Chronicle of Higher Education - web daily - 5/26/99
JUDGE DENIES FEMINIST PROFESSOR'S BID TO BLOCK HER RETIREMENT FROM BOSTON COLLEGE
By ROBIN WILSON
A Massachusetts judge refused on Monday to stop Boston College from declaring a feminist theologian -- who had barred male undergraduates from her courses -- to be retired. The judge said that not only was it understandable that Boston College officials had believed that the professor had wanted to retire, but that they could even have fired her for defying anti-discrimination laws.
The professor, Mary Daly, contends that she never agreed to retire and only learned that the college had placed her in retirement a few weeks ago when she realized that her courses were not listed in next year's catalogue.
Ms. Daly's lawyer, Gretchen Van Ness, said the professor had told the college's officials last fall that she would rather resign than admit men to her courses. But, said Ms. Van Ness, Ms. Daly had never signed a contract agreeing to retire and had changed her mind about leaving. Ms. Daly, who has been a theology professor at Boston College since 1966, went to the Middlesex Superior Court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the college from suspending her courses and from treating her as retired.
Jack Dunn, a spokesman for Boston College, said the institution believed that Ms. Daly had agreed to retire in January "when she clearly articulated to us her decision to retire and relinquish her tenure rather than teach men in her classes." The issue came up when a male student, backed by the Center for Individual Rights, threatened to sue the college last fall after Ms. Daly refused to allow him to enroll in her introductory course on feminist ethics. The student, Duane Naquin, said his rights had been violated under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender at institutions that receive federal funds.
That was not the first time that Ms. Daly's no-men-allowed policy had aroused controversy. Mr. Dunn said the college had reprimanded her five times over the last two decades for barring men from her courses, and had twice refused to promote her to full professor.
Ms. Van Ness said that Ms. Daly had offered to provide independent instruction to any men who tried to register for her courses on feminist ethics. Ms. Daly found that when only females enrolled in a course, "something very different happened for the women" in the class, said Ms. Van Ness. "It was a better course for them, and they could actually explore, listen to themselves and each other, and learn in a unique setting."
Ms. Van Ness said that if the college didn't like what Ms. Daly did, it should have subjected her to formal disciplinary proceedings. As it is, she said, the college has simply "erased Professor Daly from the faculty." That, she said, "is a real attack on tenure rights."
But Judge Martha B. Sosman said that "Boston College has made a strong showing in support of its contention that Daly did in fact agree to retire." And even if Ms. Daly's "oral promise to resign" isn't found to be legally binding, said the judge, "there is no question that the school has adequate cause to terminate Daly" because of her violation of anti-discrimination laws.
Ms. Van Ness said Ms. Daly will still pursue a lawsuit against Boston College, charging it with breach of contract.