Teacher says FAU showed anti-Arab bias

By Jennifer Peltz
Staff Writer
Posted April 1 2003

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/search/sfl-pfsugar01apr01.story

Mohammed Khalid Hamza, an educational technology
researcher, saw his star rise steadily in his first
five years at Florida Atlantic University.

But his fortunes took a sharp turn last year. After an
education-college committee concluded he wasn't on
course for tenure, he was told this would be his last
year at FAU, according to Florida Commission on Human
Relations documents.

Hamza, an advocate for Muslims on campus and in the
community, thinks he's a victim of anti-Arab and
anti-Muslim bias. So does the human relations
commission's executive director, who issued a finding
last month supporting Hamza's allegations of
employment discrimination.

"There is an abundance of evidence that Dr. Hamza's
national origin and religion played a major role in
the decisions that the university made," commission
chief Derick Daniel wrote.

FAU, however, says its reasons for not renewing
Hamza's contract are purely academic. University
officials would give few details, pointing to state
laws protecting professors' academic evaluations. But
FAU maintains Hamza had a history of misstatements in
his résumé and unprofessional conduct in the
classroom, according to the human relations
commission's report and portions of a university
response. Hamza says the supposed misstatements were
typographical errors, and the complaints just
retaliation toward a tough teacher.

"We vehemently deny that either his religious beliefs
or his ethnic origin had any bearing on the decision,"
said FAU's chief attorney, Ondina Felipe.

The university is petitioning the commission to
reconsider its findings, which are an early step in a
state employment-discrimination claim. The commission
is charged with evaluating claims of employment,
housing and some other forms of discrimination.

The findings, if they stand, would allow Hamza to take
his case to civil court or a state administrative
hearing.

He says he hopes not to have to.

"I'm still hoping that with the new administration of
[FAU President Frank] Brogan, that the hardships will
come to an end," Hamza said. "I want everything back
that was taken away from me unjustly."

Hamza told the human relations commission he was the
subject of ethnic slurs and slights among colleagues
almost as soon as he arrived at FAU in 1997. He says
he differed with colleagues over grading standards. A
group of five education professors, he told the
commission, determined to get rid of him. Four of the
professors could not be reached Monday. The fifth
declined to comment.

Hamza brought his concerns to College of Education
officials in 2000, and they arranged a meeting that
soothed relations for a time.

But tensions flamed again after the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, Hamza says.

"My being outspoken made some people not so happy ...
but I'm an immigrant -- I believe in American freedom
of speech," said Hamza, a naturalized American citizen
who was born in Syria. He has lived in the United
States for more than 20 years.

An adviser to the FAU Muslim Student Organization and
the Islamic Center of Boca Raton, Hamza also has
written about anti-Arab sentiment and
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel.

Still, according to the commission's findings, Hamza
had five years of superb evaluations, enjoying an
"excellent" rating in every category each year as he
approached the tenure process last year.

The College of Education had recognized his research
on educational technology, and students had nominated
him for a teaching honor.

In June, a committee of his fellow
education-technology faculty narrowly agreed Hamza was
on track to apply for tenure last fall, according to
the commission findings. Two months later, the
education faculty's tenure committee concluded he was
not. He was told soon after that his contract would
not be renewed, the commission found.

But the university says it developed qualms about
Hamza because he had exaggerated his academic
accomplishments in applying for university awards, and
several students had complained that his course
materials were confusing and he was unhelpful,
according to commission and FAU documents. Hamza says
the university's claims are not true.

Staff Writer Leon Fooksman contributed to this report.
Jennifer Peltz can be reached at
jpeltz@... or 561-243-6636.

Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel


__________________________________________________
Yahoo! Plus
For a better Internet experience
http://www.yahoo.co.uk/btoffer