Civil Rights Suit Filed Against the University of New Mexico

A group of African American religious leaders and the Albuquerque chapter of the NAACP have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education against the University of New Mexico. The suit charges that the university has created a racially hostile environment for students, faculty, and staff. The complaint singles out the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.

Among the charges in the complaint are:

• No African Americans have ever held leadership posts in the administration or faculty outside of Black studies.

• Black faculty and staff are paid less than Whites in similar posts.

• Black faculty and staff receive harsher discipline for rules infractions than White faculty and staff.

• Black doctors and nurses at the Health Sciences Center are subjected to a racially hostile work environment.

• Black patients do not get the same level of care at the hospital’s emergency room as other patients.

In a statement responding to the allegations, the university administration said, ““We do not discriminate against African-Americans. The university has very clear policies in place which prohibit discrimination and we train our employees to comply with the law and our policies.”

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1 COMMENT

  1. Policies may be in place and training may occur, but without enforcement and reinforcement, those policies are just words on paper.

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