By Rebecca Panico
Kean University announced yesterday that an independent consultant has been chosen to evaluate Kean’s employment practices after protesters raised concerns about discrimination at the university during two recent rallies.
“Rev. Michael Blackwell, a seasoned professional in compliance reviews, has been engaged by the Board Governance Committee as an independent consultant to review and evaluate data related to University employment practices, trends and affirmative action procedures,” the university said in a statement.
Additional information regarding which church Rev. Blackwell was from was not immediately available.
[…]MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY PROTEST
The latest protest came on Monday in front of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak’s (D) office, and was led by Rev. Ronald Slaughter of the Saint James AME Church in Newark, who has been leading the coalition of black ministers.
Over 50 protesters — consisting of members from Rev. Slaughter’s church, the Kean Federation of Teachers (Kean’s full-time faculty union) and the People’s Organization for Progress — questioned the relationship between the senator and Kean and denounced his support for university President Dr. Dawood Farahi.
Days before the first protest in December, Lesniak and a delegation of other Union County legislators penned a letter supporting the university president.
“When he [Lesniak] wrote the letter supporting the president, he made it clear that it’s the politicians and not the educators that run the university,” KFT President Dr. James Castigilione told The Tower at Monday’s protest. “And that’s why the university is not being run in the best interest of the students.”
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