Illustration by Ben Exler. This investigative article originally appeared in The Towerlight on March 4, 2010. It should be noted that a report at The Towerlight’s Web site broke the story on the evening of March 1, after which coverage from numerous local news outlets, including the Baltimore Sun, WBFF, WJZ and WBAL-TV followed. The author was also invited on WBAL-AM, where the story dominated a day of discussion, to recount the facts of the investigation on March 3.

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One word cost Allen Zaruba his teaching career at Towson University.

Zaruba, a professional artist and adjunct art professor who has taught at the University for 12 years, was fired last Thursday after being reported to the provost’s office for using a racial slur in class.

Zaruba was lecturing in his Visual Concepts class last Monday. The class was discussing a textbook he called “very politically incorrect,” “Themes of Contemporary Art” by Jean Robertson and Craig McDaniel. While reviewing a chapter about identity and the body, Zaruba referred to himself as “a nigger on the corporate plantation.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zaruba said, he regretted them. He contends, however, that the phrase was not directed at anyone other than himself and was not meant to be racially offensive.

“I am not a racist. I never have been. I’ve been raised overseas and in other cultures. It just absolutely kills me,” he said in an interview Sunday, later adding that he serves in the prison ministry, teaches Sunday school and that his stepfather was a black man and he “loved him dearly.”

Maria Bernier, a sophomore studio art major who was in the class, spoke highly of Zaruba and said the remark was not out of character for the professor, and was not intended or interpreted by much of the class as discriminatory.

“He’s very honest in his descriptions, and sometimes when he describes things, he uses words that I guess a lot of people would find … offensive,” she said.

Similar language had been used before, according to Bernier.

“He used the word to illustrate a point. He wasn’t trying to offend anyone. And obviously … we were understanding. And going into our class, you kind of should expect some level of shock and, you know, in your face [content],” she said.

At a Student Government Association-sponsored study break event Wednesday afternoon, provost Marcia Welsh disputed Zaruba’s and Bernier’s accounts. She said the racial slur was made at the beginning of class and was unrelated to the course of discussion.

Following last Monday’s incident, a student, who is at this point remaining anonymous, and the student’s parents complained to the provost’s office. After internal deliberations, none of which included Zaruba, he was fired by phone last Thursday night by Stuart Stein, interim chair of the art department.

When asked Wednesday, Welsh would not elaborate on the specifics of the conversations that took place, nor would she confirm whether or not similar incidents with Zaruba had happened in the past.

“I have not had anything in writing. Needless to say, I am in quite deep shock,” Zaruba said.

According to documents from the provost’s budget office, the standard contract offered to part-time faculty members stipulates that they serve “at the pleasure of the University’s president” and allows the University to dismiss part-time instructors for “any legal reason.”

An official statement released Wednesday from the provost’s office said the former professor’s remarks were “not part of the academic discussion of his classroom” and the decision to fire Zaruba was reached in consultation with department officials.

“Towson University strongly supports and upholds academic freedom in the classroom and across our learning community; however, such patently offensive language on the part of University employees will not be tolerated and does not reflect our value system,” the statement said.

In response to a question at the study break, Welsh later added that the decision to dismiss Zaruba was based on a one-time event and not a pattern of similar remarks.

Zaruba is an established artist, recognized locally and internationally. He spent 10 years as an illustrator for the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight squad, according to an online biography. During the 2003-2004 academic year, he was a Fulbright scholar working in South Korea. This semester at Towson, Zaruba had been teaching two other classes, one section of 3D Process and one section of Sculpture I.

A faculty member who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Tuesday he felt the administrators “did what they had to do” and that the former professor had accepted what had happened.

“I don’t think they had any other choice. I think that the administration feels as bad about this as anybody,” the source said. “I think nobody feels good about this … This is an ugly, bad situation which I am sure the provost and the administration feels as bad about as anybody. And I think that it was probably a choice they couldn’t avoid making. And Al knows that.”

The source said they were “absolutely and totally certain that there isn’t a racist bone in [Zaruba’s] body.”

Bernier echoed that sentiment, saying “I’ve only been in his class for a couple weeks and I know just from hearing what he has to say about life in general and the way he teaches his class, he’s a good teacher and a good person. I don’t know, I just feel somebody just took it way too far.”

According to Welsh’s statement, a replacement instructor has been found to teach Zaruba’s classes.

