Another professor at DePaul University was rejected for tenure at the same time as Norman G. Finkelstein, and she believes her advocacy for the embattled political scientist may have derailed her career.

"There is no good explanation for why I was denied tenure," Mehrene E. Larudee, an assistant professor of international studies, said in an interview on Monday. "So one has to look elsewhere."

Praised as "outstanding" by the dean of her college and recommended unanimously by distinguished faculty peers during the tenure process, Ms. Larudee was 19 days away from becoming director of DePaul's program in international studies when she learned on Friday of the decision against her.

She and the program's current director, Michael A. McIntyre, had been discussing the responsibilities she would be assuming when he received, via e-mail, a letter from DePaul's president, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider.

"Hey, this is great, I'll get to congratulate Mehrene right now," Mr. McIntyre recalls thinking, until he read the letter. "Our jaws just dropped, hit the floor, when we saw the decision went the other way," he said.

In the letter, Father Holtschneider said that the University Board on Faculty Promotion and Tenure had decided against awarding tenure to Ms. Larudee and that he accepted that decision