James L. Sherley, civil rights pioneer

Like Ghandi before him, Prof. Sherley isn't giving up his seat. He's going down to the Charles to make tenure salt, whether MIT likes it or not. You see, Professor Sherley got denied tenure from Biomedical Engineering, and it's for sure the reason is that the department head is a racist. Oh, also, the Provost and a couple guys who were just walking by at the time. They're racists too.

What do you do when everyone around you's a racist? Quit eatin. That's right, hunger strike against discrimination, and fit into those skinny pants all at the same time. That way, if it doesn't end up working out, you can always be a bike messenger instead.

I am not familiar with Prof. Sherley's research, but I bet he would assure me that it's excellent. But here's the thing.... tenure's like a tattoo. It's not exactly forever anymore, but if you make a bad decision, (see below, Mr Cool ICE) it's painful and costly to undo later. Schools have a right and a duty to think long and hard about a person, their research, their collegiality, and their character before they grant tenure. To claim racial discrimination when there's no evidence of it just makes it that much harder for real victims to get a fair hearing. I think that the Little Rock Nine ought to fly up to Boston together and slap some sense into this asshat.

Hats off to MIT's administration, who look like they're not going to cave to this race baiter, and I suppose a nice catch in hindsight is owed to the BE department for seeing this guy as the toddler he is. I've gotten two separate emails this morning (the fast started today) from administrators asking everyone to be civil and generally reassuring the community that MIT's commitment to diversity remains intact. I would much rather see some strong denunciations of this guy for trying to use race to blackmail his way to tenure, but I guess it doesn't cost the Institute anything to be nice, and then wash down the bitterness with a nice pastrami on rye.

Here's his side of the story......