EDITOR'S NOTE:
With the recent passing of former Auburn University Provost Dr. Timothy Boosinger, it seemed apropos to revisit this pertinent article given its salience in relation to the interminable afflictions of widespread corruption and dastardly malfeasance doggedly plaguing AU and the State of Alabama at large. Without wishing to speak ill of the dead, certain indefatigable stewards within the Auburn community being bombarded with the inevitable boilerplate remembrances and sanguine platitudes regarding Boosinger's spotty tenure can't help but recall a less savory legacy which he left replete with his incriminating fingerprints all over many of the most sordid and inglorious chapters in recent AU history.
Originally appeared in The LaFayette Sun newspaper on November 23rd, 2022
Auburn University Professor of Economics Michael L. Stern, Ph.D. won the landmark Stern v. Roberts lawsuit last week against AU for their violation of his first amendment rights in the federal United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in Opelika. Jurors in the trial presided over by Chief Judge William Keith Watkins reached their verdict in favor of the plaintiff’s claim of retaliation on November 15th of 2022. Stern had originally filed the lawsuit in September of 2018 based upon tumultuous events that had transpired over the course of several years previous to that point during his eight year tenure as the Chairperson of the Economics Department, a position which he was arbitrarily removed from as punishment for blowing the whistle on unethical conduct that had occurred in relation to dubious academic standards being applied to student athletes by university officials.
Three hours of deliberation at the conclusion of the two week trial resulted in validation for Professor Stern who had accused former College of Liberal Arts Dean Joseph Aistrup of retaliating against him by improperly removing Stern from his position as chair of the economics department in response to public inquiries he had made regarding worrisome irregularities in the number of football players who were suspiciously “clustered” in their selection of a questionable “public administration” major. Damages in the total amount of $645,837 were awarded to Stern by the jury, $145,837 of which was reimbursement for back pay lost due to the unfair disciplinary actions taken against him by Aistrup. Gross violations of Stern’s first amendment rights by Aistrup provided the salient rationale for the remaining $500,000 in damages awarded.
During a meeting of the University Senate in 2014, Stern had challenged assertions by the Faculty Athletics Representative that student athletes had not been inappropriately clustered in any specific majors. Refuting the presentation by that representative, Stern called into question the highly improbable number of football players enrolled in the public administration major as potential evidence pointing to scholastic impropriety, particularly in consideration of past controversy during internal debates over the validity of that field of study. Under intense pressure in the form of veiled threats from Dean Aistrup and other university officials, Stern limited any further involvement in the burgeoning imbroglio until 2015 when what he deemed to be further deceptive statements made before the university senate by the athletics representative intended to deflect attention away from the public administration major and the athletes assigned to it prompted him to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the records pertinent to the matter be made public.
Incriminating details from that FOIA request implicated university officials in unscrupulous coordinated efforts to shield student athletes from academic rigor, shedding light on the matter in a rare instance of public transparency that found its way onto the pages of the Wall Street Journal in the form of a damning news article chronicling the misdeeds at AU. Investigative journalism by the Alabama Gazette and the Chronicle of Higher Education further uncovered the educational chicanery initially exposed by Stern which in turn led to consecutive years of harassment by Dean Aistrup and finally reaching a pitched climax with his forcible removal from the position as chair of the economics department. Years earlier a sizable financial settlement paid out by AU as compensation for the improper firing of English Professor Dr. Katharyn Privett-Duren by Aistrup may have been the past that served as prologue to Stern’s case that was eventually filed in 2018, with his recent legal victory possibly bringing the sordid saga full circle for the time being unless and until any additional litigation is brought forward in a forthcoming day of reckoning for Aistrup’s heretofore concealed misconduct that has yet to see the light of day. For the sake of Auburn’s bewildered students, concerned alumni and beleaguered faculty that day could not come soon enough.
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