseen files before her.
Violation of her rights. Violation of my rights to freely consider
the evidence both for and against her and render an impartial judgment.
"I believe this case represents what is in store for a person
who does not remain in the favor of those who determine policy
for this university.
"I have been accused of writing seven SmurFFs over a two
year period. Only five of these seven were alleged to have been
detrimental to two faculty men, Ian and Randy. This is five out
of the six to eight hundred submitted for medical radiology
during that time. At a minimum, even were these charges true,
the misconduct of which I am accused would be dishonesty, but of
a variety with no real import or effect."
Diana stopped and reached for the glass of water in front
of her. I wish I could tell these people what it has been like
working here in this university for the last twenty-five years.
If they would only listen, I'd throw out this prepared statement
in a flash and start with. . .her thoughts went back only a very
few years, to before the affirmative action laws.
She recalled vividly how she was treated, what women were
subjected to--still subjected to, she amended, wryly.
Lewd, suggestive poses of women in every lab and office.
Huge posters on many doors facing the hallways.
Projections via slides of scantily or unclothed women
in provocative poses that were used to "illustrate"
lecture material and treated with derision by the male lecturer.
We couldn't complain because we were told that if we didn't like it
we could leave. We were told that this activity was normal and healthy.
We were told that if we found it offensive, we must be `queer'.
And then that wonderful day when Sally, a woman graduate student,
found and placed on her door, a large full length picture of an unclad male.
He was young and pleasant looking--like the boy next door.
No suggestiveness here. Just the human male form.
His penis hung quietly from his pelvis, as unremarkable
and vulnerable as the breast of an old woman.
But what an uproar it caused. The men were furious.
They clucked and cackled like a bunch of biddy hens
which had been surprised by a predator's invasion of the hen house.
Diana held the glass to her mouth for a few moments more even though
she was not drinking to stifle the smile that was trying to force
itself into being from the memory.
The offending poster was quickly torn down, torn up and
still the cacophony continued unabated. That is, until Sally
was called in to the NERD chairman's office. When she emerged,
she packed up her belongings and left. Of course, we can't have
that kind of sexual depravity continue. The men were certainly
united in that decision. How quickly and easily they can fire
women for whatever men define as impropriety.
She continued with her statement. "We have seen no evidence that
any faculty were injured by those SmurFFs. The evaluations that had
an impact were the hundreds of evaluations that we have not seen
despite my efforts to have them made available for this hearing.
If these faculty had problems, it was with their teaching.
"There is no evidence or any proof as to when, or even if,
these seven SmurFFs were submitted.
"The administration has not shown any motive on my part to
fabricate and submit them. What I am really accused of is
manipulating student opinion to deny Ian and Randy tenure,
when, in fact, neither have been denied tenure and I have not
manipulated student opinion. If student evaluations improved
the year that I did not teach in the course, it was in part
because previous criticisms have been taken to heart and teaching
improved in the course. And also because Ian specifically
instructed the students to make only positive comments.
You could verify this by talking to the medical students,
but you are not allowed to."
Esther tried to follow Diana's words and rebut each point
as she heard it but was overcome by the simple truth of
what she was hearing. She, too, had been convinced that the
handwriting evidence was not to be trusted. One of the people in
her department had once worked at NERD. She had confirmed the status
of Diana in the department and corroborated what she had told the panel.
Esther shrugged. Too bad, can't be helped, she thought.
"Evidence was introduced at this hearing without being authenticated.
Hundreds of SmurFFs were described but shown to no one.
Professional witnesses were used against me yet I was not allowed
to have an attorney cross-examine them. And the ultimate injustice
is that the prosecution official is the chair of the hearing panel!
"I do not believe that I ever had a chance in these proceedings.
If the administration's evidence is insufficient, you reopen
the hearing and get more, using unauthenticated material.
If I am effectively questioning a witness, interrupt me,
as you did countless times. If there is evidence on my behalf,
you deny it to me."
Frank Anuse was delightedly and avidly listening to Diana's
closing statement. God, he thought. You can sure tell that it
was written by a lawyer and he's pulled out all the stops.
What a tear jerker, he judged, cynically. As if any of what
she was saying mattered. The facts were that we decide what
will be correct, not the stupid courts. Besides, she's getting
what she deserves after what she put me through with that complaint
to the Affirmative Action Office because I didn't interview male
applicants for positions in my department. He raged inwardly as
he remembered the time he had to spend to comply with the order
to produce all of his records and defend all of his placements.
Damned uppity bitch.
"This panel has simply followed the lead of the prosecutor,
Henry Tarbuck, and allowed him to continue to dictate to you
without question--without thought of equal treatment.
"I am aware, as you are, that a male faculty member was recently
convicted of child molesting, given a leave of absence and then
replaced in his position without loss of pay or tenure.
Is what you accuse me of doing worse than child molestation?"
Diana let the question hang in the air for several moments
while she looked at the panel. Only Henry and Anuse returned
her gaze, the women kept their eyes steadfastly on their papers
which they held like shields before them. Useless, she thought,
then aloud said, "Thank you. I have concluded my statement."
"I would like to clarify a few things," Henry began pontifically.
"The record will show that the remarks you have made are your opinions.
We will not respond to them. I want to make it clear, however,
that I am a chairman of a committee of the faculty--not the prosecutor."
There, he thought selfrighteously, that will show her that I can quote
my lawyer too.
"Secondly, we do not decide anything. We will not recommend anything.
We are merely the investigating committee which makes the report."