Dr. Laura Hatcher, an assistant political science professor at Southern Illinois University (SIU), Carbondale, has filed a sex discrimination lawsuit early this month against the university's board of trustees and its chancellor, Rita Cheng.

Hatcher accuses the administrators of offering tenure to three men last year instead of her, although she has more experience, better credentials and faculty support.

After her rejection, Hatcher challenged the dean and provost's decision and the Judicial Review Board ruled in her favor only to be reversed again by Cheng. Now, her employment contract will be eventually terminated at the end of this academic year.

"She was held to a different standard than a male faculty that came up for tenure at the same time," said Shari Rhode, Hatcher's attorney.

Rhode also said that according to SIU's policies and rules, Cheng doesn't have the authority to overturn the board's decision.

The university's initial decision to approve three men for tenure shocked the whole campus community as Hatcher was considered the natural choice for the post considering her credentials.

"She was always at the top of any list. We have great faculty here, but she was always at the top. It didn't even enter the discussion that she wouldn't get tenure," graduate student, Dan Bennett said. "For that to be overturned by the Chancellor is unheard of."

Bennett said that SIU is blessed to have Hatcher among them as she is considered to be the finest professor in the discipline. Students want Hatcher to continue her employment as she played an important role in SIU's political science department's growth.

Rhode said that SIU normally does not favor recruiting female faculty in the political science department as there has been only one tenured lady professor since 1961.