Sexism Charges Challenged at the University of Toledo

The history department at the University of Toledo is still reeling this week from accusations of sexism leveled by at least one faculty member in a report by the University’s Office of Institutional Diversity (OID).  In the report, which was leaked to the press in late February, anonymous female faculty members charged that the department is “toxic” to women and that women are “addressed in a condescending manner.” 1  The Independent Collegian, the University’s paper, and the Toledo Blade both asserted that an unnamed female faculty member resigned in response to the report.  Additionally, six members of the department have filed a complaint with the American Association of University Professors about the report's claims. However, upon further inquiry, inside sources have implied that the politics of the department, not sexist practices, are responsible for the divisiveness.

Three sources within the department told HNN that Ruth Wallis Herndon is the professor who resigned.  Professor Herndon could not be reached for comment, but these sources said that neither a sexist atmosphere nor the University’s report led to her resignation.  Rather, she left simply because she was offered a better position at Bowling Green State University, which is closer to her home. 

Every female professor that I contacted declined to comment on the OID report for fear of worsening the situation.  However, two female graduate students in the department, who wish to remain anonymous, both said that, to their knowledge, the accusations in the report are untrue.  “If the charges were true,” offered one student, “you would think [sexism] would have trickled down to the graduate students, which it hasn’t.”  Another student believes that the problem is caused by one professor, “and it has been turned into sexism because she happens to be female.” If the department is “toxic” in the eyes of this professor, she continues, “It is because she has made it so.” 

My sources indicated that the divide within the department might be more related to politics than sexism.  One source says “the problems in the department exist due to differences of opinion in how the department should be run.”  Much of the animosity seems to stem from a vote of no confidence (8-4) in the former department chair, Timothy Messer-Kruse.  A source within the department said that since the vote, “those that supported the former chair…have an axe to grind.”  Another female graduate student confirmed that “there is a lot of bitterness and hard feelings” over last year’s vote.  Professor Larry Wilcox says that Messer-Kruse was ousted because his critics believed he was not leading the department well.

Wilcox, who has been teaching at the University for almost forty years, admits that the History program is in dire condition.  He claims that “administrators who give little support to the humanities” are a big part of the problem. When Wilcox began teaching at Toledo in 1968, University enrollment was at 9,000 and there were twenty tenure track professors in the history department.  Today, enrollment is just under 20,000 and there will be eight tenure track professors, one of whom is a woman, by the end of the academic year. 

In the last three years, eight members of the teaching faculty have retired, but according to Wilcox, the administration has not permitted the department to replace them with new tenure track faculty.  Both Wilcox and the graduate students I spoke to felt that if new faculty were hired, problems in the history department would be ameliorated.

In Wilcox’s view, the University’s treatment of the OID report has exacerbated the situation.  He says that the allegations in the report have resulted in “arbitrary and capricious punishment of the Department of History by the current administration of the University of Toledo.”  The University has repeatedly denied his requests to see the specific allegations made in the report, along with support and attribution.  Instead, the administration has given the department a two page summary and conclusions of the OID investigation.   In local newspaper articles, the administration has contended that faculty members were given anonymity so they would not be hindered in fully expressing their feelings about the department.   Nevertheless, a graduate student remarked, “By refusing to discuss the situation, the University is merely suppressing the problem.” 

Wilcox also charged that his department has not been given the “right to respond to [the report] in a fair and public forum.”  Consequently, he and five other male faculty members (or 2/3 or the remaining tenure track faculty) have filed a class action grievance against the administration of the University of Toledo.  One male and one female professor refused to sign the suit.  When contacted, a representative of the University administration said that it would be “inappropriate for the University comment under the circumstances.”

Given the recent developments, the atmosphere of the University of Toledo’s history department is replete with tension and low morale.  At least three Master’s students are leaving after this year.  Professor Wilcox complains that “university politics” have unduly intruded on his professional obligations and his devotion to his students.  However, there is still some optimism that the department can weather the storm.  One graduate student says, “I know we can get through this and that the quality of our program will carry us through.”