Black US professor ends hunger strike at MIT

Boston, Feb 17: A black professor who accused Massachusetts Institute of Technology of racism in denying him tenure ended a 12-day hunger strike yesterday, saying his protest brought attention to race issues.

James Sherley, a 49-year-old stem-cell scientist, lost about 9 kg since February 5 when he began demanding that MIT reverse its 2004 decision not to promote him to tenure -- an academic prize that confers a job for life.

In a statement, he said his demands were still on the table and urged MIT to respond.

''Starting today, I will in fact break my fast in celebration of the attention that has been brought to bear on issues of equity, diversity, and justice at MIT and in higher education,'' Sherley said.

MIT said Sherley's case had been examined three times since the initial decision to deny him tenure and that race played no role. Twenty faculty members in Sherley's Biological Engineering department signed a statement saying they also believed race did not play a role in the decision.

''We're very relieved the hunger strike is over,'' said Patti Richards, an MIT spokeswoman.

In a statement, the school added, ''MIT deeply regrets that professor Sherley's experiences at the Institute have resulted in his fast to express his concerns about racism.'' MIT did not address Sherley's tenure but said the protest focused attention on the effects race may play ''in the hiring, advancement and experience of under-represented minority faculty,'' and on its grievance processes.

Sherley, who has fought for tenure for nearly three years, said he has been denied the same freedom to challenge scientific orthodoxy afforded his white colleagues -- a factor that he reckons damaged his tenure application.

Unlike most stem-cell scientists, Sherley, the son of a Baptist minister, opposes embryonic stem-cell research on moral grounds because it requires destruction of days-old embryos.

Less than half of MIT's junior faculty members are promoted to tenured positions. About 4 percent of the university's 740 tenured professors are ethnic minorities, according to statistics provided by MIT.

Reuters