No religion, no job? Humanist professor files EEOC complaint against KU Med on grounds of religious discrimination

Fred Whitehead is tired. And wearing a tie and a corduroy jacket on a warm April day doesn't add to his comfort level. He rubs his eyes; Whitehead reads a lot. A longtime humanities professor at the University of Kansas (KU) Medical School in Kansas City, Kan., he is more used to intellectual struggles than disputes with school administrators. But he might lose his job of 22 years.

Whitehead is an associate professor of family medicine at the medical center. He administers the rural preceptor program, a pairing of student doctors with practicing physicians around the state. It's a clinical course that gives students hands-on experience in dealing with patients from various backgrounds. "A free thinker" is how Whitehead describes himself -- a person with no ties to a particular theology. He also says he's an atheist.

His real religious goal, Whitehead says, is to integrate humanities with science to round out the medical school education. And he's been rewarded for just that. "I was promoted (from teaching associate) to associate professor last July," he says. "Years after colleagues in similar situations were promoted, I decided to ask for a promotion due to my contributions to medical education at KU and to the understanding and teaching of science in Kansas." The promotion came after a rigorous peer review.

Then, late last year, medical school Dean Deborah Powell notified Whitehead that his annual contract with KU Med would not be renewed after June 30, 2000. In a letter dated Sept. 30, 1999, Powell told him he would be terminated but gave no reason. Whitehead says he asked Powell personally for written reasons for termination and then sent her written requests. Powell never responded to those requests but, Whitehead says, did tell him that his appointment would not be renewed due to financial changes and because his research did not fit the medical school's mission. However, Powell did not object to Whitehead's promotion last year.

He says his job is being sacrificed to save the KU Office of Medical Education, whose $15 million, three-year grant ends this year. The office, previously known as the Office of Medical Education Support, was established to support the medical center faculty by channeling resources from outside the medical field into the curriculum. KU Medical School administrators have decided to keep the office open and within the existing medical school budget. The funding stream for his job, Whitehead believes, will be used for a position in the office, which was formed under Powell

Whitehead has appealed his termination with the Steering Committee of the KU Faculty Assembly, which after several delays set a hearing for May 9 on Whitehead's appeal. The deadline for a hearing is May 21, 16 weeks from when Whitehead initially filed his appeal. The American Association of University Professors is also investigating Whitehead's case.

"I decided to file the (faculty assembly) appeal based on academic freedom," he says. "It is a major precept of the university that a professor and researcher have the full freedom to research and publish the results, depending of course on how well he performs his other academic duties. I have had no complaints about the way the preceptor program is handled -- or my other work. But I have an anomalous position at the university, and they say they can't justify it anymore."

Dorothy McGee, Powell's assistant, says the dean will not comment on Whitehead's case.

Whitehead also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on March 29. In the EEOC complaint, he stated that the administration showed prejudice against his religious beliefs in favor of other beliefs. The complaint lists his religion as "free thinker" and states that his termination, in taking away his academic freedom, violated his religious freedom. The EEOC has yet to respond to Whitehead's complaint.

Some professors at KU and other state universities also believe that part of the problem with Whitehead's $37,000-a-year position is that it doesn't fit into the corporate-style administration of modern universities, where top administrators receive six-figure salaries to lead their institutions.

"Universities have turned into corporations where the bottom line is student credit hours -- more hours means more funding," says Emporia State University biology professor John Richard Shrock. "Meetings of administrators making decisions are stockholder meetings, about money and not about the quality of courses and education. They seek to keep the students as long as possible for the best possible profit line."

Of the 100 highest-paid Kansas state employees, 75 are KU professors and administrators, according to an April 16 article in The Wichita Eagle. Even so, those highly paid profs comprise only 4 percent of the entire KU faculty. The average wage for a KU professor is $58,000, near the bottom of the salary range for American state universities. But of those 75 KU faculty members, the article states, 53 are employed by KU Medical Center and all 53 make more than $138,000. Powell is third on the list, with a 1999 income of $264,256.99, 23.9 percent of which comes from privately funded grants. Despite the number of KU Medical Center employees on the top-paid list, KU Medical School's average compensation of $69,800 lands it in the bottom 20 percent of American medical schools.

At 56, Whitehead is six years from retirement. His career has been impressive. Whitehead was a Fulbright Scholar to University College in London in 1966, earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Kansas and master's and doctoral degrees in English from Columbia University in New York City in 1972. From 1975 to 1978, he worked as a welder at a Kansas City, Kan., company. During those years, he pursued his research in his off time, and in 1978 KU Medical School hired him.