SEX DISCRIMINATION

Saturday, September 08, 2018

My Calvin Seminary Story: A 12 Year Update

Here I document just one egregious episode in the administration’s long effort to rid itself of me. It is nothing short of a sexist smear. President Neal Plantinga, ignoring measurable results of my performance, drew on an old formula for ruining a woman’s career: accuse her of being hysterical. I had been called to a meeting with him and VP Duane Kelderman. According to him I was asked a straightforward question:

“What followed, without pause, was a tirade—a stream of accusations

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My Amazon Review: Bad Leadership

This is a must for people working in Christian organizations and for laypeople in churches. There is bad leadership in the church and it often looks a lot like good leadership. Kellerman writes about the "recent revelations of wrongdoing by leaders of the Roman Catholic Church . . . that was so abhorrent it makes us all ill." She continues: "the idea that some leaders and some followers are bad, and that they might have something in common with good leaders and followers, has not fully penetrated the conversation or the curriculum" [of leadership training]. Her book is aptly titled for my situation ("My Calvin Seminary Story") where poor leadership derailed my career.

My Amazon Review: Sex Discrimination in the Workplace

What a fantastic resource this is for working women. For women who confront sex discrimination this is a must read. I wish it had been available for me when I was derailed from my teaching career ("My Calvin Seminary Story"). The case studies alone are worth the (hefty) price of the book. I particularly like their definition of sex discrimination: "In the broadest sense, sex discrimination occurs when a person is or people are treated unfairly in the work context because of gender. Unfair treatment can concern levels of compensation. . . . [But it] can also occur in terms of non-monetary rewards, in terms of opportunities, and in terms of on-the-job treatment." This is a book for every college and public library.

My CTS Story

I began teaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in 2000--the first full-time woman professor in the school's 125-year history. In 2003, less than 3 months after Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. was installed as the new president, I was, without warning, removed from tenure track and given a terminal appointment. I have repeatedly asked that all the evidence be opened only to be blocked by a dishonest cover-up. When independent mediators were retained by the seminary board in 2005, they called for "retroactive pay to 2003," among other things. That report was buried. I finished my second terminal appointment on August 31, 2006, and shortly thereafter published my story at www.ruthtucker.net.