Now that the lawsuit by UALR Law School faculty member Richard Peltz has been settled, Inside Higher Ed takes a look at the specifics at the root of complaints about Peltz from black students and his lawsuit arising from suggestions he was racist.
“This suit was never about money,” he said. “It was about my reputation. I work very hard to be a very good teacher, and I felt that was impugned by the university’s lack of support. I feel that now with the university’s support, I am on the road to repairing my reputation.” He also said that the experience has altered his once idealistic views about American higher education.
“When I started teaching 10 years ago, I thought universities were the quintessential market place of ideas. I was so naïve, and so, so wrong,” he said. “It’s not an open market place of ideas — I hope we can get back to that notion because our society desperately needs places where we can have truly free discussion. I just can’t say I see that in the American university today.”