May

27

Social Work Dean Wants You to “Rub His Nuts”

Posted on May 27, 2009 at 9:52 pm by Madrigal Maniac Under Local | Print This Post | Email This Post |  


I fondly remember my years at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. But right now two men are making the place a laughingstock.

Professor Rudolph Alexander sued Dean William Meezan and Ohio State because he felt he was being discriminated against. Now Alexander has filed two more complaints with the university. One, that at a student orientation Meezan wore a t-shirt that read “Rub my Nuts.” I assume he was talking about buckeye nuts. Two, that during a faculty committee meeting Meezan suggested a preference for hiring certain minorities. Some felt this was discriminatory. For his part Meezan said Alexander called him a “gay leprechaun” and told one of his classes that Meezan has AIDS.



Meezan was not at OSU when I was there, so I don’t have a sense of what he is like. The university did agree his actions were inappropriate and I believe they were as well. Alexander was my undergraduate faculty adviser. He appeared to go out of his way to intimidate me and I was provided no sound advice what so ever. I have no proof, but I remember thinking on the way out of his office that maybe he doesn’t like middle aged white guys.

Regardless, social work is a helping profession designed to be inclusive. This is an embarrassing episode for the college. Maybe now is the time for both of them to consider leaving their posts so that other dedicated professionals can continue teaching students and performing important research without this obvious distraction. Those that we help or will help deserve better than this.

Source: The Lantern

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4 Responses to “Social Work Dean Wants You to “Rub His Nuts””

  1. Rudolph Alexander Jr on May 30th, 2009 4:33 pm

    I am sure who the student is that wrote this and I am sorry that he thinks that I don’t like middle aged White men. I treat all students the same. I talk straight and seldom laugh, which some students think is intimidating.

    I filed a lawsuit due to repeated racial discrimination, which I have a right to do. I was left no choice because the dean and OSU refused to correct my salary. This is what people should be upset about which is that a profession that professes nondiscrimination has a leader who has engaged in numerous unprofessional behaviors and blantant racial discrimination against minorities.

    I don’t need to leave Ohio State because I refused to accept racist behaviors. As a full professor, this man gave me a salary adjustment of 2.4% while giving White assistant professors 7%,8%, and 9% and none of these White professors were more productive than me. I won’t accept it.

  2. Madrigal Maniac on May 30th, 2009 9:11 pm

    Dr. Alexander, I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

    I only met with you a few times and if that is your normal demeanor and no ill intent was intended then I apologize.

    However, I believe you missed the point of my post. You appear to believe I think you should consider leaving the college because you are fighting racism. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a social worker I believe in social justice and racial equality. If you prove there is racism at the College of Social Work, I would be the first to applaud your efforts.

    I was critical of your comments regarding Dr. Meezan, though it would not have mattered who you said them about. I have seen these comments reported several times and have not seen where you have refuted them. If you have, please tell me.

    I believe comments such as “gay leprechaun” and telling a class that a colleague has AIDS are less than professional. It will leave some with the impression that you are not comfortable with those who are gay. If you did not make these comments or they were taken out of context, you should consider denying or clarifying them. If these comments are true, you should apologize.

    Again, thanks for commenting and I wish you luck in your efforts to root out racism at the College of Social Work.

  3. Rudolph Alexander Jr on May 31st, 2009 9:35 am

    First, I was on the search committee when Meezan interviewed and I voted for him. We all knew he is gay and that was not a factor in our decision.

    Second, the only time I have referred to the dean’s sexual orientation was once in class when a student asked me is the dean gay. As part of the course I was teaching, minority perspectives, I told the class that the dean wanted to have a signing ceremony when he first came and he was going to require that all students sign a pledge that they accepted homosexuality. I asked what would he do if a student refused to sign, and he said they could not be social workers, meaning they would be dismissed from the College. I told him that this was illegal. I spoke up in behalf of students. This was the only reference I made about him being gay when a student asked.

    While I did call him a leprechaun, he added the gay part to make up a false allegation that I have a problem with him being gay.

    Second, I did not tell a class that the dean has AIDS. I told the Vice Provost that the Dean was behaving in a physically aggressive manner with faculty and staff by putting his hand in people’s faces and standing over seated people in an attempt to intimidate them. I said he was coming close to committing assault and battery and I told her that there is a rumor out there about his health and I conveyed that what he is doing is unprofessional and potentially dangerous. This I told to the Vice provost in the hope that she would put a stop to his behaviors. The Vice Provost did nothing except to tell Meezan what I said.

    I never disucssed this with a class and never told any class that the dean has AIDS.

    I have nothing to apologize. I called him a leprechaun because he is short and he likes to engage in conflict with individuals. This was akin to the mascot for Notre Dame. This is very mild compared to the names that he has called me in emails, which I have now as part of my lawsuit.

    I have defended students’ rights and I have protested unprofessional conducts on the part of the dean.

  4. Madrigal Maniac on June 1st, 2009 9:27 pm

    I’m glad to hear you deny these accusations. So my questions is, why are you not correcting these allegations when they appear and are being printed in The Lantern as fact?

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