If Allen Zaruba had called himself a "slave" on a corporate plantation instead of using what the Sun calls "a racially insensitive term," he'd still have his job as an adjunct professor at Towson University. His firing is attracting attention because of our fascination with race and language taboos. (Zaruba is white but had a black stepfather.) But the case will also renew discussion about the low pay and status of adjunct faculty. Among many questions: If Zaruba had tenure, would he have been fired?
For a nice portrait of adjunct life, check out this piece by Audrey Williams June in the Chronicle of Higher Education last fall.
.