Science Faculty Charge University With Discrimination Against Muslims

According to yesterday's New Orleans Times-Picayune, a faculty member in the Department of Natural Sciences at Southern University at New Orleans has filed a complaint with the EEOC charging that the University discriminated against Muslim faculty and job applicants.  Professor Ibrahim Ekaidi and a Muslim colleague, Bashir Atteia, were removed from a hiring committee because they collaborated on the ratings they gave to certain candidates. They rated two Muslim candidates for positions in department among the three highest; however other members of the hiring committee also ranked them high.  The chairman of the department removed the names of the two applicants from the list of those being considered and denied them interviews. When Ekaidi and his colleague protested their removal from the committee, the department chair recommended that they resign from the faculty.