A prominent MIT professor resigned yesterday in protest of the university’s refusal to grant tenure to another African-American colleague. Professor Frank L. Douglas’ resignation came after discovering that Professor James L. Sherley’s application for tenure would not be reconsidered. After being denied tenure:

Sherley, an African American associate professor in the Biological Engineering Department went on a 12-day hunger strike in February, alleging that racism played a role in the decision to deny him tenure two years ago.

MIT allowed Sherley to apply for tenure in a number of other engineering and physics programs. He was, however, universally rejected, which led him to believe, as only a coddled academic could, that MIT treated “African Americans and other minorities differently.”