A former SUNY Cobleskill dean has filed a lawsuit against the college, charging that officials admitted students who were unprepared for college work in order to meet its budget.
In the suit, filed November 23, Thomas J. Hickey said he was fired for objecting to “fraudulent and racially discriminatory practices.”
The suit was filed against the college, President Don Zingale and Provost Anne Myers.
College officials had no response.
“At this time, we haven’t been served with any papers,” said spokesperson Kate Birchenough.
“It’s SUNY’s official policy not to respond to any pending litigation.
Mr. Hickey charges in the suit that the practice of admitting students without regard of their qualifications started in 1999.
“The college has taken their tuition for the express and admitted purpose of making budget knowing that these students are not reasonably likely to graduate,” the lawsuit reads.
In particular, the policy is directed towards New York City-area African-American students, according to the lawsuit.
Mr. Hickey was dean of liberal arts and sciences from July 2006 to July 2009.
During that time, according to the suit, Mr. Hickey was involved in an academic review process that first required freshmen to have a 2.0 grade-point average before moving on to their second year.
Those unable to reach a 2.0 were to be dismissed.
But the GPA was lowered at one point, the lawsuit states.
“. . .A lower threshold GPA meant that the students could stay in the school longer even though they had no realistic possibility of obtaining a college diploma,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit contends that students’ records were falsified “in order to facilitate the admission of certain African-American students to the college.”
In the lawsuit, Mr. Hickey describes the college as having “a racially hostile environment” that uses the tuition from African-American students to fund the college’s popular agriculture programs “which run at an annual deficit, even though these programs serve white students almost exclusively.”
Mr. Hickey contends he brought the issues to Dr. Myers and then to Dr. Zingale after Dr. Zingale became president. They took no action, according to the lawsuit.
Dr. Myers held a review of Mr. Hickey’s performance as dean; he was removed as dean shortly afterwards, the lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified back pay, punitive damages and attorney fees for Mr. Hickey.
The suit was filed in US District Court for the Northern District.