Don Matthews, a religious studies professor at Naropa University, said his paid suspension last week for allegations of threatening his class and refusal to speak during meetings was racially charged and issued without due process.
Matthews' suspension was announced last week and will last until the end of the semester. Naropa president Charles Lief said administrators have received complaints against Matthews from at least 30 students, the Colorado Daily Camera reported.
The complaints reportedly began last week when Matthews held class and refused to speak during the meetings, as a silent protest. The complainants also alleged the teacher threated to sue the students for defamation.
Lief said the suspension is in accordance with the school's policies and is not racially charged. He went on to include that the school administration does not even want to see Matthews leave.
"If this was a completely random set of circumstances and facts and nobody had a clue if the faculty member was male, female, African American, white, whatever, we would have taken the same steps," Lief said. "We're not looking for him to leave. We want him to stay."
Matthews said his main concern is with the school's lack of diversity and bias towards minorities, adding he intends to file a complaint with the U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights.
"The best possible outcome is that Naropa develops a program to deal with institutional racism," Matthews said. "That's why I filed the complaint, to try to change this institution."
Matthews claims to have not been notified of any complaints against him, to not being allowed a chance to discuss his those complaints and that he was not told how long his suspension would last.
He said he believes it is fair if students wish to file complaints against their professors, but that he wanted to be treated fairly by being given due process.
"I just want to be treated fairly," he said. "This is just another example of how African American scholars and administrators who press for diversity have been treated. We get targeted."
Lief said the reports of Matthews using Facebook and emails to threaten students with defamation lawsuits, combined with his promise to not speak during class, prompted the school to suspend him. Lief said students expressed they were afraid to go back into Matthews' classroom.
The school president said he value Matthews' presence on campus, but was forced to draw the line when students said they felt threatened.
"Don Matthews is a faculty member who teaches at the edge, and that's important to us," Lief said. "He's provocative. He brings a different perspective, which is obviously unique to Naropa and unique to Boulder. He's an African American, Christian minister who comes to the university from an urban world that, frankly, many people here are not familiar with."