Towson students, academics react

Since last Thursday, the former instructor has received several supportive calls and e-mails from students, which, he said Sunday, he was keeping on file.

“I just want them to hear him out,” Bernier, the student, said, also adding that students in the class are organizing, with flyers in the Center for the Arts and e-mails to Welsh.

Zaruba said he was also concerned about what the incident means, not just for himself, but also for other faculty members.

“It’s frightening, to tell you the truth,” he said. “We have gotten so politically correct that the whole concept of academic freedom is really beginning to be a question here, if I cannot make a simple mistake which I deeply repented.”

Deverick Murray, president of Towson’s Black Student Union, was interested in learning more about what happened and did not want to rush to judgment.

“I don’t want this to be covered up as just a race issue as some white professor saying the word ‘nigger,’” Murray said. “I want to make sure that what was said is properly put into context and make sure that we don’t just discard this issue as just another bad racial slur, but let’s really find out what happened so that way, we can truly have a good discussion about it.”

Murray added that the phrase Zaruba used “doesn’t seem to me like he’s saying anything to degrade any person of color.”

Academics are also raising concerns about how the situation was handled.

Robert Kreiser, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of University Professors, said Zaruba should have been afforded more due process, such as a hearing in front of other faculty members, before any action was taken.

“The fact that no such hearing was provided and the administration acted narrowly to dismiss him is not consistent with accepted standards in the academic community,” he said.

He said the University’s actions lacked respect for Zaruba’s service to the institution.

“We’re not talking about someone showing up for the first time teaching at Towson,” Kreiser said. “It’s not appropriate for a college or university to treat somebody in that fashion.”

Richard Vatz, a professor of mass communication and communication studies and a member of the University Senate is, like Zaruba, known for his outspokenness in class discussions. He said Tuesday that while Zaruba’s use of the phrase was “indefensible,” he would not have dismissed the professor unless he had a record of complaints.

“In the absence of any other factors, I would not find this to justify firing immediately. I would find a probationary step to be justifiable so, in my opinion, given the limited information that I have, if that’s all there is, I would not have fired him on the spot,” Vatz said.

Moving forward

Zaruba said he was told no appeal process exists to contest his dismissal. Zaruba was examining his legal options, he said Monday, but more recently said that he has no legal recourse. Zaruba turned in his office keys Tuesday morning.

“He’s accepted the whole thing,” the faculty source said. “He alone is responsible for something that was just unavoidable.”

While the source admitted to not being totally familiar with the process of hiring and firing part-time faculty, when asked, the source expressed nothing but respect for the work adjuncts like Zaruba do for the University.

“They teach a lot of courses and reduce the cost of education tremendously here. They add an incredible, wonderful ingredient to the education at Towson University and schools across the nation,” the source said. “I can’t say whether the legalities of their hiring and firing are just or not. All I would say is that they’re not paid nearly what they deserve to be paid.”

Kreiser, the AAUP spokesman, agreed that part-time faculty members deserve more protection, either through unionization or changes to the standard contract “to address consistent mistreatment by a lot of colleges and universities,” he said.

After an online report from The Towerlight was released Monday night, the incident was briefly a topic of discussion at Tuesday’s Student Government Association meeting, where SGA president Jon Graf promised to look into the matter further.

Amy Ruark, a sophomore studio art major who took Zaruba’s Studio I class last semester, started a Facebook group Tuesday afternoon called “TU Team Zaruba” in response to the report. As of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the group had 82 members. She said she wanted to use the group to gain support for Zaruba’s reinstatement.

Welsh “couldn’t say” about considering Zaruba’s reinstatement at some point in the future. On Wednesday, she characterized the student reaction to reports as “mixed” but said that it was not about what the students thought.

“I have to say that as an institution, we cannot tolerate racial slurs, racial comments,” she said. “I think we have to realize we are a university and it isn’t an issue of freedom of speech. It’s an issue of being there for our students. A faculty member is there for the student no matter where they are on campus or off campus so we expect the best behavior of all faculty

at all times.”

As for considering reinstatement, Zaruba said in a Wednesday morning interview with WBAL Radio he would be “honored” to return, if asked.

Zaruba said Sunday that, despite what happened, he still believes Towson is a “wonderful school,” but “unfortunately this kind of thing clouds a lot of issues and it traumatizes my students.”